At the last session, the representatives of the Federal Parliament did not include in the agenda the changes to the Law on Contributions and the Law on Income Tax that were proposed by the Association of Employers as a temporary solution. Employers claim that this would enable an increase in workers’ wages up to 400 BAM, since contributions would be reduced.
While questions are being asked as to whether this would really be the case, why the authorities are waiting, the queues in front of the embassies are getting longer and longer.
The aim of the amendments to the law is to increase all salaries of employees in the real sector from 100 to 400 BAM. By paying reduced contributions, it would be possible for the total wage increase to go directly to the workers, as a temporary solution until systemic regulation, the employers reasoned. However, they are not optimistic that this will be on the list of priorities for the deputies this summer.
“This would roughly mean that we have lost another year and would put at great risk the retention of the remaining number of workers, the improvement of their standards, and thus the increase of investment and development in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH)“, said Mario Nenadic, director of the Employers’ Association of the FBiH.
While the Trade Union believes in the positive effects of the proposal, Fahrudin Sahovic states that the Independent Worker Trade Union of BiH is skeptical, comparing it to last year’s decision by the federal prime minister on the assistance of 1,080 convertible BAM, which only about 20 percent of workers received.
“This proposal by the employers goes in the direction that employers who have the option, it is given to them, to be able to increase up to 400 BAM. Even now, no one is preventing them from increasing. The fact that we are also advocating with them to relieve the economy, to reduce contribution rates, but not at the expense of workers.”
“There are fewer and fewer workers in BiH. Employers, at least those who intend to develop their businesses, need workers and they are finding ways to retain these workers,” believes Mersiha Besirevic, president of the trade and service trade union of BiH.
Some representatives remind that a set of laws is being prepared by the Government which will enable the increase of the minimum wage.
“The key meaning of these laws is that workers’ wages are now determined in gross amounts in their contracts and to reduce the aggregate contribution rate, which means that from January 1st, 2024, we will be in a situation where the difference, which would otherwise go to the state, goes directly to workers,” explains Belmin Zukan, a representative in the Parliament of the FBiH.
The Independent Union expects the adoption of that set of laws, but it probably won’t be adopted until the fall. Although it is uncertain whether the representatives will consider the employers’ proposal before the vacations, one thing is certain – workers are leaving the country en masse, and the authorities are clearly in no hurry to stop the outflow.
E.Dz.
