No. 07-00-440/2017-02      Date: 19 January 2017

OPINION

The present opinion was issued following a complaint procedure lodged upon a complaint filed by Trade Union “N.” of the District Prison in Leskovac, against the District Prison in Leskovac on account of discrimination on the grounds of marital and family status and on the grounds of gender. In their complaint the complainant stated that Z.P. had been denied promotion under equal conditions with other employees, on account of maternity leave, i.e. on account of parental leave which she used in 2014 in order to care for her sick child. Namely, the fact that Z.P. had three consecutive annual review marks enabling her to be promoted by one salary bracket had been disregarded, due to a lapse in her annual review mark record for 2014 which was caused by her absence from work on account of maternity leave i.e. on account of parental leave which she had used to care for her sick child. District Prison in Leskovac stated in its declaration responding to allegations contained in the complaint, that the complainant was not eligible for promotion as she had not received her annual review mark for 2014 since she had not worked that year for more than six months. Thus, she did not receive the necessary annual review marks during two i.e. three consecutive years which would enable her to be promoted. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, regulations governing the promotion of civil servants and anti-discrimination regulations guarantee special protection to mothers and children and stipulate that the maternity leave and the parental leave used to care for a sick child must not preclude the right of civil servants to be promoted, nor could such absence have any negative effect whatsoever on their position and employment related legal status. In the course of the complaint procedure it has been ascertained that the District Prison in Leskovac had put Z.P. in an unequal position on account of her gender and family status, namely it had denied her promotion under equal conditions with other employees, due to her maternity related absence from work. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has issued its opinion stating that when deciding on the complainant’s application for promotion to the next salary bracket, the District Prison in Leskovac, by disregarding all annual review marks of this civil servant for years when she had received these marks, and by failing to take into consideration received marks as consecutive marks in years for which she had received annual review marks, due to the fact that in 2014 she had not received her annual review mark as a result of her absence from work on account of maternity leave and parental leave used to care for a sick child, had violated provisions of Articles 6, 16 and 20 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination with respect to Article 16 Paragraph 2 of the Law on Gender Equality. For this reason the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has issued a recommendation to the District Prison in Leskovac to eliminate all consequences of discriminatory treatment by making sure that when deciding on Z.P.’s promotion it would take into account those years of service in which she had received annual review marks, disregarding the year for which she had not received her annual review mark as a result of her absence from work due to maternity leave and parental leave used to care for a sick child, and to refrain in the future from violating anti-discrimination regulations in its decision making process.