No. 07-00-00413/2017-02  Date:  22 January 2018

OPINION

The present opinion was issued following a complaint procedure lodged upon a complaint filed by B.M. from B., against G.o.s.s.k.B. In its complaint the complaint stated, inter alia, that provisions of Article 76 of the Special Collective Agreement for Institutions of Culture established by the City of Belgrade, stipulates that the employer shall pay to employees a Years-of-service Award for 10, 20, 30, 35 (for women) and 40 (for men) years of service spent working for the employer which represents discrimination of male employees as thus they are denied Years-of-service Award for 35 years of service spent working in a particular institution of culture. In its declaration, S.s.k.B. stated, inter alia, that the provision of the Special Collective Agreement for Institutions of Culture established by the City of Belgrade which stipulated a difference in years of service needed in order to be awarded Years-of-service Award was defined back in 2007 when legislation set 35 years of service as retirement eligibility criterion for women and that being so, they did not wish to put women working in institutions of culture in Belgrade in an unequal position. The defendant stressed that amendments to the Collective Agreement would be proposed once 40 years of service becomes legally stipulated retirement eligibility criterion for women as well. In the course of the complaint procedure it has been ascertained that legal requirements for old age pension eligibility were the same for men and women alike, pursuant to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, i.e. insuree shall be eligible for old age pension once he/she turns 65 years of age and has acquired at least 15 years of service for which mandatory contributions have been paid or once she/he had acquired 45 years of service for which mandatory contributions have been paid. In view of the fact that Special Collective Agreement for Institutions of Culture established by the City of Belgrade stipulates that the only requirement an employee must meet in order to be awarded Years-of-service Award is the necessary years of service spent working for the employer, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality is of the opinion that there were no reasons which would justify setting down different requirements for men when compared to women which would make a person eligible for the Years-of-service Award, nor was there a proportionality between the imposed measure and the desired objective. Hence, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has issued its opinion stating that the provisions of Article 76 of the Special Collective Agreement for Institutions of Culture established by the City of Belgrade which stipulate that the employer shall pay to employees a Years-of-service Award for 10, 20, 30, 35 (for women) and 40 (for men) years of service spent working for the employer, represent a violation of provisions of Articles 8, 16 and 20 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination. Bearing in mind that the complaint had been lodged against S.s.k.B. and that the Special Collective Agreement was the product of negotiations, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has issued a recommendation to S.s. to take all necessary measures and actions, in agreement with the employer, so as to harmonize the provisions of the Special Collective Agreement for Institutions of Culture established by the City of Belgrade with anti-discrimination regulations and to refrain in the future when performing work and activities within its scope of authority, from violating anti-discrimination regulations.