no. 07-00-252/2023-02 date: 4.8.2023. years

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint of A.A. from U. against B.B. due to discrimination based on gender as a personal characteristic. The complaint stated that the complainant was discriminated against because, in the procedure carried out according to the competition of B.B., women had an “unfair advantage” over men and other groups of less employable persons. In the statement of B.B., it was specified that based on the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance, the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, the Action Plan for the period from 2021 to 2023 for the implementation of the Employment Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for the period from 2021 to 2026 and the Rulebook on Criteria, Methods and Other Issues of Importance for the Implementation of Active Employment Policy Measures, B.B. issued a Public Call to the unemployed for the allocation of subsidies for self-employment in 2023. It was further stated that an integral part of the Public Call is the number of points awarded according to the criteria specified in the points list, i.e., that the scoring of submitted applications with a business plan is carried out according to the following criteria: 1. Development level of the local self-government unit in whose territory the applicant plans to carry out activities; 2. Planned type of activity, and 3. Category of person. The criterion “category of less employable persons” is determined by the Action Plan, which stipulates that priority for the approval of subsidies for self-employment is given to the unemployed who belong to the category of less employable persons, namely young people under 30 years of age, surplus employees, Roma, persons with disabilities and women. In addition, the statement pointed out that help and support in the employment of unemployed persons implies the undertaking of specific activities, i.e. programs and measures that will lead to employment or increase the employability of persons on the labor market, as well as that the focus of the employment policy of categories of unemployed persons who are more difficult to employ is on persons who face more than one vulnerability factor and are thus in the category of persons with multiple difficulties for employment. In the proceedings, it was established that a special (affirmative) measure is in question, the introduction of which is allowed following the Constitution and the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. According to labor market indicators, statistical data, research findings, and reports, women are in a significantly less favorable situation than men in the area of work and employment, especially when it comes to self-employment. Prescribing additional points for certain categories of less employable persons defined by strategic and other documents, including women, represents a special measure introduced to achieve full equality, protection, and advancement of persons, that is, groups of persons who are in a fundamentally unequal position. Due to all of the above, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issued the opinion that B.B. did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination nor discriminated against the complainant.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković