ANALYSIS
6 Common Pain Points Felt by
Macedonian HR Departments
Mention employment-related issues at any gathering of international business people working in
Macedonia and you’re likely to hear a number of
pretty consistent complaints. They range from personal diatribes on the process of applying for a visa
or work permit to expressions of disbelief that companies are legally required to give advanced, written
notice to the Labor Inspectorate every time employees are scheduled to work overtime.
AmCham Macedonia’s team, recently surveyed a
number of HR specialists who work in large, international AmCham member organizations to create the
following list of issues they have in common.
1
High administrative burden, lack of proper
systems, coordination and consistency between
& within institutions – when it comes to issues of
employment, companies are required to report,
report and report again. Unfortunately, most
of these reports are only accepted in hard copy
and contain repeat information already submitted to another institution. It is sometimes hard to
even submit documents, since some institutions
only accept documents 2 days per work week.
Companies also report that officials within the
same institution are likely to give different instructions and to accept different documents for the
same procedure. Accurate application requirements are rarely published online, so at least 2 trips
to the institutional counter are most often in order.
Due to the ministries’ reliance on hard copy applications, documents are sometimes lost, slowing
the process and requiring applicants to start over.
The lack of electronic payment options in most
State institutions results in time-consuming trips
to banks and maintenance of hard copy proofs of
payment.
2
3
4
5
6
The number of official holidays – Macedonia recognized no less than 27 State, national,
ethnic and religious holidays in 2013; when combined with a minimum annual leave allowance of
20 days for each employee, reduced productivity
is a real concern;
Overtime – by law, employees can work a
maximum of 8 hours overtime in a given week (4
hours less than their EU counterparts) and companies have to notify the State Labor Inspectorate before any overtime is worked;
Arbitrary vacation bonus “K15” – starting
this year, companies must pay a standard annual
vacation bonus to all employees, regardless of
their current salary level or performance;
Overly strict vacation usage constraints