Remote Working Legislation, Laws & Regulations in Serbia

Yes. Work from home is regulated by the Labour Law (“Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia” Nos.24/2005, 61/2005, 54/2009, 32/2013, 75/2014, 13/2017, 113/2017, 95/2018 and 109/2025). There are also some very general rules in the Occupational Safety and Health Law (“Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia” No. 35/2023).

Working from home can be implemented exclusively through an employment contract and annexes thereof. Nevertheless, the internal policies of an employer can (and commonly do) regulate working from home in more detail. However, for these internal policies to apply, they must be referred to in the employment contract itself. 

The employer cannot force an employee to work from home. However, the employer can offer the employee to consent to amendments to the employment contract with a purpose of transferring the employee to work from home. The employee is not obligated to accept this amendment, as refusal of this specific offer does not constitute a reason for terminating the employment contract by the employer.

If the employee has been working from home, the employer may force such employee to return to the office only if this was stipulated in the employment contract as a possibility. 

No. An employee cannot force an employer to allow them to work remotely. Working from home must be implemented through an employment contract that must be agreed upon by both parties.

However, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of emergency, employers were obligated to enable employees to work outside the employer's premises i.e. work remotely, in all workplaces where it was possible to organize such work. 

Yes. An employer has to provide its employees with the equipment necessary for work if the employees do not already have such equipment. Not only is this mandatory, but the Labour Law also prescribes that every contract that regulates remote work must contain a provision that indicates the means of work necessary for working that the employer shall acquire, install and maintain. 

However, it is not specified which work equipment the employer must provide. This is usually specified in an employer’s bylaw or the employment contract and includes a laptop, mobile phone, an ergonomic chair, etc. 

Yes. The Labour Law requires employers to reimburse employees for expenses; however, it does not specify which types of expenses must be reimbursed or the amount of reimbursement, both of which should be agreed in the employment contract.In practice, the most common solution among employers is to give the employees an amount that is equal to the amount that the employees would get as reimbursement of commuting expenses when working from the office. 

No. The employer is not obliged to grant an employee a specific work-from-home allowance. However, it is common for the employers to grant such allowance for employees, usually for one-time purchase of ergonomic furniture and equipment. 

Yes. First of all, the Labour Law explicitly prescribes that an employer can only contract remote work that is not dangerous or hazardous to the health of the employee and other persons, and does not endanger the environment.

Furthermore, an employee that works remotely has a right to safe and healthy work environment, as any other employee does, and an employer has a duty to provide healthy and safe work conditions as well as inform the employees about regulations that govern safe and healthy work. This applies to all employees and is not specifically determined for employees that work remotely.

The Occupational Safety and Health Law specifically regulates responsibilities of an employer from a health and safety perspective for employees who are working remotely. Under these rules, an employer is obligated to ensure safety and health at work in cooperation with the employee, whereby the employer shall determine the conditions for safe and healthy remote work, means of work, work process and preventive measures for safe and healthy work.

Because the Constitution of Republic of Serbia prescribes the inviolability of home, the employer cannot supervise whether the safety and health requirements have been met. Therefore, the cooperation of the employee is necessary, especially when preparing the statutory act on risk assessment for each employment position. Namely, the employee is obligated to inform the employer about the fulfilment of the conditions required for safe and healthy work in accordance with the act on risk assessment, as well as to inform the employer in a timely manner about any subsequent changes in those conditions.

The Labour Law also provides that the employment contract should specify how the employer will supervise the work and the quality of the work of an employee who works remotely. Also, even though the law allows for more flexibility when it comes to working schedule and working hours in case of remote work, the general rules on overtime, night work, break periods, vacation and other paid leaves still apply.

Mandatory social insurance applies to all employees, regardless of the place and manner of work.  In addition to this, the Occupational Safety and Health Law prescribes a general rule that the employer is obligated to insure all employees against work-related accidents and illnesses, in order to ensure compensation for damages, but also refers to a separate law for the terms of such insurance, which has not yet been adopted. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether this obligation to have collective accident insurance will continue to exist only on paper.

Yes. The employer is obliged to compensate the employees for damages for work related accidents and illnesses. This includes all employees and is not specific for employees working from home.

No. 

Yes. Pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Law, the employee who is working remotely is obliged to cooperate with the employer in order to achieve a healthy and safe work environment . 

The Ministry of Labour has announced the changes to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Employment of Foreigners in order to encourage short-term remote working in Serbia, however this is still underway.

The applicable Serbian regulations do not define remote work abroad and do not prescribe any rules related to that. 

The Labour Law applies only to work performed on the territory of Serbia. An employee can be sent by an employer to temporarily work abroad under the conditions of the Law on Secondment of Employees to Temporary Work Abroad and their Protection (“Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia” Nos. 91/2015 and 50/2018). However, this law on temporary secondment applies only to secondment of an employee to another company abroad, based on a service or other contract between the employer and that company abroad, or to a subsidiary or representative/branch office of the employer abroad. Remote work abroad is not mentioned nor regulated. 

There are no rules regulating remote work abroad. However, if an employee would be seconded under the Law on Secondment of Employees to Temporary Work Abroad and their Protection and there is a social insurance treaty between Serbia and the other country, the employee would remain in the Serbian social security system for 12 or 24 months, depending on the term of the treaty. 

If an expat would come to Serbia to work, they would remain in the previous social security system in accordance with the terms of the applicable social insurance treaty, if any. However, please note that Serbia does not have any specific rules that would apply to nomad workers. 

There are no rules prescribed for this scenario. 

If an expat wants to work remotely from Serbia, the standard rules on temporary residence would apply. If an expat is a citizen of an EU country or another country that does not have a strict visa regime with Serbia, such expat could reside in Serbia for up to 90 days within a period of six months. 

A work permit would be required only if such expat would want to establish an employment or other type of working relationship with a Serbian entity and also if such expat would want to engage in a business activity as a registered entrepreneur. There are no specific rules for nomad workers.