EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
SOCOTAB DOOEL BITOLA
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep,
Mogila and Krivogashtani

Agricultural Labor Practices Program

July, 2017

External Assessment

Table of Content
Executive summary .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 3Market and company background .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 71. Implementation of the ALP Program. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 91.1. Commitment to the ALP Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2. Strategy and objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3. Internal capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4. Communication of the ALP Code requirements to farmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5. Internal monitoring: data collection, accuracy, and addressing issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.6. Address systemic and/or widespread issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. Farm-level assessment of working conditions regarding the ALP Code Standards.  .  .  .  .  .  . 20
2.1. ALP Code Principle 1: Child labor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
2.2. ALP Code Principle 2: Income and work hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3. ALP Code Principle 3: Fair treatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4. ALP Code Principle 4: Forced labor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5. ALP Code Principle 5: Safe work environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.6. ALP Code Principle 6: Freedom of association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7. ALP Code Principle 7: Compliance with the law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. ALP Program: feedback from farmers, workers, and other stakeholders. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 28
4. Appendices .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 30
Appendix I – Socotab Action Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Appendix II – Scope and methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Appendix III – Legal information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Appendix IV – Communication materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Appendix V – Prompt Action Reporting and Verification forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Appendix VI – Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Executive summary

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep, Mogila and Krivogashtani

External Assessment

In July 2017 Philip Morris International (PMI)
requested Control Union (CU) to conduct anexternal assessment of the Oriental Prilep
growing operations of its supplier Socotab DOOEL
Bitola in the Pelagonia region (Prilep, Mogila andKrivogashtani districts), Republic of Macedonia.
The assessment evaluated the labor practices atcontracted farms, and whether these were meetingthe standards of the Agricultural Labor Practices(ALP) Code. 1 CU also evaluated Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s internal capacity to implement the ALP
Program, their understanding of farm practices, andhow they identified, recorded and addressed ALPrelated issues.
For this assessment CU interviewed 24 Socotab
DOOEL Bitola employees and three employees
from the Macedonian Centre for International
Cooperation, the stakeholder in charge of running the
support mechanism restricted to the Krivogashtani
municipality and surrounding villages. Over a
two-week period CU visited 60 farms throughout
Pelagonia2, interviewing a total of 60 farmers, 73
family members, five contracted workers and one
hired worker (agricultural contractor). All farm
visits were unannounced.
An
information
triangulation
methodology
was used to evaluate farm practices. The threesources included interviews, documentation, andobservation, together with a “Five Whys Analysis”
problem analysis. The “Plan, Do, Check, Act” cycle
was adopted for analyzing Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s
management approach.
Socotab DOOEL Bitola started with the ALP
Program in 2012. Most of their farmers were
smallholders and mainly grew tobacco on anaverage of 0.6 hectares. In most cases the farmland was owned. As a supplier to PMI, Socotab
DOOEL Bitola had incorporated the ALP Programin its processes and procedures. Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s international partner company, Universal
1.

2.
3.

Leaf Tobacco (ULT) had global policies on ALP and
Corporate Social Responsibility, to which Socotab
DOOEL Bitola was also committed. Commitment
of Socotab DOOEL Bitola staff to ALP was highamong all the levels of the company. Whereassome interviewees considered ALP as a client
requirement that had to be met, others also showedpersonal involvement and interest in the topic.
A risk assessment conducted by Socotab DOOEL
Bitola and PMI in 2012 considering small tobacco
farm size, also the fact than mostly family members
are involved while farms employing hired labor isless than 5%. Following that assessment Socotab
DOOEL Bitola focused, but not limited, its
communication and reporting efforts on two ALP
Code Principles: elimination of child labor, and safe
work environment (reducing exposure to chemicals
and green tobacco, in particular)As a result of these
efforts, knowledge among Socotab DOOEL Bitola
employees as well as farmers was relatively goodfor these two topics. Nonetheless, CU found thatboth the farmers and the Leaf Tobacco Specialists(Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s field staff) were not fully
aware of the hazardous nature of handling green
tobacco.
Legal knowledge, particularly with regard toworkers’ rights and benefits, was found to be very
limited. Furthermore, some gaps in the knowledge oflabor law were found as it was not clear for Socotab
DOOEL Bitola which type of legal requirements wereneeded to constitute an employment relationship3.
This had a direct impact in the implementation of
the income and working hour’s principle.
Socotab DOOEL Bitola adjusted its organizational
structure in several steps to better integrate
ALP in their daily business practice and achieve
ALP objectives. ALP Coordinator and ALP
Assistant positions were created as well as a
Steering Committee and an ALP Country Team.
The organizational structure appeared solid

The main goal of the ALP Code is to eliminate child labor and other labor abuses progressively where they are found,and to achieve safe and fair working conditions on all farms from which PMI sources tobacco (see link). For more
information on the background of the ALP Program (see link).
The minimum sample size was 60 farms, which is the square root of the total number of farms within the scope (3,647
at the time of the assessment). See Appendix II for further details.
Please see Annex III – Legal information for more details about Employment Contract and Contract for Work
4

