Pregnancy, maternity, and leave related to work-life balance for workers (Directive 92/85, relevant provisions of Directives 2006/54, 2010/18 and 2019/1158)

AuthorKrstic, Ivana
Pages37-52
37
5 Pregnancy, ma ternity, and leave related to work-life balance for workers
(Directive 92/85, relevant provisions of Directives 2006/54, 2010/18 and
2019/1158)119
5.1 General (legal) context
5.1.1 Surveys and reports on the practical difficulties linked to work-life balance
There are several papers and research studies which deal with work-life balance in Serbia.
In one paper from 2015, it was found that the average number of working hours per week
in Serbia is 48 for men and 43 for women, while the average number in the EU is 40. As
well as job-related stress, this affects’ the ability of workers to reconcile their work and
private life.120 In addition, the share of workers with part-time employment out of the total
employment in Serbia is 8.1 %, which is associated with lower income, and a significant
number of employees 9.7 % have a second job (on average they spend 19 hours per
week on the second job).121 It is also important to emphasise that most of the unpaid work
is performed by women, while men spend more time on paid work.122 Single parents and
couples with children have more hours of unpaid work compared to single parents or
couples without children. Married women with children and single mothers report more
hours of unpaid work than men of the same status. In Serbia, men spend 33 hours, and
women 46 hours for taking care of children and grandchildren; men spend 10 hours
compared with 18 hours for women for cooking and/or housework; and men spend 20
hours and women 28 hours for taking care of elderly or disabled relatives.123 All these
numbers are much higher that the EU average and show that women spend more hours
doing unpaid work than men. Furthermore, 40 % responded that their existing working
time arrangements do not fit well, or not at all well, with their family and social
obligations.124 Finally, in Serbia, 85 % of women and 77 % of men experience conflict
between work commitments and private life. The authors of the study argue that it
probably has something to do with the organisation of work and inflexible working hours.125
Also, they point out that the difference in contribution of men and women in housework in
Serbia is 50 % and that 49 % of women of a working age are not part of the labour force,
and half of those women (57 %) would like to have a paid job.
The new Gender Index published in 2018 measuring inequality for the period 2015-2017
also demonstrated marked gender inequalities in the household care.126 Therefore, when
it comes to taking care of the elderly, children and family members with disabilities, the
gender gap is still very pronounced, because among women aged 18 and over, 41.2 %
119 See Masselot, . (2018) Family leave: enforcement of the protection against dismissal and unfavourable
treatment, European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination,
https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/4808-family-leave-enforcement-of-the-protection-against-
dismissal-and-unfavourable-treatment-pdf-962-kb and McColgan, ., (2015), Measures to address the
challenges of work-life balance in the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, European
network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination,
https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/3631-reconciliation.
120 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 189.
121 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 189.
122 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 190.
123 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 191.
124 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 192-193.
125 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 195.
126 Government of the Republic of Serbia, Gender Equality Index 2016, Coordination Body for Gender Equality
of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the
Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, December 2016,
9.
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perform these activities on a daily basis and among men, 29.5 %.127 An additional burden
on women's work-life balance, apart from unpaid domestic work, is care for family
members, as services fail to do so.
Also, one survey, conducted in 2017 with 330 employers (who employ 126 244
employees), showed that every fifth employer allows flexible working time, and only 10 %
allow work from home.128 The most vulnerable groups of women are women with
disabilities, Roma women, women living in rural areas and older women.129 There are
130 000 single parents in Serbia, and they need support from the State and society in
order to achieve work-life balance. In addition, over 74 % of women who report that they
work in agriculture do so as unpaid family members.130
Thus, it can be concluded that no results have been achieved in this field, as measures for
diminishing the gap in this area are not sufficiently determined, and rely on weaker
interventions (such as awareness raising), rather than legal interventions.131
5.1.2 Other issues
In Serbia, there is a relatively high level of job insecurity, as 16.6 % of respondents from
the study conducted in 2015 believed that there is likely or quite likely possibility that
they could lose their job in the followin g six months. This insecurity puts some pressure
on the employees and affects their work-life balance.132 Also, women are sometimes
questioned about family plans during job interviews, or are constantly on short term
contracts.133 Therefore, if they get a job, they want to show their commitment to their
working obligations which sometimes results in their decision to postpone their marriage
or having children, and causes much more pressure at work.
Quality of life is also very important and f indings from Eurofound’s European Quality of
Life Survey (EQLS) show that many of the quality of life indicators are lower in Serbia than
on average in the EU 28.134 For example, the WHO-5 Mental Well-being Index was lowest
in Serbia among all the surveyed countries in the EQLS, at 52 in 2016 versus an EU 28
average of 64 (on a scale of 1100). The share of respondents reporting that they felt free
to decide how to live their lives has decreased in Serbia from 36 % in 2011 to 23 % in
2016, which is below the respective EU 28 average of 26 %. Also, compared to the EU 28
average in the domain of the use of time, Serbia has recorded a value 17 points lower.
Compared to the results of the Member States in the domain of time, Serbia is ranked
25th, ranking between Romania and Portugal. However, it differs in the fact that it is
significantly worse in the sub-domain of housework activities and better in the sub-domain
of social activities.135
It is also important to highlight that the economic growth rate has been continuously
positive since 2015, and in 2017 it was 2 % of real GDP growth, but this growth rate is
127 Government of the Republic of Serbia, Gender Equality Index 2016, 41.
128 Usklađvanje rada i roditeljstva (Balancing between work and Family), Kabinet ministra bez portfelja
zaduženog za demografiju i populacionu politiku, Privredna komora Srbije, Belgrade, 2017, 21.
129 European Commission, Serbia 2019 Report, SWD (2019) 219 final, 29 May 2019, 27.
130 CEDAW, Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Serbia, 14 March 2019, 15.
131 Finalni izveštaj evaluacije Akcionog plana za sprovođenje Nacionalne strategije za rodnu ravnopravnost
Republike Srbije (Final report on the evaluation of the Action plan for the implementation of the National
Strategy for Gender Equality in the Republic of Serbia), SeCons, 2019, 65.
132 Golubović, N., Golubović S., Comparative analysis of Work-Life Balance in FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Serbia, Facta Universitatis, vol. 12, No. 3, 2015, 188.
133 Human Rights and Business Country Guide for Serbia, Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Danish
Institute for Human Rights, 26, http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/bgcentar/eng-lat/wp-
content/uploads/2016/09/Country-Guide-Serbia-FINAL-English-August-2016.pdf.
134 Eurofound, Living and working in Serbia, 5 June 2018, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/country/serbia.
135 Government of the Republic of Serbia, Gender Equality Index 2016, Coordination Body for Gender Equality
of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the
Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, December 2016,
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