The Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes was awarded a prestigious CAF Effective User Certificate as the first institution in the Republic Serbia fulfilling the required quality standards.

The certificate was awarded by the Regional Quality Management Center that is a part of the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA). The Regional School of Public Administration is a joint organization of the Western Balkans countries and EU, founded in order to promote cooperation and public administration as reliable and efficient services for citizens and economy, especially in the process of accession to the EU.

With this certificate the Agency commitment to achieving excellence in operational processes, improvement of the quality work and provision of services to the citizens and economy are acknowledged.

The Common Assessment Framework (hereinafter: CAF) is a special, adapted EU model of quality management in public administration. It is a self-assessment tool used jointly by the management and employees to analyze and identify own strength and areas for improvement. The final goal is to achieve excellent results and influence the users, citizens and society alike.

The quality management system has been implemented in the Agency since 2022 on the basis of the "Agreement on Implementation of the CAF Quality Management Model" in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-government and the EU project entitled "Support to Public Administration Reforms".

After the CAF quality management model has been established and successfully applied, the Agency addressed the ReSPA Regional Quality Management Center applying for assessment and certification. After the external CAF procedure for external feedback (the so-called PEF procedure) was conducted by an international commission, the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) decided to support recommendations of the independent evaluators (EFAC – External Feedback Actors),) and award this prestigious recognition to the Agency. This certificate is awarded for a three-year period, and according to the data of the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA), the CAF quality system certificate is held by only about 4000 organizations globally.

The agency is proud to be the first in Serbia to receive this prestigious recognition which also obliges us to pursue the continuous work on promotion of services for our users. Application of the CAF model has shown us our areas for improvement and provided us with tools for improvement, and also enabled us to identify strength of our institution.

The Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes acquires the right to use special stickers and logo "CAF Effective User, CAF Excellence Label", while the official certificate award by ReSPA will be organized subsequently.

You can find the complete report HERE

In the process of peaceful settlement of a collective labor dispute at the “Zavod za udžbenike” Public Enterprise, which was conducted regarding the right to unionization and pertinent actions, the issues between parties to the dispute were resolved and the Agreement was signed. The procedure was raised upon initiative of the “Zavod za udžbenike” Union and both parties agreed to appoint Živko Kulić as the acting conciliator.

At the first hearing, following the letter of the law, the acting conciliator set up the conciliation committee composed of the parties to the dispute and acting conciliator. After three hearings, a recommendation was signed on how to resolve the collective labor dispute, and accordingly, the agreement was reached settling all disputed issues.

Having decided to resort to the process of peaceful settlement of labor dispute in line with a recommendation of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the employer at the “Zavod za udžbenike” Public Enterprise and “Zavod za udžbenike” Union illustrated how a social dialogue between employees and employer can result in proper, amicable solution.

Upon advice of the employer, the National Bank of Serbia, proceedings were initiated for peaceful settlement of labor dispute before the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes. The other party in the dispute, the Workers Union of the National Bank of Serbia, agreed to resolving the dispute peacefully. Subject of the dispute was related to unionization and pertinent activities at the employer’s organization.

In line with the law, the Agency director appointed Miljko Valjarević as the acting conciliator. At the first hearing he set up the Conciliation Committee composed of the parties to the dispute and acting conciliator.

In the course of negotiations, parties to the dispute showed a high degree of understanding for presented suggestions as well as a high degree of mutual appreciation. After the hearings, a common recommendation was mutually agreed upon, advising on the way to resolve all disputed issues. It was signed by representatives of the parties to the dispute and acting conciliator.

The employer and trade union in the National Bank of Serbia followed the recommendation of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and resorting to the procedure for peaceful settlement of labor disputes set an example of willingness to take part in the social dialogue, all in order to come up with compromise solutions that are acceptable to all parties.

The second conference on appeals mechanisms was held on November 15, 2023 in Novi Sad. A multitude of union and employer representatives attended the presentation on opportunities for protection of labor rights before the Agency as an external protection mechanism. The conference was organized within a project that is part of the "Initiative for Global Solidarity" of the German Developmental Cooperation implemented by the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) together with International Labor Organization (ILO) in Serbia.

Miloš Prokić, an Agency advisor, introduced the audience to the Agency operations and competencies, and how the procedures were initiated. In his presentation he is especially highlighted the advantages of the concept of peaceful settlement of labor disputes and the need to ease the burden faced by courts with about 40,000 new cases of this type annually. In continuation of the session, all participants were given an opportunity to ask questions and join the discussion.

In addition to the Agency staff, representatives of leading unions, a representative of the Commissioner for Equality Protection and many the others also took part in the event.

A delegation of the Republic North of Macedonia visited the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes in the period from November 8 to 10, 2023. The aim of the visit was to learn about the system for labor dispute resolution in the Republic Serbia and apply good practice of our Agency within the reforms of labor legislation relating to alternative resolution of labor disputes that are ongoing in their country. The five-member delegation was composed of representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, representatives of mediators and International Labor Organization, namely Maja Papatolevska, Radmila Loškovska, Nataša Mečkaroska Simjanoska, Ilija Manasiev and Emil Krstanovski.

The Agency Director, Ivica Lazović, introduced the guests to the legal framework for peaceful settlement of labor disputes in the Republic Serbia and good practices, while Dragana Andonovska, head of the Legal Affairs Group talked about special training programs for conciliators and arbitrators, as well as about the fees, expenses and remuneration of conciliators and the arbitrators for their work. Jelena Golubović, an Agency advisor presented the process of digitalization in the Agency and the use modern IT resources. Miloš Prokić, another Agency advisor, introduced the guests to innovative services and raising the visibility of mechanisms for alternative dispute resolution. The guests also had an opportunity to directly talk with Agency conciliators and arbitrators about specific cases they deal with in practice.

The Agency is very proud of this high interest in ours practice and working model, as well as the fact that the Republic of North Macedonia is the fifth country in the region that is interested in our model of peaceful settlement of labor disputes and is considering the possibility of its implementation in their own legal system. A new law on peaceful settlement of labor disputes is currently being drafted in this country and experiences from this study visit will be used in proposing the future solutions.

On November 3, 2023 the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes in Belgrade organized a workshop for conciliators and arbitrators on reconciliation and mediation in labor disputes - conflict management approaches and mediator skills. The event took place on the Agency premises. The workshop was led by Milena Tasić, an Agency mediator and arbitrator, in order to share her knowledge and skills acquired on the certified online course run by the International Labor Organization and their Training Center from Turin.

Dr. Ivica Lazović, the Agency Director, opened the workshop and on this occasion pointed out the cooperation with the ILO contributing to realization this seminar and emphasized the importance of continuous education of conciliators and arbitrators. At the same time Lazović introduced the conciliators and arbitrators to activities currently implemented by the Agency.

The attending conciliators and arbitrators were able to learn about the latest ILO practices in conflict management. The participants also had an opportunity to learn about standards and principles applied by the ILO in conciliation and mediation, as well as about the approach to the reconciliation and mediation process from the standpoint of the International Labor Organization.

Conciliators and arbitrators were also given the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the discussion, to present own perspective on some situations and dilemmas which they encountered in practice.