Remote Work in Serbia

Remote work has an explicit statutory footing in Serbia. The Labour Law regulates an “employment relationship for work outside the employer’s premises”, which expressly covers both rad na daljinu (remote work) and rad od kuće (work from home).

The 2023 occupational safety law added its own definitions: work from home is work performed using information and communication technologies from the employee’s residence, and remote work is ICT-based work from any space that is not the employer’s and not under its direct control.

A contract for work outside the employer’s premises must include the following provisions on top of the standard mandatory ones:

1. Working time arrangements according to work norms or output standards
2. Guidance on how the employer supervises the work and its quality
3. List of the equipment the employer must procure, install and maintain
4. Indication of any use of the employee’s own equipment and the reimbursement for it
5. Guidance on reimbursement of other work-related costs and how they are determined
6. Any other specific rights and obligations of the arrangement.

The base salary of an employee working remotely cannot be set lower than the base salary of an employee doing the same job at the employer’s premises.

Reimbursement for using the employee’s own equipment, along with other remote-work costs such as a share of internet and electricity, is paid in addition to salary rather than included in gross pay.

The employment contract must specify how these reimbursements are calculated.

Working-time rules, overtime, night work, rest periods and leave apply to remote employees the same as they do for on-site staff, unless the employment contract or employer policy regulates scheduling differently.

Workloads must not be set in a way that denies daily, weekly or annual rest.

Under the 2023 OSH law, the employer can adopt a written risk-assessment policy for home and remote work with the employee’s participation. The employee must inform the employer that the safe work conditions outlined in that manual/policy are met and report any changes in those conditions that may come up.

Remote arrangements are only permissible for work that is not hazardous to the employee or others.

There is no remote-work-specific data-security clause in the Labour Law; obligations flow from the general Law on Personal Data Protection (GDPR-aligned) and any sector rules, so employers handle remote-work data security through policies and the employment contract.