The Gender Equality Law (Official Gazette of RS No. 52/2021) ("Law") establishes certain obligations for employers with more than 50 employees and workers, aimed at achieving and promoting gender equality.
These obligations primarily include the following:
- The obligation to adopt an Annual Plan or Work Program, which includes a section on achieving and promoting gender equality, and, in accordance with the Law, the obligation to report to the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights ("Ministry") on its adoption and implementation;
- The obligation to maintain and submit to the Ministry the Record of Data on Achieving Gender Equality, using the prescribed form (Form 1);
- The obligation to adopt and submit to the Ministry the Annual Report on Achieving Gender Equality, using the prescribed form (Form 3).
Until now, employers have fulfilled their obligations under the Law by submitting documentation to the Ministry in paper form.
According to statements from the Ministry on December 8, 2024, and December 28, 2024, starting from January 1, 2025, the submission and collection of gender equality data will be possible electronically through an application.
Employers will be required to register and create an account to file their documentation, with detailed instructions available on the portal explaining each step of the process. The portal also allows for registration via an eID account.
In addition, users will have access to support through a chatbot, available on working days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as through a list of frequently asked questions and answers, aimed at facilitating the use of the application.
The purpose of the application is to save time and costs when reporting, as well as to automatically calculate percentages and other benefits that make submission easier and faster for users.
Although filing documentation in paper form to the Ministry remains possible, either by mail to: Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2, 11 000 Belgrade, or in PDF format via email to: antidiskriminacija.rodna@minljmpdd.gov.rs, employers are encouraged to submit documentation via the application.
In any case, whether documentation is submitted in paper form or through the application, the prescribed forms set out in the subordinate legislation based on the Law remain unchanged.
Finally, considering that employers are, as mentioned above, required to prepare annual reports on achieving gender equality and submit them to the Ministry by January 15 of the current year for the previous year, the deadline for those choosing to submit reports via the application has been extended to January 31, 2025, as the application submission was only recently enabled and is in a ”testing phase“.
Author: Borinka Dobrnjac
Senior Associate
Email: borinka.dobrnjac@prlegal.rs; legal@prlegal.rs;