External Assessment

and all employees were aware of their roles andresponsibilities. New employees received training
and were assisted during their normal duties by
already experienced colleagues.
Prompt Actions were understood by all employees
as a breach of the ALP Code. Socotab DOOEL
Bitola had developed an escalation process inwhich each situation considered a Prompt Action
would be addressed by different levels within theorganization. However, even if Socotab DOOEL
Bitola had specific instructions and proceduresin place for solving individual Prompt Action
situations, no defined time frames for follow-up
were defined.
Regular meetings were held between all teams
involved in ALP, and ALP-related issues werediscussed on a weekly basis. Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s Leaf Tobacco Specialists generally had agood understanding of the working conditions on
the farms and also regularly reported on situations
not meeting the standards. However, no root causes
were investigated when an issue was found, and thecommon strategy for solving an issue was to simply
refer the farmer in question to one of the ALPrelated initiatives run by the company. Hence, root
cause analysis is an important area for improvement
within Socotab DOOEL Bitola. The software usedby the field staff did not allow reporting of farmers’
feedback and observations during monitoring andfollow-up periods.
Farmers were informed about the ALP Codeduring farm visits conducted by the Leaf Tobacco
Specialists. In addition, yearly orientation meetings
were organized for farmers at the beginning of thecrop season to provide training on the ALP Code.
Furthermore, several written communicationmaterials on ALP were distributed among thefarmers. In general, farmers and their family
members were well aware of the ALP Code Principles
regarding child labor and safe work environment,
reflecting the efforts invested by Socotab DOOEL
Bitola. However, their knowledge of the other ALP

4.

principles was low. Similarly, none of the external
workers were aware of any other ALP principles
except for child labor and safe working environment.
Socio-economic data for Farm Profiles wascollected once a year at the time when farmers were
contracted for the new season, and updated after
each monitoring visit if needed. All information wascollected with a tablet computer using tailor-madesoftware. This system had been introduced in 2015,
and the field staff were fully accustomed to working
with it. CU found that the Farm Profiles weregenerally accurate, except that information on theuse of so-called “service providers”4 was missing.
Most of the ALP team members had extensive
experience in the tobacco sector, and used thisexperience to address issues. Based on theinformation gathered during monitoring andPrompt Action issuances and the experience of
ALP team members and leaf technicians, Socotab
DOOEL Bitola had developed four initiatives toaddress widespread and systemic issues. Three ofthese initiatives addressed the ALP Principle ofsafe working environment, by providing personal
protection equipment (PPE) for the application ofcrop protection agents (CPA), metal boxes withlocks for CPA storage, and first-aid kits. The fourth
initiative focused on the ALP Principle of eliminationof child labor, by distributing machines for stringing
to reduce labor needs for this activity (which
traditionally involves children). CU’s assessmentshows that most of these initiatives had a positive
impact on the farms: most farmers had a first-aid
kit and PPE for CPA application, and only one child
was found performing stringing activities. However,almost half of the farmers did not store their CPA ina safe and locked storage, and more than a quarterdid not use a complete set of PPE when applying
CPA.
The main issues identified during CU’s farm visitswere related to the ALP Code Principles of safe
work environment, compliance with the law, andfair treatment:

Commonly known as agricultural contractors
5External Assessment

1. As for safe work environment, CU observed
many instances of empty CPA containers
being discarded in an unsafe manner 5, offarmers lacking a safe and locked place for
CPA storage, and of people handling green
tobacco without wearing the appropriate
clothing for this activity.
2. As for compliance with the law, none of
the farmers provided to their workers withwritten contracts, and on top of wages incompliance/exceeding the minimum wage,
appropriate workhours and resting days, noneof the farmers provided their workers withthe additional benefits required by the laborlaw. The main reason was that both farmers
and workers were completely unaware of
all legal entitlements applicable for workers
working under “employment contract”
agreements. The law provides an additional
option which is the “contract for work” which
can be verbal. In perspective of “contract
for work” arrangements, only the amount ofwork and compensation are defined by theparties, while other labor law institutes (e.g.
minimum wage, annual leave, maternity leave,sick leave, overtime payment rate, etc.) would
formally not exists in such arrangements.
3. As for fair treatment, a support mechanism
pilot was available in the Krivogashtani area,
excluding contracted farmers in the other
districts.

5.

4. As for child labor, CU observed one casewhere one child was helping its parents
with stringing, demonstrating that Socotab
DOOEL Bitola’s efforts in this area (e.g.,
verbal communication during regular visits)
were having an effect.
Feedback received by CU from farmers andworkers showed that fewer children were involved
in tobacco production since the start of the ALP
Program and that work safety with regard to the use
and storage of CPA had improved. However, someresistance among farmers to the ALP program was
identified, mainly with regard to the required use ofprotective clothing when handling green tobacco.
A common belief in the region is that the Oriental
Prilep variety does not cause GTS.
Several farmers made use of service providers(agricultural contractors) for land preparation and
CPA application. However, this was not registeredin Farm Profiles or assessed during monitoring
activities, and therefore the service providers wereinvisible to the ALP program.
The outcome of this assessment can be used asa tool to facilitate management with continuous
improvement. CU acknowledges Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s commitment to addressing the issues
identified and defining areas of improvement
through the implementation of an action plan (seeAppendix I).

See 2.5.2 for more details
6Market and company background

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep, Mogila and Krivogashtani

External Assessment

The main types of tobacco grown in the Republicof Macedonia are Oriental Prilep and Yaka. The
present assessment focuses on Oriental Prilep.
This variety is mainly grown in the Pelagonia valley,
where the highest concentration of tobacco farmers
is found in the Prilep district.
Over the last nine crop seasons, tobacco productionin the country ranged from 16,000 to 31,000 tons
(all varieties), with an average yield of 1,820 kg/
ha. Tobacco growing in the Republic Macedonia isdominated by small-scale farmers (average tobacco
farm size in 2017: 0.63 ha), with 25,000 to 30,000
family-based tobacco farms.
Tobacco production in the Republic of Macedonia
is supported by sector-specific legislation 6. For
example, the law prescribes that contracts between
tobacco farmers and buyers must be based on fixedprices. It also includes provisions on government
financial support for tobacco farmers.

6.

In 1996 Socotab purchased subsidiaries in
Macedonia and named the company Sokomak AD
Bitola. In 1998 Socotab combined the Oriental
tobacco operations in a partnership with Universal
Leaf Tobacco under name of Socotab Group LLC.
In 2010 Socotab DOO Bitola opened its newprocessing facility in Dragozhani. Finally in 2016
when Socotab Frana SA headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland became 100% shareholder name waschanged to “Socotab DOOEL Bitola”.
For the 2017 Oriental Prilep crop season Socotab
DOOEL Bitola had direct growing contracts withover 3,647 farmers in the areas of Prilep, Mogila
and Krivogashtani where the ALP assessment
took place. Most of them had been engaged with
Socotab DOOEL Bitola for several years already.
In 2017, total Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s farmers
were supported by 42 Leaf Tobacco Specialists, 2
area managers, one chief agronomist and one leaf
manager.

Collective Agreement for Employees in the Tobacco Industry
8

Chapter 1

Implementation of the ALP Program

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep, Mogila and Krivogashtani

External Assessment

1.1. Commitment to the ALP Program

1.2. Strategy and objectives

Socotab DOOEL Bitola is a subsidiary of Socotab
Frana SA which is owned by Socotab Group L.L.C.
On the global website the Group have committed
publicly to working in a socially responsible manner.
Similarly, Universal Leaf Tobacco (ULT), the partnercompany of the Socotab Group7 for the Oriental
tobacco operations, committed publicly to theelimination of child labor and the improvement ofworking conditions in tobacco crop production.
The ULT website provided information about thecompany’s policy on sustainability, supply chain
integrity,8 their commitment to the ALP Code, 9
and their membership of the ECLT foundation,
which advocates the elimination of child labor. 10
In addition, since 2009 Socotab has supported
school development work in the Republic ofMacedonia through different projects, including
the improvement of school infrastructure and theprovision of classroom equipment.

Socotab DOOEL Bitola started with the ALP
Program in 2012. Initial steps for setting thestrategy and objectives for ALP implementation
were taken during internal meetings that involved
the Steering committee, Agronomy team, as well as
PMI regional.

Commitment of Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s staff to
the ALP Program was high among all levels of thecompany; most of the interviewees showed personal
involvement and interest in the program. However,some mainly regarded ALP as a client requirementthat had to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, all considered
the ALP Program a valid program for continuously
improving labor conditions on tobacco farms.
Additional reasons given included eliminating childlabor, improving working conditions on the farms,
and increasing awareness among farmers andworkers.

At the time of the assessment, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola focused its efforts on two ALP CodePrinciples: elimination of child labor, and safe work
environment. The selection of these two principles
as priority areas was based on the field experience of
the Agronomy team and on the results derived frommonitoring activities and Prompt Action reports.
In early 2017, Socotab DOOEL Bitola revised therisk assessment of the issues identified, based on
guidelines provided by ab.sustain 11, as well as theinformation gathered in the monitoring activities
during the previous years and the experienceof several members of the Agronomy team. In
early 2017, Socotab DOOEL Bitola revised therisk assessment of the issues identified, based on
guidelines provided by ab.sustain and monitoring
results from the previous years and the experienceof several members of the Agronomy team. Taking
into account the probability that certain situation
occurs and the level of severity associated, a scorewill be given for each of these situations. The scorewill determine the risk classification.
Risks were either classified as “unacceptable”(highest probability and highest severity) or“tolerable” (highest probability, second highest
severity).12

7. http://www.socotab.com/html/home.html
8. http://www.universalcorp.com/Resources/Policies/Sustainability_and_Supply_Chain_Integrity_Policy.pdf
9. http://www.universalcorp.com/Resources/Policies/ULT_ALP_CODE.pdf
10. http://www.universalcorp.com/Resources/Policies/ECLT_Foundation_Members_Pledge.pdf
11. An agricultural supply chain data specialist, conducting supply chain assessments for different industries.
12. Each year before start of the new crop season, ALP Country Coordinator updates risk assessment document
according to lessons learned from the previous year. Main objective they use while scoring their risks are givenon the template prepared by the instructions of ab.sustain: Probability: 5-Very Likely, 4-Likely, 3- Fairly Likely,
2-Unlikely, 1-Very unlikely and Severity: 5 – Catastrophic, 4 – Major, 3 – Moderate, 2 – Minor, 1 – Insignificant. Score
received from the multiplication of Level of Probability with Level of Severity gives the risk level. Risk level should
be interpreted as fallow: Unacceptable: stop activity and make immediate improvements, Tolerable: Look to improve
within specified timescale, Adequate: Look to improve at next review and Acceptable: No further action, but ensure
controls are maintained.
10External Assessment

Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s strategy for implementing
the ALP Code at the farm level focused on continuous
training and reminding the farmers of the correct
labor practices. The objectives set were as follows:• Elimination of child labor• Improvement of farm work safety, ensuring asafe working environment• Monitoring and reporting on all ALP CodePrinciples• Keeping Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s Agronomy
team trained on ALP Code Principles
A future objective is to assist farmers to train
farm workers on the ALP Code Principles, but nostrategy towards achieving this objective had beendeveloped yet.
Despite the fact that child labor and safety issues
had been identified and prioritized through theabovementioned strategies, no formal root cause
analysis had been conducted to understand theunderlying factors involved in these issues.
Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“CU did not find formal root cause analysis tounderstand underlying factors involved in child laborand safety issues, as prioritized issues by Socotab.

specifically created to address the ALP objectives
and ensure proper implementation of the ALP
Code. In 2016 the position of ALP Assistant was
created to support the ALP Coordinator on ALPrelated matters. The Leaf Tobacco Specialists, who
served as the link between the management andthe farmers, were also part of the internal structure
to implement the ALP Program. Socotab DOOEL
Bitola worked in close contact with PMI Regional,
receiving regular guidance and financial support for
the implementation of the ALP Program.

Internal structure for ALP implementation

STEERING COMMITEE
General Manager

Finance andAccounting Manager

STP Coordinator

Commercial
Relationship Manager

Operations
Manager

ALP COUNTRY TEAMALP Coordinator

Production Manager

ALP Assistant

HR Manager

HSE Engineer

IT Manager

Regional Area
Managers

Leaf Manager

The training materials received from PMI are in use
to make root cause analysis. The company tries
to decrease document load of the LTS as much as
possible (by finding easy to use reporting options
on own data collection system), in order to increase
the quality of the work. However, ALP Country
Coordinator will support this manner of operating bycomposing formal root-cause analysis for the major
and re-occurring issues on the field”

Agronomist Leaf
Manager

1.3. Internal capacity
1.3.1. Dedicated organizational
structure
Socotab DOOEL Bitola had set up an ALP team
involving all departments of the company (see graphbelow). In 2012 the position of ALP Coordinator was

Senior Leaf
Tobacco Specialist

Pelagonia Leaf
Tobacco Specialist
11External Assessment

The current ALP Coordinator was appointed in2012. He participated in the first ALP training in2012 and was therefore selected as a successor to
the previous ALP Coordinator.

1.3.2. Roles and responsibilities
The steering committee, consisting of the upper
management team located in the Republic ofMacedonia, was responsible for communicating
ALP updates and projects to PMI, and approving andsupporting local projects for ALP implementation.
In addition to his tasks for the Agronomy department,
the ALP Coordinator was responsible for the
implementation and continuous development of
the ALP Program. His first tasks were to develop a
strategy to train Socotab employees and farmers
on ALP-related issues, to develop a toolbox for
Leaf Tobacco Specialists for collecting relevant
information at the farm level, and to develop
communication materials. Furthermore, he wasinvolved in conducting the risk assessment, drafting
the quarterly reports for PMI Regional, preparing,
conducting, and evaluating training of the field
staff,13 keeping track of reported Prompt Actions 14
and their follow-up, and keeping Socotab DOOEL
Bitola staff up-to-date on developments within
the ALP Program. All of the Socotab DOOEL Bitola
staff had job descriptions that included specificresponsibilities related to the Good Agricultural
Practices program (GAP), including ALP-related
tasks.
The ALP Country team consisted of several
members with different tasks (see Figure above).
Overall responsibilities included:• Rolling out the ALP Code and collecting up-todate farm data;• Verifying Leaf Tobacco Specialists’ knowledge
and capabilities through written exams;• Developing ALP communication strategies;• Revising and designing strategies to address ALP,at least on a yearly basis;• Creating and analyzing documentation forfarm monitoring, including the creation andimplementation of action plans where necessary;• Updating the risk assessment at least annually;• Implementing and/or supporting projects andinitiatives approved by the management team.
Senior Leaf Tobacco Specialists and Leaf Tobacco
Specialists shared some responsibilities. Both werein charge of training the farmers (which mostly took
place during farm visits) and both were responsible
for visiting and monitoring the farms throughout
the season. In addition, Senior Leaf Tobacco
Specialists were also responsible for the internal
training of Leaf Tobacco Specialists and providing
logistic support to Leaf Tobacco Specialists for the
implementation of the ALP code.

1.3.3. Training and knowledge of the ALP
Program
Members of the Management Team and Country
Team received regular guidance on ALP from PMI
Regional. One formal training session by PMI
Regional had been provided to Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s management staff in 2011. In 2012,trainings were also provided to personnel located in
the growing regions. In the years since then, the ALP
Coordinator provided field personnel with annual
refresher trainings, in addition to organizing weekly
discussion meetings (including short exams) during
each crop season. Field staff knowledge was also
tested before each crop season through written
exams. The results of these exams were used to
identify weak points and design upcoming trainings.
Management staff had sufficient understanding of
the main purpose and content of the ALP Program.

