The commercial sector in Serbia is rather specific: it encompasses round 200,000 workers, 70% of them are women and wages are 30% under the national average. Currently, there is a big campaign aimed at eliminating the work on Sundays echoed by both positive and negative reactions. In the EU, the issue was left to the member states, which have the full freedom to regulate it following their specific cultural and religious traditions. So far, nine countries decided to have their shops closed on Sundays, while there are such examples even out of the EU, too (Montenegro).
In Serbia, it was mostly unions to fight against the work on Sundays. There are, however, rumours about a forthcoming tripartite meeting of employer, union and government representatives, who are to deal with this problem and evaluate various options. Unionists are unanimously for fully work-free Sundays, while the employers prefer to see shops closed only at the end of the first (or first and last) week. It was also proposed only to limit working hours (until 11 o’clock in the morning). The government seems to be rather positive about the unions’ initiative and gave them even some signs of support.
The workers in the sector generally earn only round 30,000 dinars (254 euros, which equals the minimum wage) a month and are not paid extra hours. In addition, they have no extra bonus for Sundays. The employers like to quote the example of Montenegro, where the enacting of a similar law caused a dismissal of 15% of the work force. They also hint on a wage reduction, but given the already poor wages it seems pretty absurd and is unacceptable.
CATUS Vice-President Vukovic is categorical: the main culprit for the work overload in commerce is Serbian Labour Law, which stipulates that “Sunday is usually a day-off”. The term “usually” was then interpreted by the employers as “never”, i.e. in a way to suit their greed for profit. “Unions are convinced that the work-free Sundays would contribute to the growth of productivity and give people more opportunities to spend time with their children – without negatively affecting the GDP. The example of some developed countries has already proved it”, said Vukovic, adding that “any talk about a possible reduction of wages cannot be considered other than shameful”.
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