Skopje, 12 April 2023 (MIA) – Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska said Wednesday that the amendments to the Law on Labor Relations related to corridors VIII and X-d, and the 60-hour working week, allow overtime work with prior consent of employees.

Trenchevska said that sometimes infrastructure construction processes require urgency, and some can’t be halted. This provision would be unconstitutional, she added, if the 60-hour working week applied to all workers.

“This is a strategic project of national interest for the state, it concerns overtime with prior consent of the employee, and it does not apply to all workers. In construction, especially in infrastructure there are certain processes that demand urgency and in those cases the employees will work overtime, and they will be paid extra in line with the country’s legislation, however, this will only happen if the employee agrees to it,” said Trenchevska.

When asked about the constitutionality of the provision, Trenchevska said that the provision would be unconstitutional only if it applied to all workers.

“The length of the working week in North Macedonia is 40 hours. The provision refers to projects of strategic and national interest of the state. Not for all workers, and only in cases where the process is required to be completed in a certain timeframe. This is the proposal submitted in Parliament by the MPs,” said Trenchevska.

Photo: MIA