Respecting every kind of advocacy for equality of men and women, to which the first Vice-president of the Government Ivica Dacic drew attention, we, as the competent institution, point out that the legislative framework that protects the principle of equality and prohibits any kind of discrimination already exists in the Republic of Serbia. Above all, the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination explicitly forbids discrimination in the area of labor and stipulates the right to equal earnings for the work of the equal value. Also, the legal protection in this area is specified in provisions of the Labor Law and other laws, as well as in the international agreements and conventions which were ratified by Serbia.

The practice of all European equality institutions indicate that this problem exists in much more developed European countries as well, but also that it is very difficult to prove the inequality in earnings of men and women for the same work. The primary cause of this is the non-transparency of data in the earnings system and unavailability of information on bonuses and rewards which are of the key importance for determination of discrimination in this area. Women often even don’t know that they are less paid than their male colleagues for the same job.

Because of everything stated above, there is a small number of complaints that were submitted to the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality because of unequal earnings, which doesn’t mean that such practice is not existing. Therefore, Commissioner will issue a publication “How to prepare a case in the area of unequal earnings” in the following period, arranged by legal experts from the European equality institutions from 20 states, including Serbia.

Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic continuously warns the public that unequal salaries for the same work are the consequence of discrimination of women, not the lack of regulations. Therefore, it is important that we join forces, including all political and social stakeholders, to fight for the full implementation of the Constitutional principle of equality and consistent compliance with anti-discrimination regulations.