Trade Union Alliance of Republika Srpska demands legal regulation of Sunday work, either prohibition or increased daily wage

(Patria) - The Trade Union Alliance of Republika Srpska has proposed amendments to legal regulations to increase the daily wage for Sunday work, or if that is not possible, to prohibit Sunday work throughout Republika Srpska.

Goran Stanković, president of the Trade Union Alliance of Republika Srpska, stated that union analyses show that in the countries of former Yugoslavia, with the exception of Serbia, and in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sunday work is prohibited.

"Where it is allowed, the daily wage is increased by 100 percent. Our proposal is in that direction," Stanković said at a press conference after a round table discussion titled "Sunday is not an ordinary working day, what is the solution".

Representatives of employers, the Ministry of Labor, the Labor Inspectorate, and a psychologist who presented research on the impact of Sunday work on productivity and family life were present at the round table.

Besides on-call services, shops and catering facilities mostly operate on Sundays in Republika Srpska, and more than 80 percent of women are employed in these sectors.

"In several local communities, Sunday work is prohibited, meaning about 15 percent of them have prohibited Sunday work, but many shops have reclassified themselves as convenience stores, so workers have gained nothing from it," explained Stanković.

He stated that employers in Republika Srpska treat weekend work as any other working day, and according to the Trade Union Alliance, this must change.

"The same worker should not work both Saturday and Sunday, nor can they work every weekend of the month, and we believe that a mother should not work on Sundays until her child turns seven. This is our position based on analyses," said Stanković.

Zoran Škrebić, president of the Union of Employers' Associations of Republika Srpska, stated that the employers' proposal is to analyze all proposals from the round table, and that each activity should be treated separately.

"Our goal is to find the best solutions," stated Škrebić.

Zoja Lakić, a psychologist, stated that research shows that night and Sunday work have negative effects on worker productivity, negatively affect family relationships, and especially child development.

"Child development is not optimal when parents, and especially mothers, are not involved in their lives," she added.

This dialogue of social partners is supported by the European Union through the project of strengthening civil society.