In two days, on March 6th, educational workers will receive the first part of their February salary, and according to all announcements, it should be calculated according to the number of hours they spent in classrooms.
The Prime Minister of Serbia resigned Milos Vucevic he said on Tuesday (March 4) that professors, teachers and teachers who did not hold classes will not receive their February salary at all.
"Those who don't work will not get paid," Vučević told Prva television, because if they did, it would "absolutely" not be fair compared to those who worked.
Such an announcement came earlier from the Minister of Education Slavica Djukić Dejanović. She said February wages would depend on whether teachers taught normal 45-minute classes, went on legal strike with 30-minute cut-offs or suspended classes.
Mario Reljanović, an expert in labor law, tells "Vreme" that the principle "they didn't work, so they won't get anything" sounds logical, but it is not in accordance with the law.
"The labor law is very imprecise and the whole situation is complicated and does not directly recognize the possibility that teachers do not work at all, but only hold classes of 30 minutes each," Reljanović told "Vreme".
"In the case of teachers who are on strike, there are no workers here who are on strike within the meaning of that law." If the ministry claims that the employee does not have protection under the Law on Strikes, then his salary cannot be calculated according to that law", explains Reljanović.
He also points out that judicial practice is related to employees who do not come to work, but, as he adds, "educators who are blocked from teaching go to schools, they do not teach, but go to work", says Reljanović.
He adds that there is no formula according to which salaries can be calculated for teachers who are suspended, because "there is a legal gap".
"It is easiest to stick to the letter of the law, but that law does not recognize many cases," explains Reljanović.
What do directors do?
In February, the Ministry of Education sent a letter to school principals requesting that for the payment of wages for that month, the number of working hours should be calculated according to the record of effective working hours for each employee within a forty-hour work week, and the principal will answer for the correctness and accuracy of this.
However, not all directors have decided to act according to this memo, and some are asking for additional clarifications.
The director of the Twelfth Belgrade High School, Svetlana Miljenović, sent the Ministry of Education a calculation for the payment of February salaries, which were not reduced, regardless of whether the teachers worked at full capacity, while her colleague from the First School of Economics, Milibor Saković, sent a calculation that, as she says, is in line with how much was worked, reports FoNet.
Svetlana Miljenović told FoNet that she is still waiting for the answer from the Ministry of Education on whether she will be approved to pay the wages in full, regardless of the teacher's participation in the suspension of classes or shortening of classes.
"I was guided by the fact that the teachers will definitely make up for what they missed and that plans are already being made for that," the director of the Twelfth High School explained her decision.
On the other hand, her colleague from the First School of Economics says that teachers are highly educated citizens and should be aware of the consequences of their actions, which in this case bring 15 to 20 percent less February salary.
"We will act according to the order, I calculated exactly how much everyone worked and that's it," said Saković for FoNet.
"A distinction should be made - those who worked 45 minutes and those who did not work that much cannot receive the same salary. It is not fair to either of them", said Saković and added that he still expects dissatisfaction, as well as potential lawsuits due to reduced salaries.
Additional clarifications
School principals in Niš also point to potential lawsuits.
They sent a letter to the Ministry of Education asking for additional clarifications on the calculation of February salaries.
They point out that the basis for making a decision deciding on the right, obligation or responsibility of an employee can only be a law or a by-law, and it cannot be a letter from the minister.
The minister's letter, as they add, does not present any legal basis for the action required of the director in connection with the salary reduction for February 2025.
"The regulations of the Republic of Serbia do not provide for the conduct of school principals as requested in the aforementioned letter." This means that the actions of the schools according to the Ministry's letter would be illegal and would be grounds for lawsuits by employees whose wages were reduced or denied. School principals would be responsible for employee lawsuits, whose actions would put employees in a situation where they have to exercise their rights in court," the letter states.
The laws do not recognize suspension as a form of strike
The principals of elementary and secondary schools in Nis, who sign this letter, remind us that the umbrella law does not regulate the issue of strikes, nor the issue of a complete suspension of work.
"The strike law prescribes the ways to go on strike while respecting the minimum work process. From the letter of the Ministry of Education, it is concluded that a reduction in wages is requested for teachers and professional associates who are in a complete suspension of work. These are teachers and professional associates who, therefore, are not in a legal form of strike", they state.
The Law on Basic Education and Education and the Law on Secondary Education and Education prescribe that if a teacher, educator and professional associate participate in a strike without ensuring the minimum work process, the school director initiates disciplinary proceedings.
The measure of termination of the employment relationship is imposed on the teacher, educator and professional associate for whom responsibility is determined in the disciplinary procedure.
"Therefore, the consequence is the termination of the employment relationship." Which means that the current laws do not recognize the suspension of work as a form of strike, but only the minimum of the work process, for which it is possible to reduce the salary", the letter of the director of Niš schools states.
At the same time, they remind, work has been suspended in many schools based on the article of the Law on Safety and Health at Work, based on the Ministry's letter dated December 20, 2024, which started the winter vacation earlier, due to, as stated, "a serious threat to the safety of students", as well as that "the measure of the early end of the first semester aims to preserve the health, safety and well-being of all participants in the educational process".
"After that, the Ministry of Education did not determine that the reasons for endangering the safety of the participants in the educational process have ceased," added the directors of Niš schools.
Dušan Kokot from the Independent Union of Educational Workers of Serbia told "Vreme" earlier that there is no legal basis for salary reduction in the letter.
"Teachers who are on suspension are not on legal strike according to the provisions of the Law on Strike." "Teachers are suspending classes according to the decision made by the Ministry of Education in December that it is not safe to go to school when the semester has ended earlier," said Kokot.
His union will protect the rights of all employees by filing lawsuits against schools that withhold wages from employees without disciplinary action.
"If the Ministry reduces wages and we initiate proceedings, they put the budget of the Republic of Serbia at risk, because mass lawsuits will follow," explained Kokot.
And if the salaries are not paid, the teachers are not obliged to make up for the lessons, which, as he said, "ruins the school year".
