Counter Grey - Supporting legal work engagement in case of increased scope of work

Donor:  The British Embassy in Serbia

Beneficiaries: The Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia

Implementatio period:  June 2021 – March 2022

"Counter Gray" is a direct response to the government's measures to expand the scope of the Law on Simplified Work Engagement on Seasonal Jobs by extending reforms in the tourism and hospitality sector, construction sector, auxiliary jobs and household services. As an added value, the project will provide review analysis of the situation in the creative industry sector, regarding the informal employment and shadow economy percentual share. 

Goals and activities

The Project aims to support the Serbian Government i.e., the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, the Tax Administration as well as other relevant beneficiaries (respective ministries) in order to improve economic governance and support COVID-19 recovery in Serbia. То achieve this a flexible and simplified model of formal employment of workers will be developed in order to move them to the formal (legal) employment channels. With these measures the project will contribute to the suppression of shadow economy - bettering the overall business environment in Serbia.

In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, the project will implement the following activities:

1. Technical support for the drafting of the Law on Simplified Work Engagement: This law will provide the legal basis for the simplified employment model as well as the IT system for the new employment model that integrates informal workers into the official economy.
2. Capacity building for the creation of an inclusive digital tool for simplified registration and user training: This user-friendly web and mobile application will allow employers and workers to simply register and unregister, allowing informal workers to stay within legal employment channels.
3. Promotion and awareness building of the new law and registration system: Inclusive promotional activities will be carried out to raise awareness and promote the new law and registration system, alongside improving awareness of the UK’s Good Governance Fund’s (GGF) role and support, with the goal of motivating employers and workers to abide by the new law and use the new software.