Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) - Serbia (Ratification: 2000)

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on social security, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 102 (minimum standards) and 121 (employment injury benefits) together.

Part VIII (Maternity benefit). Article 65 of Convention No. 102 and Articles 7(1), 10(1), 11, 19–20 of Convention No. 121. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous requests concerning maternity benefits, level of survivors’ benefit, commuting accidents, the provision of eyeglasses, the provision of medical care and allied benefits free of charge, and replacement rate of disability benefit.

Article 22 in conjunction with Articles 65 or 66 of Convention No. 102. Replacement rate of unemployment benefit. The Committee once again requests the Government to calculate replacement rate of unemployment benefit in accordance with Titles I–III, V of the report form for the Convention.

Article 8(a) of Convention No. 121. List of occupational diseases. Further to its previous request to make a detailed comparison of the national list of occupational diseases with Schedule I to the Convention and indicate measures taken or under consideration to ensure that all diseases listed in Schedule I to the Convention be regarded as occupational diseases, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs has launched an initiative with the competent institutions to analyse the national list of occupational diseases on this matter. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the outcome of this initiative and hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that the national list of occupational diseases is in line with the requirements of the Convention.

Article 14. Cash benefits for permanent partial incapacity. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to show that monetary compensation for physical disability in case of partial incapacity represented a suitable proportion of the disability pension in case of total incapacity. It further requested the Government to state whether any compensatory payments were provided in case of physical disability less than 30 per cent. In its reply, the Government indicates that the amount of monetary compensation for physical disability of 90 per cent is equal to 6,039.24 Serbian dinars (RSD), whereas in case of physical disability of 30 per cent is equal to RSD2,013.08. The Committee further notes that disability pension in case of total incapacity amounts for RSD55,662.50, that is 64.4 per cent of the reference wage. In this regard, the Committee observes that monetary compensation for physical disability of 90 per cent represents 10.8 per cent of the reference wage and 3.6 per cent of the reference wage in case of physical disability of 30 per cent. Recalling that benefits provided in case of partial loss of earning capacity or corresponding loss of faculty shall represent a suitable proportion of benefits provided in case of total loss of earning capacity or corresponding loss of faculty, the Committee requests the Government to ensure the payment of monetary compensation for physical disability at the level required by the Convention. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the compulsory mandatory pension and disability insurance does not provide for any compensation in the event of physical disability caused by a work-related injury or occupational disease that is less than 30 per cent. The Committee recalls that in accordance with Article 14(4) of the Convention, persons who come to lose part of their earning capacity or faculty which is not considered substantial but is in excess of a prescribed degree following an employment injury shall receive a periodical payment or a lump sum. The Committee therefore requests the Government to consider ensuring the provision of a periodical payment or a lump sum in case of permanent partial disability less than 30 per cent but in excess of a prescribed degree and to keep it informed of measures taken or envisaged in this regard.

Article 21. Review of the rate of cash benefits. With respect to its previous request to supply statistical data on the adjustment of rates of cash benefits, the Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government on the indexation of pensions. The Committee requests the Government to supply statistical data on the changes in cost-of-living index and index of earnings as well as changes in pensions according to the report form for the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Part IV (Unemployment benefit) and Part VIII (Maternity benefit) of the Convention. In view of the fact that the Government’s report does not contain the information requested by the report form with regard to Parts IV and VIII, the Committee hopes that the Government will send in the near future all the elements required by the report form under these Parts.

Article 65. Level of old-age benefit and survivors’ benefit. The Committee notes that the calculations sent by the Government in its report based on Article 65 of the Convention show that, with regard to old-age benefit, the national legislation ensures a replacement level higher than that established by the Convention, namely 57.24 per cent of the reference wage for the standard beneficiary. As regards survivors’ benefit, the report indicates that the replacement level that would apply to a widow with two children would be 51.52 per cent of the wages of a breadwinner who had made contributions over a period of 30 years. The Committee recalls that the minimum replacement level established by Articles 63(1)(a) and 65 of the Convention represents 40 per cent of the reference wage, this percentage having to be attained in the case of 15 years of contributions by the breadwinner. The Committee therefore requests the Government to recalculate the replacement level ensured to a widow with two children in accordance with the requirements of the report form (the Government is requested to refer to the different points contained within Article 65, Titles I, IV and V). The Government may take into account all family allowances paid to the standard beneficiary and add these to the reference wage and to the amount of survivors’ benefit.

