The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DHTIK) expresses its deep concern regarding the removal of the Labor Law from the Legislative Program, especially considering the impact of this law on the lives of citizens and on the labor market.

"As DHTIK, we have continuously followed up our requests and recommendations with concrete imputations from the private sector, and so far these have not been taken into account. Being considered as one of the most essential laws of the country, DHTIK has identified many provisions which are unclear and do not specify the relationship between employers and employees, therefore we have requested that the Labor Law be amended and supplemented by including concrete recommendations in order to we have a law that is as functional as possible in practice", says the reaction of DHTIK.

According to DHTIK, the current Labor Law has many shortcomings and as such is not suitable for the circumstances in which we operate. Therefore, DHTIK considers that, together with the stakeholders, this Law should be reviewed in detail, in order to have a functional and applicable law, taking into account its essential importance.

"Also, the state is not respecting the current labor law because by law in Kosovo, there are 8 working hours and no rest is counted in working hours. The current working hours are 08:00-16:00, which corresponds to the fact that in Kosovo we work 7 hours a day or 35 hours a week, contrary to this law, which is 40 hours a week", says the reaction.

It is also said that "DHTIK asks us to support that the salary in Kosovo is made per working hour, as it is in European countries, and it is determined that the payment is per working hour. Another difficulty that we have emphasized over the years is Maternity Leave, where currently the main burden for covering the salary during the time when the mother is on leave falls on the business. Such a thing, in addition to burdening the business situation, also affects the low number of women who are employed in the labor market. Among other things, in all neighboring and European countries, the burden of covering maternity leave falls on the state and not on business. Not forgetting here also the subsidies and changes which are given to parents as a kind of stimulation to raise the birth rate in the country".

It is further stated that the current Labor Law directly affects the exclusion of women from the labor force due to gender discrimination in employment, as not all employers, despite their desire, cannot bear the financial responsibility of paying maternity leave. "Meanwhile, men do not have equal rights to spend time with their children. This law also directly discriminates fathers, violating their equal rights according to the Law on Gender Equality".

The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry considers that the further postponement of the adoption of amendments to the Law on Labor will result in the continuation of violations of the rights of women and men in Kosovo.

"Therefore, we ask the Government to publish the new Draft Law for discussion as soon as possible, to conduct extensive consultations with all interested parties and to include this essential law in the legislative calendar of this year", it is stated at the end of the reaction.