OPINION

The opinion was adopted in the proceedings regarding the complaint filed by AA and BB from K. against PUC “Vodovod i kanalizacija” because they were not allowed to voluntarily leave the company with the payment of incentive severance pay in the process of rationalizing the number of employees. They believe that they were discriminated against based on their age, but they also pointed out that the payment of severance pay for voluntary leave is made possible for men who are 60 and 62 years old, and that they were hence also discriminated against based on their gender. In its statement on the allegations in the complaints, the director of the PUC “Vodovod i kanalizacija” stated that voluntary leave with the payment of severance pay is not allowed for employees who have acquired the condition for old-age retirement or are one year short of fulfilling that condition and that the complainants have fulfilled the condition for a “full pension” back in 2015. In addition, he stated that severance pay is paid to ensure employees’ social and material security. During the procedure, it was established that male employees who were allowed to leave with the payment of incentive severance pay and who were of the same or similar age as the complainants did not fulfill the condition for retirement, but rather the condition for early old-age retirement, which is calculated with a permanent reduction. Therefore, the employer did not differentiate between the complainants and the employees who were declared redundant based on gender or age but based on whether they acquired the right to an old-age retirement or an early old-age retirement, which is acquired at different years of age for men and women, based on the law. Therefore, the Commissioner issued the opinion that, in this particular case, the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination were not violated.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković