13. 12. 2017.

At the closing conference of the project ’Social partners together to increase the visibility of extra-judicial protection of labour rights - peaceful settlement of labour disputes’, held on 7 December 2017 in Belgrade in the hotel ‘Serbia’, the results of this project were presented. It was realized by the Citizens Association the Initiative for Development and Cooperation, with the financial support of Solidar Suisse/Swiss Labour Assistance (SLA) - Office in Serbia, and in partnership with the United Trade Unions ‘NEZAVISNOST’, the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia, the Union of Employers of Serbia and supported by the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.

In addition to presenting the results of the project, the aim of the conference was to emphasize the significance of the institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes and its advantages in contrast to court settlement of disputes and the importance of amendments to the Law on the Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.

Representatives of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes held several workshops during this project in 2017, aiming to bring the procedure before the Agency closer to employees and employers, through the presentation of the Agency's work and simulation of the procedure for peaceful settlement of labour disputes. In this way, the social partners gained insight into the process of peaceful settlement of labour disputes and its practical advantages. The workshops were held in Vrsac on October 6, Kragujevac on October 20, Kraljevo on November 3 and Uzice on November 17, 2017.

‘Online’ course for employers was presented at the conference and it can be seen on the following link: www.mrrs.rs. The aim of this course is to get acquainted with the settlement of disputes before the Agency through a short video presentation. After the presentation, a short On-line test can be done in order to check the acquired knowledge through this course.

The smartphone application was also presented, aimed to make the exchange of information for all interested parties easier, for citizens through the possibility of asking questions and initiating the procedure through a mobile phone, but also for conciliators and arbitrators through an expert forum in order to unify the practice. The application will be available for download from the "Google Play Store" and "App Store" by the end of the year.

A Handbook on good practices in peaceful settlement of labour disputes was presented, showing the practice and experience in peaceful settlement of individual and collective labour disputes through the experiences of social partners, the Agency and especially through the practical experience of conciliators and arbiters.

The Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour disputes, Mile Radivojević, opened the conference. Miodrag Nedeljković, Executive Director of IDC, Olivera Stepanović from Solidar Suisse/Swiss Labour Assistance (SLA), Nebojša Atanacković, President of the Employers' Union of Serbia, Duško Vuković, vice president of the SSSS Council and Dejan Titović, member of IO UGS ‘Nezavisnost’ also spoke about the results of the project.