Disciplinary proceedings have been started against me, what now
Disciplinary proceedings against you at work in Serbia: what the Labor Law requires before dismissal and what is only the employer's internal procedure.
What to do
The current Labor Law (from 2005, with later amendments) does not recognize a separate, freestanding institute called a "disciplinary procedure" - with a disciplinary committee, a disciplinary prosecutor, or similar bodies - of the kind that exists under certain other employment regulations (for example, for civil servants). What the law actually requires is a narrower, but strictly formalized, obligation: before terminating an employment contract for a breach of work duties or violation of work discipline (Article 179 of the Labor Law), the employer must warn the employee in writing of the grounds for dismissal, stating the legal basis, the facts (the time, place, and manner of the alleged violation), and the evidence, and must give the employee a deadline - which may not be shorter than 8 days from the date the warning is served - to respond to those allegations in writing (Article 180). The same warning procedure and minimum response deadline apply when the employer, instead of dismissal, decides because of mitigating circumstances to impose one of the lesser measures provided by law - temporary removal from work without salary compensation (from one to 15 working days), a fine (up to 20% of base salary, for up to three months), or a reprimand with notice of dismissal in the event of a repeated violation within the next six months (Article 179a of the Labor Law).
In other words, what is called a "disciplinary procedure" at a particular employer is most often the name that employer - through its own work rules or collective agreement - gives to an internal sequence of steps: a talk with the immediate supervisor, a hearing before a committee, an internal deadline to object to the decision, and the like. These steps may exist and may bind the employer under its own general act, but they are not the statutory minimum in themselves - the statutory minimum is solely the written warning with the content prescribed by Article 180 and a deadline of at least 8 days to respond. Whether the employer complied with its own internal steps, and whether it complied with the statutory minimum, are two separate questions, and the second is always the more legally relevant one.
While the procedure is under way, it is useful to: request a written copy of the warning if you have not yet received one, check whether the stated grounds actually correspond to one of the violations exhaustively listed in Article 179, prepare a written response to every individual fact and piece of evidence, and keep all correspondence and documentation generated during the procedure. Keep in mind also the deadline under Article 184 of the Labor Law - the employer must issue a final decision (dismissal or a measure) no later than three months from learning of the facts that are the grounds for it, or six months from when those facts occurred; once that deadline expires, the ground is, as a rule, time-barred, regardless of how far the employer's internal procedure has progressed.
When to contact a lawyer
While the procedure is under way, there is not yet a decision that could be challenged before a court, so the 60-day deadline for a claim under Article 195 of the Labor Law has not started running. What is short and, in practice, cannot be extended is the deadline of at least 8 days for a written response to the warning - because it is so short, consulting a lawyer is more useful before sending the response than after, especially when the stated grounds are unclear, when the employer has not provided specific evidence, when it has skipped its own internal steps set out in its work rules, or when at the time the procedure started you were under special protection (e.g. pregnancy, sick leave, or serving as a union representative). If the procedure ultimately results in a decision on dismissal or on imposing a measure, the 60-day deadline for a claim described on the page about termination of an employment contract applies, and consultation should not be put off until that deadline is about to expire.
Sources
What to do
- Check whether you received a written warning stating the grounds, the facts, and the evidence (Article 180 of the Labor Law) - a call to a meeting or a verbal remark from a superior is not a substitute for this written act, and without it the employer cannot lawfully dismiss the contract or impose a measure for a breach of work duties or violation of work discipline.
- Note the exact date you received the warning - the deadline for your written response runs from that date, and by law it may not be shorter than 8 days, though the exact deadline must be stated in the warning itself.
- Prepare a written response addressing every fact and piece of evidence stated in the warning, even if you consider the whole matter unfounded - failing to respond in writing within the deadline is difficult to make up for later.
- Check the employer's work rules or collective agreement - if they provide for additional steps (e.g. a hearing before a committee, participation of a union representative, an internal deadline for an objection to the decision), those are obligations the employer has imposed on itself through its own general act, so they can be relevant even though the Labor Law does not require them as a general minimum.
- Keep the warning, your response, correspondence with the employer, and all other documentation related to the alleged violation - this documentation is essential if the procedure later results in a dismissal or measure you wish to challenge.
- Keep in mind the deadline under Article 184 of the Labor Law - the employer must issue a decision (dismissal or a lesser measure) no later than three months from learning of the facts that are the grounds for it, or six months from when those facts occurred.
- If the procedure results in a decision on dismissal or on imposing a measure, a separate 60-day deadline applies for filing a claim with the competent basic court (Article 195 of the Labor Law) - consider consulting a lawyer before that deadline expires, and ideally earlier, while you are still preparing your response.
What it costs
At this stage there is no court proceeding yet, and no court fee - any cost at this point is the attorney's fee for consultation and help drafting the written response. If the procedure later escalates into a dismissal or a measure you challenge by claim, the costs described on the dedicated labor-dispute cost page apply.
Basis for the attorney fee: Tariff item 54 of the Tariff on Attorneys' Fees and Expense Reimbursement (Tarifa o nagradama i naknadama troškova za rad advokata) (response and other reasoned submissions in proceedings before the employer, no monetary value - 550 points); item 78 for oral or written legal advice (the fee for the submission that starts the relevant procedure).
FAQ
Does the Labor Law prescribe a separate 'disciplinary procedure'?
Not in the sense of a separate, freestanding institute with a disciplinary committee, a disciplinary prosecutor, or similar bodies, of the kind that exists under certain other regulations (e.g. for civil servants). The current Labor Law only requires the employer to warn the employee in writing of the grounds for dismissal or for imposing a lesser measure, with at least 8 days for a written response (Article 180). What is called a 'disciplinary procedure' in practice at a particular employer is most often the name for internal steps that employer adds through its own work rules or collective agreement, above the statutory minimum.
Must the employer call me in for a talk or a hearing before issuing the warning?
The Labor Law does not explicitly require this as a separate step - what is legally required is the written warning stating the grounds, the facts, and the evidence. A talk with a superior, a hearing before a committee, or similar may be provided for by the employer's own general act, but need not be; if it is provided for, the absence of such a step can be relevant, but that is a question of applying the specific general act, not of the Labor Law itself.
What if I don't respond to the warning within the deadline?
Missing the deadline for a written response does not stop the employer from continuing the procedure and issuing a decision on dismissal or a measure based on the facts and evidence it has. For that reason, a timely written response is considered an important protective step, even when the employee considers the employer's allegation unfounded.
What measures can the employer impose instead of dismissal?
If it considers there are mitigating circumstances, instead of dismissal the employer may impose temporary removal from work without salary compensation for one to 15 working days, a fine of up to 20% of the employee's base salary for up to three months, or a reprimand with notice of dismissal in the event of a repeated violation within the next six months (Article 179a of the Labor Law). The same procedure of a written warning and minimum response deadline applies to imposing any of these measures as applies to dismissal.
Can I request that a union take part in the procedure?
The Labor Law specifically protects union representatives from dismissal, but a union's participation in the warning procedure itself is not prescribed as a mandatory step for every employee by a general provision of the Labor Law. If you are a union member, it is useful to notify the union representative that the procedure has started - additional rights in this respect may follow from the collective agreement at that particular employer. The exact scope of union participation depends on the collective agreement at the specific employer, so it varies from case to case.