13. The concept used was ”train the trainers“– the ALP Coordinator trained the staff that would then train the farmers
in the field.
14. A Prompt Action is a situation in which workers’ physical or mental well-being might be at risk, where children or avulnerable group – pregnant women, the elderly - are in danger, or where workers might not be free to leave theirjob.
12External Assessment

All field staff defined Prompt Actions as situations
happening at the farm that contravened one of theseven ALP principles. When a Prompt Action was
identified, the Leaf Tobacco Specialist was expected
to follow an escalation process to address and report
the situation. Socotab DOOEL Bitola had specificinstructions and procedures in place for solving
individual Prompt Action situations, however there
were no defined time frames for follow-up (see1.5.3).
All Leaf Tobacco Specialists had been trained by
the ALP Coordinator and Senior Leaf Tobacco
Specialists, and all had been accompanied to thefield and shadowed by their supervisor at least
twice a year.
Assessment of Leaf Tobacco Specialists’ knowledgeof ALP Code Principles: 15
1. Child labor: All Leaf Tobacco Specialists
were aware of the meaning of this ALP CodePrinciple; all knew that 15 was the legal
minimum working age in tobacco-related
activities and were able to give accurate
examples of the light work activities allowed
for family members between 13 and 18 yearof age16. All Leaf Tobacco Specialists had an
overall understanding of hazardous work andcould provide several examples.
2. Income and work hours: None of the Leaf
Tobacco Specialists have the legal expertiseand therefore they did not emphasize thefact that hired workers can be engaged by
the farmers by two types of working contract
agreements 17 according to the local law –“employment contract” and “contract forwork”. In perspective of the “employment
contract” arrangements, Leaf Tobacco
Specialists had a good understanding of

this ALP Code Principle, and knew the legal
minimum wage18 and required payment
frequency; eleven of them (73%) knew thelegal overtime payment rate. Fourteen(93%) Leaf Tobacco Specialists were able toname the maximum legal working hours andeleven (73%) the maximum legal overtime
hours. When asked about legal benefits, eight(53%) referred to the workers’ entitlement
to receive at least two resting day per week.
However, none of the interviewees mentioned
legal benefits such as social security, healthinsurance, salary compensations, or yearlysalary increase. In perspective of “contract
for work” arrangements, only the amount ofwork and compensation are defined by theparties, while other labor law institutes (e.g.
minimum wage, annual leave, maternity leave,sick leave, overtime payment rate, etc.) would
formally not exists in such arrangements. 16
3. Fair treatment: All Leaf Tobacco Specialists
could provide an explanation of this ALP CodePrinciple; namely, that workers should betreated fairly, and be free from discriminationand harassment (verbal or sexual).
4. Forced labor: All Leaf Tobacco Specialists
were fully clear on the meaning of this ALP
Code Principle, explaining that workers
should not be forced to work and should havethe freedom to leave the farm at any time withreasonable notice. Retention of farm workers’
identity documents and labor under threat orbond were given as examples of unacceptablesituations.
5. Safe work environment: Leaf Tobacco
Specialists had good knowledge of thisprinciple. All of them understood that working
conditions at the farm should be safe and that

15. For this assessment 15 Leaf Tobacco Specialists were interviewed.
16. E.g. feeding farm animals or helping the farmer to prepare breakfast for the workers.
17. See Annex III – Legal information
18. At the time of the assessment, according to Article 59 para (1) of the CATI (a branch-level collective agreement
applicable to the employees and employers in the tobacco industry), minimum legal wage for working in tobacco in
Macedonia was 10,650 MKD (Macedonian denar) per month. No minimum salary per hour was given by the Ministryof Labor and Social Policy. However, as the law refers to an annual average of 174 hours per month, hourly salary has
been calculated using the following formula; 10,650 MKD /174 hours = 61.20 MKD/hour13External Assessment

the farmer should provide methods to control
safety risks. When asked, all of them could
give valid examples of hazardous activities at
the farm level and the measures to be taken
to reduce the risk of harm 19. However, when
it came to describing the dangers associatedwith stringing activities, all Leaf Tobacco
Specialists mentioned only the use of sharp
tools, not the risks of GTS.
6. Freedom of association: All Leaf Tobacco
Specialists had an adequate understanding of
this ALP Code Principle.
7. Compliance with the law: All Leaf Tobacco
Specialists said that the national law should
be followed when hiring workers, and thatworkers should be informed about their legal
rights and employment conditions prior tostarting their job. When asked about the needfor a written contract between farmers andworkers, nine (60%) Leaf Tobacco Specialists
were aware of the legal requirement for a
written contract while none of them knew
about the two possible working agreements
according to the local law20.
Based on this assessment, CU concludes that theknowledge of Leaf Tobacco Specialists on ALP CodePrinciples is good, which can be attributed to theintensive field staff trainings conducted on a weekly
basis by the ALP Coordinator. However, there is stillroom for improvement, particularly with regard to
the ALP Code Principle on income and working hours
as it is not clear for the Leaf Tobacco Specialists thedifferent type of working agreements according to
the local law, but also with regard to understanding
the risks related to green tobacco exposure during
stringing.

Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“..in March/April 2018 Socotab will develop ALP
training program for LTSs that will focus more on
country-related legal requirements. The program will
be developed by country’s ALP Coordinator and will
aim to increase LTS’s awareness on local law related to
ALP principles. In April 2018, Leaf Tobacco Specialists
will be trained on local law related to ALP principles
and their understanding will be cross-checked via
tests before start of field visits. Every year, the training
program will be revised and updated, if necessary, and
LTSs knowledge on local law will be refreshed once perseason or whenever changes in respective laws occur.”

1.3.4. Internal communication
Throughout the crop season the ALP Coordinator
held weekly meetings with the field team, in which
ALP-related topics were discussed and documented.
Furthermore, the ALP Team held bi-weekly meetings
where topics related to GAP, including ALP,
were discussed. Informal communication amongcolleagues took place on a frequent basis.
The Steering Committee and ALP Country teamheld four21 meetings during the tobacco season,
where topics related to GAP were being discussed
and reviewed. After each of these meetings the ALP
Coordinator, supported by the ALP Assistant, would
write a report including an analysis of the progresson ALP implementation, which was sent to PMI
Regional after approval by the management.

1.4. Communication of the ALP Coderequirements to farmers
1.4.1. Communication strategy and tactics
In 2012 Socotab DOOEL Bitola started tocommunicate the seven ALP Code Principles tofarmers, using different communication methods.
Farmer group meetings were held at the beginning

19. E.g. the use of complete set of PPE when handling CPA, or skin protection when harvesting green tobacco.
20. See Annex III – Legal Information, Principle 7
21. First meeting to be held in February and the last one in November.
14

External Assessmentof each season to communicate about GAP practices.
On average, the last 20 minutes of these meetings
were dedicated to ALP topics. In practice, thefarmers did not always attend these meetings, andaccording to LTS experience, the attention levelsof those present tended to drop towards the endof the meeting (when ALP topics were discussed).
As a second (and more successful) method, the ALP
code was communicated to the farmers by the Leaf
Tobacco Specialists during their regular farm visits.
At the time of the assessment, the average ratio of
Leaf Tobacco Specialists to farmers was 1 to 270(ranging from 1:140 to 1:386). Each Leaf Tobacco
Specialist had to visit all the farmers under his or
her responsibility at least four times a year. The Leaf
Tobacco Specialists interviewed by CU declared
to spend between 30 and 60 minutes of each visit(depending on the time of the season) to teachabout ALP; none of the interviewees complained
about lack of time to communicate ALP.
In addition to the group meetings and farm visits,
Socotab DOOEL Bitola used written communicationmaterials to communicate with farmers about ALP.
Firstly, the growing contract, which all farmers

had to sign at the beginning of each crop season,
included provisions on the farmer’s commitment
to the GAP principles. Secondly, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola attached a leaflet to each contract describing
all seven ALP principles and their corresponding
measurable standards. Lastly, an oriental tobacco
production manual including all GAP production
guidelines was distributed among farmers at the
beginning of each season. However, during theassessment CU found that many farmers had only
read the first chapters of this manual (which dealt
with agricultural and quality recommendations),
overlooking the information on GAP and ALP22.
The following table shows the level of awarenessamong the interviewed farmers, family members
and external workers with regard to the ALP CodePrinciples. In line with Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s
focused communication efforts, the highest levelsof awareness among all groups were found for the
topics of child labor and safe work environment.
Especially among family members and workers,
awareness of other ALP-related topics was poor,or completely absent. In 12 cases farmers were notable to name all seven ALP principles.

Level of awareness of ALP Code Principles23
Farmers (60)

Family members (73)External workers (5)Child labor46 (76%)61 (83%)3 (60%)

Income and work hours

4 (6%)

6 (8%)

0

Fair treatment

6 (10%)

5 (8%)

0

Forced labor

4 (6%)

4 (5%)

0

Safe work environment

48 (80%)58 (80%)4 (80%)

Freedom of association

6 (10%)

4 (5%)

0Compliance with the law

7 (12%)

3 (4%)

0None of the principles

12 (20%)3 (4%)

0

22. There were two cases in which the farmer “discovered” the ALP chapter while the CU auditor was conducting theinterview.
23. Note that these data only show whether the interviewees remembered the principles, and not whether they fully
understood their meaning
15External Assessment

Interviewees who were aware of (at least some aspects of) the ALP code were also asked how they learned
about it. As the table below shows, verbal communication efforts – in particular, the farm visits by Leaf
Tobacco Specialists – were significantly more effective than written materials.

Means of communication through which the ALP Code was received24
Farmers (48)

Family members (63)Workers (5)Group meetings/trainings

2 (5%)

00

During regular visit by LTS

44 (92%)54 (85%)3 (60%)

Tobacco Production Manual

10 (21%)00

ALP Leaflet

19 (40%)26 (41%)0

Contract

7 (15%)

1 (2%)

0

Other 25

1 (2%)00-

18 (28%)2 (40%)

Verbally from the farmer

In its ALP communication efforts, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola did not take into account the so-called
service providers. These are individuals working
as an agricultural contractor (some in addition
to being a farmer or employed worker), who own
machines and provide services such as plowing andland preparation. Eight farmers (13%) hired these
service providers for transplanting, cultivation,
CPA spraying and land preparation services. CU
interviewed one service provider, and this person
demonstrated to be fully aware of the seven ALP
principles. He had been trained on ALP by Socotab
DOOEL Bitola in the past, when he, as a farmer, hada growing contract with Socotab.

