Employment contract in Serbia (ugovor o radu): mandatory contents and checks

What an employment contract is and who concludes it

An employment relationship is established by an employment contract (ugovor o radu) concluded between the employee and the employer (Art. 30 of the Labour Act, Zakon o radu, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 24/2005 ... 109/2025 - other law). The contract is deemed concluded when both parties sign it. It is drawn up in at least three copies, one of which must be handed to the employee.

The contract is concluded before the employee starts work, in writing (Art. 32). The employee acquires rights and duties from the day they start work. If the employee does not start on the agreed date, the employment is deemed not to have been established, unless the employee was prevented for justified reasons or the parties agree otherwise (Art. 34).

The employer keeps the contract or a copy at its seat or where the employee works, and must file a single registration for mandatory social insurance on the basis of the contract no later than the start of work (Art. 35). The same deadline appears in Art. 12 of the Law on the Central Register of Mandatory Social Insurance (Zakon o Centralnom registru obaveznog socijalnog osiguranja). Registration is filed electronically through the Central Register portal.

The mandatory contents under Art. 33

The law prescribes contents, not a form. Under Art. 33(1) an employment contract contains:

1. the employer's name and seat,
2. the employee's full name and place of residence,
3. the type and level of qualification or education required for the job,
4. the job title and description,
5. the place of work,
6. the type of employment (indefinite or fixed term),
7. for fixed-term employment, its duration and the legal basis for it,
8. the start date,
9. working hours (full time, part time or reduced hours),
10. the amount of basic salary on the date of conclusion,
11. the elements for determining basic salary, performance, salary compensation, increased pay and other benefits,
12. the deadlines for paying salary and other benefits,
13. the length of daily and weekly working hours.

Items 11, 12 and 13 need not be in the contract if they are set by law, a collective agreement, the employer's rulebook or another general act. The contract must then name the act that regulates them (Art. 33(2)). Anything not covered by the contract is governed by the law and the general act (Art. 33(3)).

In practice this means the following. The basic salary must be written as a figure, not described. The job description should be specific enough to show what counts as a "suitable job" in a later transfer. The place of work should be concrete, because a transfer to another place goes through an amendment. If the contract refers to a rulebook, the employee is entitled to read it before signing.

Indefinite and fixed-term employment

An employment contract is concluded for an indefinite or a fixed term. A contract that does not state its duration is treated as an indefinite-term contract (Art. 31).

A fixed-term contract is not a free choice for the employer. It may be concluded where the duration is determined in advance by objective reasons justified by a deadline, completion of a specific job or the occurrence of an event, and it lasts as long as that need lasts (Art. 37(1)). This is why the contract must state the basis for fixed-term employment (Art. 33(1)(7)).

The cap is 24 months. The employer may conclude several fixed-term contracts with the same employee, but in total, with or without breaks, for at most 24 months. A break shorter than 30 days does not count as a break (Art. 37(2) and (3)). The exceptions are:

• replacing a temporarily absent employee, until their return,
• work on a project with a predetermined duration, until the project ends,
• a foreign national with a work permit, until the permit expires,
• work for a newly founded employer registered less than a year earlier, for a total of at most 36 months,
• an unemployed person who is within five years of meeting a condition for the old-age pension.

If a fixed-term contract was concluded contrary to the law, or the employee keeps working for at least five working days after it expires, the employment is deemed to be for an indefinite period (Art. 37(6)). This provision matters when the employer "forgets" to extend the contract and the employee keeps coming to work.

Probation, part-time work and working from home

Probation is agreed in the contract for one or more related jobs and lasts at most six months. Before it expires, either the employer or the employee may terminate the contract with a notice period of at least five working days, and the employer must state reasons (Art. 36).

Employment may also be part time, for an indefinite or fixed term (Art. 39). The employee is then entitled to salary and other rights in proportion to time worked, and the employer must provide the same working conditions as for a full-time employee doing the same work (Art. 40). The number of hours must be written in the contract, because salary, the non-taxable amount and insurance record are calculated from it.

Work outside the employer's premises covers remote work and work from home (Art. 42). Such a contract, in addition to the Art. 33 elements, contains the length of working hours according to work norms, the way work is supervised, the equipment the employer must provide and maintain, the use of the employee's own equipment and reimbursement for it, reimbursement of other work-related costs, and other rights and duties. The basic salary may not be lower than that of an employee doing the same work on the employer's premises, and the rules on rest periods, overtime and night work apply to work from home as well.

