Serbia on 8 August celebrated “Construction Workers’ Day” with the signing of a new Special (branch) Collective Agreement covering its construction and the building materials industry, aimed at improving workers’ rights, providing legal certainty, and ensuring safety.

The agreement was signed in Kragujevac during a visit to the construction site of the city’s Northern Bypass, in an event organised by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure. Signatories included Saša Torlaković, President of the Trade Union of Construction Workers and the Building Materials Industry of Serbia, and Veselin Ražnatović, President of the Construction and Housing Industry Sector of the Employers’ Association of Serbia.

Minister of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure Aleksandra Sofronijević, who attended the event, stressed the construction sector’s role as a “pillar of the economy” and a key driver of growth. She underscored the government’s commitment to protecting workers’ rights, fostering social dialogue, and empowering domestic construction companies to lead on major infrastructure projects.

The ceremony was also attended by representatives of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS), the local union of the “HBIS Serbia” Employers’ Association of Serbia, and the Mayor of Kragujevac and media.

Key changes in the agreement:

The new agreement, which will come into force eight days after publication in the Official Gazette, introduces several significant reforms:

• Alignment with the Law on Safety and Health at Work: added a clause obliging the employer to nsure employees are protected against workplace injuries and occupational diseases.
• Introduced provisions prohibiting child labour, nder the Regulation on Determining Hazardous Work for Children (“Official Gazette of RS,” No. 53/2017), further emphasising employer responsibility in protecting minors.
• Clarification of the right to paid leave: scope and conditions of entitlement were clarified to avoid duplication, inconsistencies in the number of days, and differing interpretations, thereby improving legal certainty and preventing potential labour disputes.
• Established concrete criteria for determining job coefficients (salary scale/groups - level of education, job complexity, level of responsibility), allowing for fairer determination of base salary according to actual job scope and difficulty.
• Introduced the right to increased pay depending on working conditions.
• Clear distinction between business trips and field work: clarified the difference between per diem allowances (business trips) and field allowances (field work), enabling fair evaluation of these arrangements. This change is especially important for the construction industry, where field work is common, and contributes to easier application in practice.
• Special attention to the protection of women and mothers’ rights when performing high-risk jobs, to ensure safe and healthy working conditions.

Torlaković and Ražnatović emphasised that the agreement’s main goal is to equalise workers’ rights and maintain constructive union–employer relations as a basis for sector growth.

The collective agreement enters into force on the eighth day after publication in the “Official Gazette of the RS” and is binding on all members of the Employers’ Association. A request will be submitted for extending its application to other employers, following Article 257 of the Labour Law.