Our colleagues, Partner Ivana Disovic and Associate Nevena Tomic Lucic took part in the business education event “Amendments to labour and tax legislation – changes and applications” organised by the Union of Employers’ Associations of Republika Srpska (UUPRS) and American Chamber of Commerce in BiH (AmCham BiH).
Nevena and Ivana, alongside Milka Markovic, Senior Associate at UUPRS, shared their knowledge about the latest developments in labour legislation from the point of view of court practice.
This event was prompted by the Law on the Prevention of Harassment at Work in Republika Srpska. The insights given based on Serbian court practice were essential since the Republika Srpska law is analogous with the Law on Prevention of Harassment at the Workplace in Serbia, which was introduced in 2010.
The Law on the Prevention of Harassment at Work introduces the concept of harassment at work in Srpska, in addition to the concept of mobbing that continues to coexist in Labour Law. The law now provides the procedure for protection of employees (or employers) from harassment, which is now primarily conducted as an internal procedure by the employer. Except for the cases of vertical harassment by the responsible person in which an employee does not have to be the first person to turn to the employer for protection from harassment. The law stipulates a duty for all employers with 15 or more employees to adopt a general act that will prescribe the procedure for protection against harassment at work. The deadline for adopting this general act expires on April 19, and this was a great opportunity to discuss the best practices when defining the rules of “internal procedure” of protection with the employer.
Together with the colleagues from the Union of Employers’ Associations of Republika Srpska, we had the opportunity to discuss the most significant changes in labour legislation and tax regulations.
The concept of gross salary has been changed and now represents the basic salary, including the increases in basic salary (stipulated by the Labour Law, collective agreement and employment contract), income tax and contributions. The concept of salary before taxation has been abolished, bringing a gross salary concept to the forefront. Thus, Personal Income Tax Base is now defined as the gross income (e.g., gross salary), and not as the difference between the gross income and paid contributions. The cumulative contribution rate has been reduced from the current rate of 32.8% to 31%, with only the health insurance contribution rate being reduced from 12% to 10.2%.
In addition, the personal income tax rate has been reduced from 10% to 8% with a rate of 10% applying only to the payment of income tax on self-employment. Income from copyright, capital, capital gains and other income is subject to a 13% income tax rate while annual personal deduction has been increased from BAM 8,400. to BAM 12,000.
*Partner and Associate refer to Independent Attorney at Law in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners.
The information in this document does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only
