In May, the state decided to help all companies due to the situation with the corona virus, which, as it turned out, was much milder then than the current one. Due to the introduction of the state of emergency on March 16, on the day when Serbia had a total of 57 cases infected with the virus and 29 hospitalized, and the consequent closure of schools, kindergartens, craftsmen, abolition of public transport, movement ban, most of the economy suffered a severe blow.
Then, in May, the state decided that employees in all companies that want to pay three minimum wages, with the obligation of employers to contribute to these wages, will start paying from 2021, and that they must not fire employees for at least three months after payment of the last minimal, which came in July. After that, despite the demands that the new aid be “targeted”, that is, that the state does not help those who do well, but only the most vulnerable, the state decided that all companies can receive twice the 60% minimum, as well as that the payment postpone the contribution for a month, with the same condition – that for three months from the last payment (September) there will be no dismissal of more than 10 percent of employees, under the threat of returning the money received.
Only hoteliers were among the few who received “targeted” assistance: in September they applied for assistance of 500 euros per room (350 euros per individual bed and 150 euros per accommodation unit), at the end of October Minister Sinisa Mali announced that 312 hotels received about 145 million euros in aid, again on the condition that they are not allowed to lay off 10 percent of employees by the end of December.
So far, the wishes and cries of some other sectors that are still most affected by the corona virus, such as travel agencies, caterers, party organizers, carriers, have remained unanswered… In addition to these most affected businesses, ie employers, the most vulnerable are often overlooked – workers “on the black” or with an uncertain contract and the seasonal nature of the job.
There are hints of a “hot winter” after this safety net is removed, that is, when the mentioned ban on layoffs in companies that have taken state aid expires in January. At the same time, companies that have taken the minimum wage for their workers should start paying contributions for them – otherwise the companies will be obliged to return the money that the state paid to their workers.
On the other hand, despite a record budget deficit of 4.1 billion euros, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali announced on Tuesday that “the state will again help citizens and the economy with new measures if the need arises due to the situation regarding the corona virus.”
According to the latest data from the Republic Bureau of Statistics, in September this year, the number of tourist arrivals was 43.1 percent lower than in September 2019, and the number of overnight stays in the same period was 22.9 percent. The number of overnight stays of foreign tourists decreased by 76.3 percent in September 2020. Overall, at the level of Serbia, the number of arrivals in the first nine months is only half the number of tourist arrivals in the same period last year, while the number of overnight stays is about two thirds compared to the first nine months of 2019. In the Belgrade region, the number of arrivals is only about one quarter, and the number of overnight stays is about one third compared to last year.
On the other hand, the number of arrivals in the first nine months than last year was recorded by the Vrdnik spa (22.7 percent more), Stara planina (37.8 percent more) and Divcibare (8.4 percent), according to the SBS data.
The new Minister of Tourism, Tatjana Matic, announced assistance to travel agencies in the amount of 1.2 million euros “for subsidies for insurance policy premiums to travel agencies”. Although it has been announced for weeks, a solution to (this) problem of travel agencies has not yet been reached.
According to Ana Jecmenica from the Association of Tourist Agencies of Serbia (UTAS), out of a total of 415 agencies, insurance companies offered insurance policies for only twenty, and 12 of them took those policies, without which the business of agencies is not possible.
“We are not only fighting to re-establish legal frameworks for agencies, ie to provide insurance policies, but to improve the position of tourism workers in economic terms. The tourism sector is one of the most affected by the epidemic. Spa and mountain tourism did well this season, but city hotels and hotels that work with foreigners are very vulnerable. Also, agencies that work with both tourists coming into the country and those leaving the country, especially agencies that are closely linked to groups from abroad: foreign tourists could not they come to Serbia, so the tourist guides did not have time to lead around Serbia,” says Jecmenica for “Vreme”.
She states that insurance companies have offered insurance policies mainly to large agencies.
“Some of our members have received a condition – in order to receive an offer for a policy, they must have a property worth 150 percent of the sum insured. One colleague commented – imagine someone who does business in Bor and needs to take a guarantee of 200,000 euros: he must has a property of 300,000 euros. In Bor is a square about 300 euros, which means that he needs a property of 1000 square meters, as it does not count movable property. This is rarely anyone can afford, small family businesses certainly do not own some hotels and we are now fighting to ensure a level playing field, because the Constitution guarantees us the right to work. ”
According to her, it is estimated that tourism in Serbia was at a loss of 1.2 billion euros by October, and that employees in tourism are afraid of an even greater loss because it is very uncertain whether winter arrangements will be realized, and she says that there is a lot of interest around the world for the celebration of the New Year in Serbia.
“But at the moment we are not even allowed to work, except for those 12 agencies – no one has the opportunity to organize trips. Who was able, if he is an entrepreneur, to put the agency on hold for a long time. Who has a limited liability company (doo), There is a problem due to the complicated procedure for closing down such a company. A large number of workers were fired. In total (exclusively) in the tourism sector, without related activities, 5,000 people were employed before the crisis, now that number is about 3700. Many colleagues took the other a package of aid, which will enable them to keep the workers until the end of December, and only then will the big layoffs start, “Jecmenica emphasizes.
In the last few weeks, in separate announcements, the association of caterers and the so-called event industry, ie celebration organizers.
“Measures that, in various forms, have been in force for more than six months, endanger the existence of caterers, waiters, bartenders, chefs, confectioners, musicians, photographers, decorators, support staff, beverage and food suppliers, agricultural producers, playrooms, wedding organizers and all others who pay all their obligations regularly, fill the budget and finance the public sector. All of them are now forgotten and left in the lurch,” said a group of caterers from Kragujevac, Nis, Arandjelovac, Kula and Trstenik, as well as the Association of Night Bars and clubs.
The caterers ask – how exactly is it designed for them to survive, is there a “plan, program and package of measures that will help those who pay all their obligations regularly, fill the budget and finance the public sector survive this period, and why not”? How is it possible to push one branch of the economy into a cocoon, forget it and not think about the people who live from it at all? With restrictive measures, their work is practically disabled, “until no obligation is stopped or reduced” and they list specific measures that would help them – payment of the minimum until normalization of business, with write-off of taxes and contributions, reduction of VAT from 20 to five percent, reduction rental prices and local taxes, abolition of eco taxes…
On the other hand, a week ago, the association “Event Industry”, which consists of companies engaged in renting space for organizing celebrations and events, decorators, wedding salons, photographers, cameramen, catering companies, confectioners, musicians, technical support for audio-video equipment and lighting… stated that this branch of the economy is “the only one that has a ban on performing activities” due to epidemic measures.
“Due to that, the existence of a large number of employees and members of their families is endangered – 80,000 people have been without any income and on the edge of existence for more than eight months. Neither the state nor the public recognizes us as a special activity. We are not caterers, we are not restaurants, cafes, rafts, clubs, boutiques, shopping malls, marketing agencies, we are the organizers of celebrations, especially weddings, but also other private celebrations and corporate events. All of the above work somehow, only our work is disabled,” said the association.
Similarly, caterers, among other things, demand payment of the minimum for all employees for the period when they are banned from work, abolition of the obligation to pay taxes and contributions on wages during the ban on work, one-time assistance, abolition of obligations to pay company fees and environmental taxes for all months, work was banned, VAT reduced to 10 percent…
From the beginning of the corona crisis, it was clear that the easiest to lose their jobs would be the most disenfranchised, who have no rights – those who work “on the black market”.
According to official data from the Labor Force Survey, at the end of the second quarter of 2020, there were 431,800 informally employed in Serbia. As prof. Mario Reljanovic from the Institute for Comparative Law, together with those who work “on the black market”, those who do not have an employment contract are in the same situation.
“People who work ‘on the black’ just came in and said, ‘Sorry, we don’t need you anymore’, and that was it. There was nothing they could do about it. Those who work outside of employment – it’s temporary and occasional jobs , work under a contract, professional training – formally they are not in a situation where undeclared workers are, but in fact they are: the employer can also come to them and dismiss them without a reason for dismissal, without a procedure, without a notice period that, we are terminating the contract and that is the end “, says Reljanovic.
He notes that it is possible that several factories violated the law and workers’ rights due to collective dismissals of hundreds of workers, without any warning, without a program for resolving redundancies, without cooperation with trade unions. He also says that during the epidemic, the violation of working conditions was especially pronounced – safety measures and protection of health at work, as well as transportation of workers.
“We had the famous ‘Jure’ case, which became an epidemiological hotspot back in April. Also, when public transport was abolished, employers did not want to organize other transport, although their obligation is to either organize or pay for transport. The law does not provide for the situation at all, that there is no public transport, and when it was abolished – people managed as they knew how,” concludes Reljanovic, Vreme reports.
