30 Organisations, Union Reject Law on Salaries, Public Officials

In a media communiqué, 30 organisations and unions have complained that the law on salaries was passed without specifying the cofficiency, while according to them the law of public officials adopted in this form risks increasing the impact on civil service.

Full communication:

Kosovo's Assembly has adopted the Bill for Salaries in the Public Sector and Bill for Public Officials on Thursday.

The consortium for Labour Rights and the Social Justice and Social Rights Coalition expresses concern over remarks and problems for these two bills, previously raised by organisations signed in this response, other civil and union society organisations, as well as international organisations in Kosovo.

The Law on Salaries, which aims to harmonise salaries in the public sector, has been adopted without specifying the monetary value of the cofficiency, which is used to determine the price of salaries, thus enabling deeper discussions on wage values from various social groups, and violating the principles of legal security and legitimacy.

Moreover, the Law for Public Officials, which aims to regulate the relationship of public officials to the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, in the form in which it has been adopted risks increasing political influence in the civil service.

The consortium for Labour Rights and the Social Justice and Social Rights Coalition expresses concern that the adoption of these two laws in this form risks turning the whole process into zero, depending on the Constitutional Court's assessment of constitutionality. We also underline the need for laws and such importance to be adopted with broader political agreement on the Kosovo Assembly.