1.4.2. Farmers’ responsibilities
At the beginning of each crop season farmers
signed a growing contract with Socotab DOOEL
Bitola, which explicitly stated all seven ALP CodePrinciples. A breach of those principles could leadto an immediate termination of the contract, making
compliance with the ALP Code part of the farmers’

responsibility. However, both farmers and Leaf
Tobacco Specialists commented that farmers barely
read the terms of the contract. Socotab DOOEL
Bitola did not provide any incentives to farmers toencourage good performance in relation to the ALP
Code. In practice, there had never been a case inwhich a contract had been terminated because of a
farmer’s poor ALP performance.

1.5. Internal monitoring: data collection,accuracy, and addressing issues
At the time of the assessment, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola was collecting three types of ALP-related datafrom the farms: socio-economic information (FarmProfiles), monitoring data, and Prompt Actions.
This information was collected by the Leaf Tobacco
Specialists using a tablet computer and tailor-madesoftware. When the device was connected to theinternet, the software would automatically feed
newly collected information into Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s database system. The ALP Coordinator
regularly generated reports from this system

24. Note that these data only show whether the interviewees remembered any mean of communication
25. One farmer declared to have been informed about ALP by a field technician from another tobacco company in thearea, which also supplied to PMI.
16

External Assessment

to evaluate ALP-related issues. Furthermore,
the collected data was compiled and added to aquarterly report shared with PMI Regional. Each
Leaf Tobacco Specialist had to visit all the farmers
under his or her responsibility at least four times ayear.

1.5.1. Socio-economic data: Farm Profiles
The socio-economic information for Farm Profiles
was collected by the Leaf Tobacco Specialists oncea year during the contracting period and updated
if necessary during the regular farm visits. In thepast, all data was gathered on paper and delivered
to the ALP Coordinator who would digitalize all theinformation. At present, all information is collectedusing a tablet computer and software specificallydesigned for this purpose. When asked, Leaf Tobacco
Specialists explained they were very satisfied withthe digital system as they had fewer documents tocarry when visiting the farms and had more timeleft for communicating ALP, rather than filling out
paper forms. The 60 Farm Profiles reviewed by CU
were found to be accurate, except that eight (13%)
of them did not report that the farmer in question
made use of hired workers.

1.5.2. Systematic monitoring: situations
not meeting the ALP Code standards
At the time of the assessment Socotab DOOEL Bitola
monitored and reported on all ALP principles. Theirsoftware for farm monitoring included. For each
ALP Code Principle, the possible answer was either“yes” or “no”; if “yes” was entered, a window would
appear for adding comments on the issue identified.
The system also allowed adding other comments or
explaining any other situation occurring during thefarm visit which could be used as a valid feedback
for the ALP implementation system; however thiswas not used by the LTS in the practice.
In the case of 14 (23%) farms, monitoring results
did not match with CU’s findings: more specifically,
seven farmers (12%) had no adequate CPA storage;
five (8%) farmers lacked proper PPE for handlinggreen tobacco; and two farmers (3%) lacked afirst-aid kit. In addition, while the Leaf Tobacco
Specialists had reported the absence of written
contracts between farmers and their workers, thequarterly reports did not present this information
as a possible situation not meeting the standard.

Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“Taking into consideration that at 23% of the farms
monitoring results did not match with CU findings,
Socotab plans to increase the accuracy of the collected
data by enhancing the cross-checks of monitoring
results during unannounced visits, cross-checking
data once per month and informing LTSs on detected
miss-match 5 times during monitoring season. Also
the ALP Coordinator will update LTSs handbook in
February 2018.”

1.5.3. Prompt Actions
Socotab DOOEL Bitola had developed an escalation
procedure to identify, register and follow up on
Prompt Action situations. After identifying a Prompt
Action situation, the Leaf Tobacco Specialist would
ensure that the situation was solved, talk withthe farmer to explain the danger and risks of thePrompt Action situation in question, and registerin the reporting software which of the measurable
standards had been contravened. The software
allowed the Leaf Tobacco Specialist to add moredetails in a comment box (see 1.5.2).
Once the Prompt Action was registered in thesystem, it was up to the individual Leaf Tobacco
Specialist to decide how to solve the situation inquestion and how to plan the follow-up26. In otherwords, Socotab DOOEL Bitola had no specificinstructions and procedures in place for the follow
up of individual Prompt Action situations. In thecase that the Prompt Action could not be solved by
the Leaf Tobacco Specialists, they would escalate
the procedure to a higher level and communicate
the situation to the ALP Coordinator who would
discuss the next steps to be taken with the ALP

26. Before the Leaf Tobacco Specialist could start entering data into the software for collecting farm information, thesoftware would inform the Leaf Tobacco Specialist if a farm had a pending Prompt Action.
17

External Assessment

Country Team and the Steering Committee, if
needed. Prompt Actions would be closed at the timeof the last farm visit of the season.

operational initiatives, community programs (which
may be supported by a financial contribution fromPMI) and engagement with key stakeholders.