Article 65 or 66 and Parts III, IV and VIII (Level of sickness benefit, unemployment benefit and maternity benefit). In the absence of calculations concerning the level of benefits covered by Parts III, IV and VIII of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to include with its next report the specific information required by the report form (details of employment injury benefit that have to be communicated in the context of Convention No. 121).

Replies received to the issues raised in a direct request which do not give rise to further comments (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, which answers the points raised in its previous direct request and has no further matters to raise in this regard.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes the information given in the report and the reply of the Government to its previous direct request. It would be glad if the next report would also contain information on the application of Articles 10, 11 and 12 of Part II of the Convention, Articles 15–18 of Part III and Articles 35–38 of Part VI, which is still missing, as well as copies of the Law on social security and social policy of the Republic of Serbia, the Law on employment and unemployment insurance, the General Act on the national employment service and the Law on financial support for family with children.

Part X (Survivors’ benefit). In reply to the Committee’s previous direct request, the report indicates that, according to articles 71(1) and 72 of the Pension and Disability Law, survivors’ pension for the standard beneficiary (a widow with two children) represents 90 per cent of the old-age or disability pension to which the breadwinner would have been entitled at the moment of death; the minimum base for calculating the survivors’ pension is the old-age pension which the deceased would have received after 20 years of insurance. The minimum survivors’ pension is paid to the survivors of the breadwinner who has completed a minimum qualifying period of five years of insurance. While the report does not provide exact calculation of the replacement level of the survivors’ benefit, it refers to Article 65 of the Convention stating that this level will exceed the minimum level of 40 per cent of the wage of the skilled manual male employee determined under this Article. The Committee would like the Government to confirm this statement by including in its next report statistical data for the same time period on the amount of the average wage in Serbia, the wage of the skilled manual male employee selected under paragraph 6 of Article 65 of the Convention, the amount of the old-age pension to which such an employee would be entitled after 20 years of insurance, and the amount of the survivors’ benefit paid to the widow with two children in case her late husband has completed at the moment of his death a period of 15 years of insurance contributions. Please note that according to paragraph 3 of Article 63 of the Convention, in the schemes where the qualifying period is reduced to only five years of contributions, as in Serbia, the minimum replacement level of the survivors’ benefit required by the Convention is 30 per cent of the reference wage determined under Article 65 or 66. The fact that Serbian legislation fixes the minimum base for calculating the survivors’ pension permits the Government to have recourse also to Article 66 of the Convention, provided that the minimum survivors’ pension for the standard beneficiary would attain 30 per cent of the reference wage of an ordinary adult male labourer.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

The Committee notes the first reports on the application of the Convention submitted by the Governments of the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Taking into account the complexity involved in compiling this information for the first time, in the manner requested by the report form for each of the seven different branches of social security accepted by the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro, the Committee would like the Government to avail itself of the technical assistance and training offered by the ILO in this respect.

