The Government of Sarajevo Canton (KS) and the Union of the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) concluded a new collective agreement for higher education and science at the University of Sarajevo, which regulates the rights and obligations from the employment relationship of academic, research and non-teaching staff.
“With this collective agreement, the Sarajevo Canton Government shows that it values the work of the academic community and that it is ready to regulate its rights systematically instead of resolving them on a case-by-case basis. The University of Sarajevo is a pillar of our educational and scientific development, and its employees deserve a clear and predictable framework for their work,” said the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Nihad Uk.
Cantonal Minister for Science, Higher Education and Youth Dušanka Bošković pointed out that the contract brings greater legal certainty for all categories of employees.
“Through joint work with the Union, we were able to define coefficients, allowances and fees in a way that follows the real needs of academic and non-teaching staff,” she said.
The collective agreement precisely defines the salary calculation: the basic salary is the product of the job complexity coefficient and the established base, with the fact that it cannot be lower than 70 percent of the average net salary in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The coefficients range from 2.47 for an unqualified worker to 9.09 for a full-time professor and academic advisor, while the basis and coefficients are adjusted every year by agreement between the Government and the Trade Union, before the adoption of the Sarajevo Canton budget.
The contract also guarantees additional material rights. Workers have the right to a holiday allowance in the amount of 50 percent of the average net salary in FBiH, while upon retirement they are entitled to severance pay in the amount of six average net salaries. In the event of the death of a worker or a member of the immediate family, the family is paid compensation in the amount of four average net wages, and in case of injury at work, serious illness or disability, the worker is entitled to one-time assistance in the amount of three average net wages.
Annual vacation can last up to 39 working days, and for the days of attendance at work, workers are also entitled to a meal allowance (hot meal) in the amount of 1 percent of the average net salary paid in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The contract also provides for functional supplements for management positions – from a 50 percent increase in the basic salary for the rector to 40 percent for vice-chancellors and deans, as well as salary increases for difficult working conditions, overtime and night work, and work on holidays.
Special attention is paid to protection against discrimination and equal treatment, the right to paid leave in a number of personal and family situations, the protection of workers’ health with mandatory systematic examinations every other year, as well as the rights of parents of children with severe developmental disabilities and mothers in labor.
The contract retains the right of the Union to strike, with the possibility of suspending the teaching-scientific process as a measure to ensure compliance with the obligations from the contract.
A joint commission of representatives of the Government and Trade Unions will be formed to interpret the provisions and monitor their application, which will submit a report on its work to the Government every six months, reported the KS Protocol and Press Service.
