No. 07-00-584/2025-02  date: 5.11.2025.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in proceedings based on a complaint filed by A.A. against the Center for Social Work, due to discrimination on the grounds of political beliefs. The complaint states, among other things, that on 24 April 2025, she was at the premises of the Center for Social Work, upon invitation of the Acting Director of the institution, for a job interview related to a vacancy announced on the website of the National Employment Service, for the position of case manager. In the complaint, she emphasizes that on that occasion the Acting Director asked her to state her political affiliation and that she believes she was discriminated against because of this and that for these reasons she was not hired. In the response, the Acting Director of the Center disputed the allegations in the complaint, pointing out that the personal characteristic was not the reason why another candidate was hired for the case manager position, but rather the fact that she was the only one who met the requirements for this position. She further stated that the complainant and another candidate did not meet the requirements for the case manager position, and that had they been hired, they would have had to be engaged as interns, which was not required. The response further indicated that the necessary requirements for performing the duties of a case manager in centers for social work, according to the Rulebook on the Organization and Systematization of Jobs in the Center for Social Work, are at least one year of work experience in basic professional tasks in social protection, in accordance with regulations governing the field of social protection, computer literacy, completed training under an accredited program for case managers, and a license to perform duties, in accordance with the law regulating social protection and regulations adopted based on that law. From the complaint, the response, and the submitted evidence, it was indisputably established that a job interview took place between the Director and the complainant, however, what exactly was said during the interview could not be determined, given that the allegations in the complaint and the response are contradictory. Bearing this situation in mind, the Commissioner further assessed the reasons why the Acting Director of the Center for Social Work decided to hire another candidate for the case manager position rather than the complainant. By reviewing the regulations in the field of social protection (the Law on Social Protection, the Rulebook on Professional Tasks in Social Protection, the Rulebook on Organization, Norms, and Standards of Work of the Center for Social Work, the Rulebook on Internship and Licensing Exam in Social Protection, and the Rulebook on Organization and Systematization of Jobs in the Center for Social Work), it can be concluded that the duties of the case manager position involve tasks requiring independent work, that these duties fall under professional tasks in the field of social protection, and that the law prescribes the conditions a person must meet in order to perform them. The prescribed conditions relate to professional qualifications, possession of a certificate of successful completion of appropriate training under an accredited program for work on basic tasks or for work with a specific user group, and possession of a license to perform basic tasks in social protection (which includes the case manager position). Furthermore, an analysis of the regulations relating to the work of employees in social protection (the Law on Social Protection, the Labor Law, as well as rulebooks in the field of social protection governing the work and engagement of employees) shows that an intern is a person who cannot perform work independently but is assigned a mentor, and that during the internship a program, manner, and place of completing the internship are determined in accordance with an act prescribed by the minister competent for social protection. In addition, the Law on Social Protection stipulates that professional workers and professional associates in social protection may not work independently until they complete an internship, and that professional workers are also required to pass a licensing exam. In this regard, it was established in the proceedings that at the time of applying, the complainant did not meet the conditions prescribed by law for the position for which the vacancy was announced, and that the candidate who was hired on a fixed-term employment contract was, in comparison with all other candidates, the only one who had the required work experience, completed training, and submitted a request to the Chamber of Social Protection to take the licensing exam. Therefore, the Commissioner issued an opinion that by hiring another candidate under the announced vacancy for the position of case manager on a fixed-term employment contract, instead of the complainant, the Center for Social Work did not violate the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination. However, since in the proceedings it could not be determined what exactly was said during the interview with the candidate for fixed-term employment in the case manager position and which questions were asked, the Commissioner pointed out the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination that prohibit discrimination based on political beliefs as a personal characteristic. Given that the Commissioner had already acted on this matter by issuing a recommendation of measures to the Center for Social Work, that is, to the responsible person in this institution (No. 07-00-589/2025-02 of 22 October 2025), advising that in the future, when hiring, care should be taken not to ask candidates questions relating to personal characteristics which, in accordance with Article 16 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, do not constitute a genuine and decisive requirement for performing the job, the recommendation was not issued again in this case.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković