The Second session of Working Group 2,
“Regulation of new (flexible) form of work in the Reforms of Labor relations in Republic of Macedonia”
Prof. Dr. Mileva Gjurovska gave the opening speech at the second session of WG 2 of NCEU. In her address to the audience she stressed that “…the new flexible forms of employment are necessary to be covered in the Law on Labor Relations, not only because they are fiercely debated in the frames of the European Union, but more importantly because they become inevitable in the Macedonian reality.”
She added that new forms of employment and mobile jobs should be viewed positively, as they will allow adaptation to the conditions created by the rapid development of technology and thus the workers will be able to find employment more easily. In this way, the stereotype that these flexible forms of employment are often associated as informal work or the black labor market, will be overcome.
This position was supported and agreed by Jovana Trenchevska, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, who announced the preparation of a new draft Law on Labor Relations in the direction to improve protection of workers’ rights as one of the basic efforts of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia.
“The development of technology, in particular online working via internet which is increasingly present in the economic activities of private sector entities, requires such contracts to be more common and systematically recognized and regulated. This is a challenge for every country, and in these moments special attention is paid to the preparation and adoption of new legal solutions within the framework of the new Law on Labor Relations whose preparation has been started. At the same time, care should be taken to ensure that this form does not cause a reduction in workers’ rights and their undercover exploitation” emphasized Trenchevska.
Nano Ruzin, the Rector of FON University and expert of WG2, pointed out that the state should allow the opening of so-called co-working spaces for meetings of people from various economic communities, as there are over 200 in Paris of such co-working spaces and which are increasingly getting economic importance.
Angel Dimitrov, president of the Organization of Employers of Macedonia (ORM), as a participant at the session, pointed out that in Europe, preference is given to fixed-term contracts, and not to contracts for an indefinite period of time.
Other participants in the session, including representatives from the academic community, civil society, relevant international associations and other experts, agreed that new labor market trends require new flexible forms of employment to be regulated in the reforms in labor relations in Macedonia.
The session ended with the adoption of conclusions on issues related to employment and regulation in the domain of labor, particularly flexible forms of labor, as an important topic for the social development, stability and European perspective of the Republic of Macedonia.