The Government of the Republic of Serbia has passed the Decision on the Amount of the Minimum Price of Work for the Period January – December 2023, which was published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 105/2022 dated September 14, 2022, and which shall be applied as of January 1, 2023 (“Decision”).

One of the questions that is often risen in practice is whether there is an obligation to conclude a contract with an individual who is registered as a legal representative, i.e., director of a company, and who does not establish an employment relationship in that company. In relation thereto, there are also inquiries whether it is mandatory to provide for a compensation for the work of a director who is not employed with the company, as well as what are the tax obligations of the company regarding the compensation that a director receives for performing the respective capacity.

As mentioned in one of our earlier articles, on 12 November 2021 the Regulation on Unique Technical and Technology Requirements and Procedures for Storage and Protection of Archival and Documentary Materials in Electronic Form (Official Gazette of RS no. 107/2021) (“the Regulation”) was published, governing the so-called electronic archiving, i.e., unique technical-technological requirements and procedures that should be fulfilled by creators and holders of archival and documentary materials during their storage and protection.

Pursuant to the Regulation on the Youth Employment Incentives Program “My First Salary” (Off. Gazette of the RS no. 107/2020 and 79/2021), on 22 August 2022 the National Employment Service has announced a public call for the implementation of the respective program (“the Program”), which specifies terms and criteria for application and participating therein.

In response to the announcements and decisions of individual banks to increase their fees for certain services related to payment accounts, on 11 August 2022 the National Bank of Serbia (“the NBS”) published the Information for the public regarding the package of measures of the NBS on the bank fees on its official website.

The Regional (Labour) Court in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) has recently passed a judgement ordering the personal data controller to pay EUR 2,000 in compensation of non-material damage for the violation of personal data, as a result of publishing a promotional video featuring the employee without its informed and written consent.

During 2020, the Regional Court of Itzehoe (Germany) enacted a judgment in case no. 10 O 84/20, under which “Google” has a legitimate interest by virtue of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR to publish images of personal property for the needs of its services “Google Maps” and “Google Earth”.

Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on Establishing the List of Technical Devices and Objects subject to Mandatory Payment of Special Fee to Holders of Copyright and Related rights was published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 49/2022 from 21 April 2022, and it entered into force on 29 April 2022. The respective piece of regulation has extended the list of technological devices for reproduction of audio and visual contents from the domain of copyright and related rights, i.e., for which, upon their purchase, a certain fee shall be paid (“the Regulation”).

On 25 June 2022, the long-awaited Rulebook on Keeping Records and Reporting on Gender Equality Implementation entered into force, and it was published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 67/2022 (“the Rulebook”). The respective piece of regulation prescribes the template on which employers, public authorities and gender equality bodies record data categorised by gender, as well as the content and manner of submitting reports on implementation of gender equality within the stated entities, as well as political parties and syndicates.

On 21 March 2022, new rules for personal data transfers to countries outside the United Kingdom (“UK”) came into force. Transfer of the respective data according to the previous rules will be possible until 21 September 2022, while starting from 22 September 2022 only new rules will apply to all new transfers. In addition, any contract on transfer of personal data concluded pursuant to the previous rules will be valid until 20 March 2024, while as of 21 March 2024 the parties thereto shall be liable to conclude a new contract, according to the new rules.

On 7 April 2022, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia published on its website a statement that, at the 5th session of this court, held on the aforesaid date, among other matters, it has determined that the provision of Article 281, paragraph 3. of the Law on Misdemeanours (Off. Gazette of RS no. 65/2013, 13/2016, 98/2016 – the CC decision, 91/2019 and 91/2019 – other law) (“the Law”) is not in accordance with the Constitution and ratified international treaty.

What kind of coffee do you drink?

COVID-19 pandemic caused different market distortions that imposed economic entities to various challenges, both in terms of their relations with the clients, i.e., consumers, and their mutual relations.

At Open Balkan Summit held in Tirana on December 21, 2021, several agreements were signed by Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania, including the Agreement on conditions for free access to the labour market in the Western Balkans, which was subsequently ratified by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on December 29, 2021, and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Agreements no. 27/2021 from December 30, 2021 (“the Agreement”).

With the global pandemic, high inflation rates, and the war in Ukraine being the main drivers of work in Serbia, PR Legal’s Corporate and M&A practice has been quite busy, according to PR Legal Partner Milan Petrovic.

PR Legal has advised Coca-Cola on its acquisition of the plant for bottling the Rosa Homolje natural mineral carbonated water in Neresnica, Serbia.

Pursuant to Article 7, paragraph 1, item 12) of the Law on Standardization (Official Gazette of RS no. 36/2009 and 46/2015) (“the Law”), the Institute for Standardization of Serbia (“the Institute”) published on April 12, 2022, the Rules for obtaining approval for the use of the National Mark of Conformity with Serbian standards (“the Rules”).

Several amendments to the by-laws passed to the Law on Electronic Invoicing (“the Law”) are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia no. 46 dated 8 April 2022, i.e.: