{"id":6275,"date":"2026-11-05T18:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T17:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/?p=6275"},"modified":"2026-11-05T18:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T17:01:13","slug":"aligning-serbia-s-labour-migration-legislation-with-eu-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/aligning-serbia-s-labour-migration-legislation-with-eu-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Aligning Serbia\u2019s labour migration legislation with EU law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key messages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Serbia should strengthen the protection of foreign workers by aligning its labour migration legislation and practice with EU law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Single permit holders should be able to change employer and be protected against permit withdrawal solely because of short-term unemployment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Foreign workers should be able to report violations, recover unpaid wages and obtain support through accessible procedures and effective protection against retaliation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About the publication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Serbia is increasingly a destination for labour migration. According to the Migration Profile 2025, employment accounted for 67 % of first-time temporary residence approvals in 2025, and 64 672 foreign nationals were residing in Serbia on employment grounds at year-end, up from 49 147 a year earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rules governing the employment and residence of foreign nationals are not yet fully aligned with EU law. Single permit holders generally need prior consent from the National Employment Service to change employer, a worker who loses their job must conclude a new contract within 30 days, and inspection complaints do not automatically confer party status. Serbia\u2019s EU accession process provides an opportunity to address these gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The brief maps the legislative changes and implementation requirements arising from eight EU directives relevant to labour migration. For each of 13 issues, it sets out the current framework in Serbia, the requirement for alignment and the relevant EU provisions. It covers the Law on Employment of Foreigners, the Law on Foreigners and related legislation on labour, agency employment, inspection oversight, free legal aid, procedure and bankruptcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stronger safeguards and protection of foreign workers against exploitation also protect the domestic labour market and the competitiveness of domestic workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What needs to be aligned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alignment with EU law requires Serbia to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Allow a change of employer upon notification to the competent authority and, as a first step, at least where the employer seriously breaches its obligations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allow employment D-visa holders one change of employer while the visa is valid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Extend the period for finding new work after job loss from 30 days to three months, or six months after two years with a permit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Preserve residence and work while a permit renewal is pending.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Define particularly exploitative working conditions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduce effective complaint procedures and protection against dismissal and other forms of retaliation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enable victims to report crimes and exercise victims\u2019 rights regardless of residence status.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide legal aid to victims of crime who lack sufficient means.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Formalise the identification and referral of trafficking victims.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inform workers of their rights to recover unpaid wages and lodge complaints before a return decision is enforced.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduce a presumption that wages were at least the minimum wage and enable recovery after return and where the employer is insolvent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduce liability along subcontracting chains and equal protection in agency and platform work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allow family members to obtain autonomous residence in cases of domestic violence and other particularly difficult circumstances.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key messages About the publication Serbia is increasingly a destination for labour migration. According to the Migration Profile 2025, employment accounted for 67 % of first-time temporary residence approvals in 2025, and 64 672 foreign nationals were residing in Serbia on employment grounds at year-end, up from 49 147 a year earlier. The rules governing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[],"grupa":[143],"intervencija":[138],"program":[139],"vrsta-sadrzaja":[],"class_list":["post-6275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications","grupa-migranti","intervencija-zagovaranje","program-asylum-and-migration"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6282,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6275\/revisions\/6282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6275"},{"taxonomy":"grupa","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/grupa?post=6275"},{"taxonomy":"intervencija","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/intervencija?post=6275"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=6275"},{"taxonomy":"vrsta-sadrzaja","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideje.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vrsta-sadrzaja?post=6275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}