Salary, minimum wage, tax and contributions

The contract states the amount of basic salary on the date of conclusion. Basic salary for full-time work and standard performance may not be lower than the minimum wage (Art. 111). The minimum wage is determined from the minimum labour price, time worked, and tax and contributions. For January to December 2026 the minimum labour price is RSD 371 net per working hour (Sl. glasnik RS No. 78/2025).

Salary is normally written in the contract as a gross figure, because tax and contributions are paid out of it. Salary tax is 10% on the salary reduced by the non-taxable amount, which for 2026 is RSD 34,221 per month for full-time work (Art. 15a and 16 of the Personal Income Tax Act, Zakon o porezu na dohodak građana). Employee contributions are 14% pension, 5.15% health and 0.75% unemployment; employer contributions are 10% pension and 5.15% health (Art. 44 of the Law on Mandatory Social Insurance Contributions, Zakon o doprinosima za obavezno socijalno osiguranje). If the offer quotes a "net salary", ask for the gross figure in the contract, because it does not move when the non-taxable amount or the rates change.

Amending the contract (aneks)

Agreed working conditions are changed by an amendment (aneks). The employer may offer one only in the cases listed in Art. 171: transfer to another suitable job because of the needs of the work process, transfer to another place of work, secondment to another employer, providing rights to a redundant employee, changes to the elements for determining salary, and other cases set by law, a general act or the contract. A suitable job is one requiring the same type and level of qualification as in the contract.

With the amendment the employer delivers a written notice stating the reasons, a response period of at least eight working days, and the legal consequences of not signing (Art. 172). An employee who signs keeps the right to challenge the amendment in court. An employee who does not sign within the period is deemed to have refused.

Without offering an amendment, the employer may temporarily transfer an employee to other suitable work by a decision, for at most 45 working days in any 12 months, where a job must be done without delay (Art. 172a). Changes to personal or employer data are recorded by an amendment without this procedure, and the contract with all its amendments may be replaced by a consolidated text.

Templates and examples: how to use them

Neither the Labour Act nor the Ministry of Labour prescribes an official form. A template found online is a starting point, not a finished contract. Before an employer uses one and an employee signs it, check:

• whether it contains all 13 elements of Art. 33, filled in with real data,
• whether the type of employment is clear and, for a fixed term, whether the basis and duration are stated,
• whether probation, if any, lasts no more than six months,
• whether basic salary is a gross figure above the minimum wage,
• whether salary payment deadlines are in the contract or in the act it refers to,
• whether the non-compete clause meets the conditions of Art. 161 and 162,
• whether the contract contains terms less favourable than the law, since those do not apply.

This page contains no ready-made contract text, because a sound employment contract is written for the job, the employer and the rulebook, not from a template.

Common mistakes

• The employee starts work and the contract is signed "later". Under Art. 32 this is indefinite-term employment, but it has to be proved in a dispute.
• A fixed-term contract with no stated basis, or a chain of contracts exceeding 24 months in total.
• Basic salary written as "in accordance with the rulebook" without a figure.
• Probation agreed for longer than six months or "extended" by amendment beyond that limit.
• Work from home under an ordinary contract without the additional Art. 42 elements, leaving costs and supervision unresolved.
• A post-employment non-compete without agreed compensation, which makes it unenforceable.
• The employee never receives a copy and later cannot prove what was agreed.

A short overview of the clauses usually found in the contract: contracting parties, job and place of work, type and duration of employment, start date, probation, working hours, basic salary and the elements for determining it, payment deadlines, annual leave and absences, non-compete, confidentiality, termination, final provisions. This is an overview of content, not a ready-made contract text.

Sources

• Labour Act (Zakon o radu, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 24/2005 ... 109/2025 - other law), Art. 30-37, 39, 40, 42, 111, 161, 162, 171, 172 and 172a
• Law on the Central Register of Mandatory Social Insurance (Zakon o Centralnom registru obaveznog socijalnog osiguranja, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 95/2018 and 91/2019), Art. 12
• Personal Income Tax Act (Zakon o porezu na dohodak građana, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 24/2001 ... 80/2026), Art. 13, 15a and 16
• Law on Mandatory Social Insurance Contributions (Zakon o doprinosima za obavezno socijalno osiguranje, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 84/2004 ... 80/2026), Art. 13 and 44
• Decision on the minimum labour price for January to December 2026 (Sl. glasnik RS No. 78/2025)
• Labour Inspectorate, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs
• Tax Administration: Personal Income Tax Act