NALED Meets with Minister of Labour to Advance Labour Legislation and Social Entrepreneurship

Representatives of NALED met with Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski to discuss improvements to labour legislation, the development of social entrepreneurship, and opportunities to expand flexible forms of employment.

During the meeting, NALED presented recommendations from the Grey Book related to amendments to the Labour Law, including the regulation of remote work, the probationary employment framework, and more flexible use of annual leave. It was agreed that these recommendations would be taken into consideration during the formation of the working group tasked with drafting the new Labour Law.

The implementation of the Law on Social Entrepreneurship and the challenges that continue to hinder its full application were also discussed. NALED pointed out that the Social Entrepreneurship Development Programme and the bylaw regulating reporting on the implementation of the law have not yet been adopted, despite the legal deadline of nine months from the law’s enactment.

In line with a Grey Book recommendation, it was emphasized that the Programme should define concrete financial and non-financial support measures for social enterprises, strengthen the institutional framework, encourage their participation in public procurement and public calls, and include awareness-raising and educational measures.

The Minister expressed interest in continuing work on the preparation and adoption of the Programme, while NALED pledged to support the Ministry and continue advocating for its adoption.

A particular focus of the discussion was the possibility of expanding the scope of the Law on Simplified Work Engagement, especially regarding women engaged in domestic and household support services. NALED presented a concept for regulating this area, which has been submitted to the Ministry for consideration, with the aim of providing this category of workers with simpler and more structured access to the labour market.