31. 10. 2017.

On 26 October 2017, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, based on the proposal of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, adopted the Conclusion, recommending the possibility of participation of conciliators in collective negotiation when concluding collective agreements in accordance with the law regulating the field of peaceful settlement of labour disputes. The Recommendation refers to statutory authorities, the autonomous province and local self-government units, other authorities and organizations established by the Republic of Serbia, the autonomous province or a local self-government unit, public agencies and organizations subject to the regulations on public agencies, public services financed from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, the autonomous province and the local self-government units, i.e. from contributions for compulsory social insurance, as well as public enterprises and for-profit corporations founded by the Republic of Serbia, the autonomous province or the local self-government unit and the for-profit corportions whose founder is a public company.Also, the Government recommended that the authorized representatives of the aforementioned institutions inform their representatives in collective negotiation about the possibility of entering a clause into collective agreements to resolve labour disputes in accordance with the law regulating the field of peaceful settlement of labour disputes.The main reason for drawing this conclusion is the need to refer the recommendation to state authorities, to use the possibility of the participation of conciliators in collective negotiation when concluding collective agreements in accordance with the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, which would result in savings of budget funds by preventing collective labour disputes and reducing the number of these disputes before the courts.A large number of collective agreements were concluded for three years in the period from July 2014 to January 2015. The agreement period is currently expiring, and collective negotiations are and will be conducted with the aim of concluding collective agreements with a new period of validity.The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes pursuant to Article 16 of the Law on the Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes may provide participation of a conciliator in collective negotiating, which participates in the proces of negotiating, indicates to participants proposals that are not in accordance with the law and other regulations and provides participants with professional and other assistance, which contributes to the quality of the text of collective agreements. Also, collective agreements contain provisions on ways of resolving labour disputes, where it often happens that the possibility of settling labour disputes in accordance with the law regulating the field of peaceful settlement of disputes is not recognized and consequently arranged, which often results in expensive court procedures, and most often burdens the budget of the Republic of Serbia. With this recommendation, the courts will be relieved and the budgetary resources of the Republic of Serbia will be saved.This Conclusion was published in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” No. 96/2017, 27 October 2017.