Republic of Serbia

The Committee notes that the report from the Government of the Republic of Serbia contains information on the application of Parts IV to X of the Convention, but does not cover Parts II and III, the obligations of which have also been accepted by the country. No information is given on the provisions of Parts I, XI, XII and XIII, which the country has to comply with by virtue of Article 2 of the Convention. As regards the Government’s reporting obligations, the Committee recalls however that Part VI has ceased to apply as a result of the ratification of Convention No. 121 and Parts VII and IX have not been accepted by the country. It further notes that, in preparing its first report, the Government has not used the report form on the Convention adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO. The legislation referred to in the report, in particular the Law on Social Security and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia, the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance, the General Act on the National Employment Service, the Law on Financial Support for Families with Children, has not been attached. The Committee thus finds itself in the situation where it cannot yet form a clear picture of the legal framework governing the system of social security in the Republic of Serbia. Neither does it have enough statistical information to assess the scope of coverage and the level of the benefits provided by it. It would therefore like to draw the Government’s attention to the requirements of Article 76 of the Convention, which details the legal and statistical information requested under each of the substantive Articles of this instrument, and recalls that this information should be systematized according to the abovementioned report form on the Convention. As regards the calculation of the replacement level of benefits, the Government is asked to indicate, where maximum and minimum amounts of cash benefits or the insured earnings are fixed, whether it wishes to have recourse to Article 65 or 66 of the Convention, as well as to specify the amount of any family allowance received by the standard beneficiary in addition to his wage or benefit. With regard more particularly to the survivors’ benefit, the Committee would like the Government to calculate the replacement level of the benefit on the basis of Article 66 of the Convention and to specify what minimum qualifying period of contribution or employment is required for entitlement to a reduced benefit in accordance with Article 63. Please also provide the statistics on the adjustment of the old-age and survivors’ benefits to the cost of living, as required by Articles 65(10) and 66(8) of the Convention.

Republic of Montenegro

The Committee notes that the report from the Government of the Republic of Montenegro contains information on the application of Parts V, VI, IX and X of the Convention, but does not cover Parts II, III, IV and VIII, the obligations of which have also been accepted by the country. In respect of the former Parts of the Convention, the report states that the application of certain provisions of the Convention is ensured by the Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro and by the Act on Pension and Invalidity Insurance of 2003. No other national legislation is cited in the report as giving effect to the provisions of those or other accepted Parts of the Convention. No information is given on the provisions of Parts I, XI, XII and XIII, which the country has to comply with by virtue of Article 2 of the Convention. As regards the Government’s reporting obligations, the Committee recalls, however, that Part VI has ceased to apply as a result of the ratification of Convention No. 121 and Part IX has not been accepted by the country. It further notes that in preparing its first report, the Government has not used the report form on the Convention adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO. The Committee finds itself in the situation where it cannot yet form a clear picture of the legal framework governing the system of social security in the Republic of Montenegro. Neither does it have enough statistical information to assess the scope of coverage and the level of the benefits provided by it. It would, therefore, like to draw the Government’s attention to the requirements of Article 76 of the Convention, which details the legal and statistical information requested under each of the substantive Articles of this instrument and recalls that this information should be systematized according to the abovementioned report form on the Convention. With regard more particularly to the survivors’ benefit, the Committee would like the Government to calculate the replacement level of the benefit on the basis of Article 66 of the Convention and to specify what minimum qualifying period of contribution or employment is required for the entitlement to a reduced benefit in accordance with Article 63. Please also provide statistics on the adjustment of the survivors’ benefits to the cost of living, as required by Article 66(8) of the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed report for examination at its next session on the manner in which effect is given in both law and practice to each of the provisions of the Convention for the Parts which have been accepted (Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII and XIV), and also to provide all the statistics required in the manner requested in the report form adopted by the Governing Body.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes with interest the communication dated 19 April 2001 by which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia confirmed its acceptance of the obligations deriving from the Convention, which had been ratified by the former Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. The Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed report for examination at its next session on the manner in which effect is given in both law and practice to each of the provisions of the Convention for the Parts which have been accepted (Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII and XIV), and also to provide all the statistics required in the manner requested in the report form adopted by the Governing Body.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee notes with interest the communication dated 19 April 2001 by which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia confirmed its acceptance of the obligations deriving from the Convention, which had been ratified by the former Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. The Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed report for examination at its next session on the manner in which effect is given in both law and practice to each of the provisions of the Convention for the Parts which have been accepted (Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII and XIV), and also to provide all the statistics required in the manner requested in the report form adopted by the Governing Body.