In ten years, the cost of the state budget for work contracts increased from €5.7m to almost €21m. The Alternative Institute says that this area needs radical reforms, because it is precisely the work contracts that open up the space for abuses and party hiring.
Marko Sosic, a public policy researcher at the Alternative Institute, says that the budget item – work contracts – has seen steady growth from year to year, while this year the state planned to spend almost €21m for these purposes, which is a fifth more than last year, or twice as much as in 2021.
The work contract is a form of contractual relationship in a situation where the client has a need for certain physical or intellectual work that does not belong to the segment of activity for which he/she is registered.
The unemployed, foreigners, the employed as well as pensioners can be hired through a work contract, with different tax calculations for those categories.
Sosic states that research by the Alternative Institute and reports by State Audit Institution say that work contracts are concluded without adequate planning of the need for engagement, non-transparent selection of engaged people, without procedures for the engagement procedure, without records of the contracts, and without transparency of the procedure.