CU verified 23 Prompt Actions during theassessment. Eleven of these were related toinsufficient PPE for CPA application, ten wererelated to lack of proper CPA storage, and two
were related to farmer children being involved instringing activities. Seven of the farmers were notaware that a Prompt Action had been reported fortheir farm, and one incident occurred again27 during
the farm visits by CU.

At the time of the assessment, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola had implemented the following operational
initiatives:

1.5.4. Data management and analysis
Leaf Tobacco Specialists were responsible forcompleting the monitoring reports, Farm Profiles
and Prompt Action reports during each visit. As
soon as the tablet device was connected to theinternet, the software would automatically feed
the data into Socotab’s database. This way, the ALP
Coordinator had access to all information collected,
and could use it to develop strategies for further
ALP implementation.

1.5.5. Improvement plans for individual
farms
Socotab DOOEL Bitola did not have specificimprovement plans for individual farms. Once a
Prompt Action situation was identified, the main
action was to remind and re-educate the farmer
about the correct practices. In case the Prompt
Action was addressed by one of the company’s
operational initiatives (see 1.6), the farmer would
be invited to participate.

1.6. Address systemic and/or widespread
issuesBased on the risks and issues identified (see 1.2),
PMI’s leaf tobacco suppliers are expected toaddress systemic and/or widespread issues through• PersonalProtective
Equipment(PPE)
distribution: Gloves, masks and goggles were
offered to farmers lacking proper protective
equipment 28. Of the farmers visited by CU, 28(46%) declared to have received PPE for CPA
application from Socotab DOOEL Bitola. All weresatisfied with the initiative because it improved
safety conditions at the farm and allowed themto replace old or damaged equipment. However,
19 farmers (31%) were not aware of this initiativeand declared they would like to participate in it.
In 2017 Socotab DOOEL Bitola distributed 1000
PPE sets among its farmers.
• CPA storage box distribution: CPA storageboxes with locks were distributed among
farmers lacking proper storage for CPA. During
CU’s assessment, 25 (41%) farmers declared
to have received CPA storage boxes and foundthis initiative useful. Between the launch of
the program in 2015 and CU’s assessment inJuly 2017, 732 CPA storage boxes had been
distributed among the farmers.
• Stringing machine distribution: In 2009
Socotab DOOEL Bitola started to offer stringing
machines to its contracted farmers. At thetime of CU’s visit, 23 farmers (38%) declared
to have participated in this initiative and weresatisfied with it, as it reduced work force needs
and working time. Eight (13%) farmers were notaware of this initiative and declared they would
like to participate in this initiative. Between 2009
and 2016 Socotab DOOEL Bitola had distributed
5241 stringing machines.

27. A farmer’s child (8 years old) was found stringing tobacco.
28. Socotab’s HSE Manager researched different types of PPE to select suitable equipment for the farmers. Proper
goggles, gloves and masks were identified, but no apron could be found that was both affordable and meeting thesafety standards. Therefore the company decided not to include an apron in the PPE package handed out to thefarmers.
18

External Assessment• First-aid kit distribution: In 2015 Socotab
DOOEL Bitola started to distribute first-aid kits
to the farmers. At the time of CU’s visit, 1400
first-aid kits had been distributed. Among thevisited farmers, eight (13%) declared to havereceived a first-aid kit from Socotab, while 17(28%) were not aware of this initiative and would
like to participate in it.

Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“Socotab gives a considerable budget to ALP program
mainly as workforce as well as initiatives supplied tofarmers. As a priority, we expect from our farmers tounderstand the need to protect their own family, theirworkers and even themselves. During 2018 700 setof PPEs, 200 First aid kits and 100 CPA lockers will be
distributed to farmers.”

19Chapter 2

Farm-level assessment ofworking conditions regarding
the ALP Code Standards

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep, Mogila and Krivogashtani

External Assessment

This chapter describes CU’s assessment of theworking conditions on the farms with regard to the
ALP Code Principles and Measurable Standards.
ALP Code Principles are short statements designed
to guide farmers on specific practices, resulting insafe and fair working conditions. A Measurable
Standard defines a good practice and over time canbe objectively monitored to determine whether, andto what extent, the labor conditions and practices
on a tobacco farm are in line with each ALP CodePrinciple.29

2.1. ALP Code Principle 1: Child labor

There shall be no child labor.

Main findings and challenges

2.1.1. Children working and activities
performed
No evidence was found of children below 15 yearsof age being employed at the farms. 30 CU did
observe one child family member aged 8 who was
helping with stringing, which is not permitted as thisis a hazardous activity. A Prompt Action had been
issued for this farm regarding the same situation.

2. In general, farmers were unaware of the riskof getting GTS when stringing tobacco, andhence were unaware of the need to wear
protective clothing during this activity.
3. Most of the farmers who were unaware of theminimum working age did not hire workers
themselves.

Analysis and priorities
Socotab DOOEL Bitola has been taking great effort
to eliminate child labor at the farm level. CU’sfindings confirm that these efforts are paying off, as
only one case was found where a child was involved
in tobacco-related activities. Taking into account thehistory of the region, where it used to be common
that children actively participated in tobacco
production, Socotab DOOEL Bitola deserves credit
for this positive development. However, challenges
remain: CU found some farmers to be unaware – oreven reluctant – to comply with certain measurable
standards of the Child Labor principle, which in bothcases represents a risk that child family members
are still being involved in tasks not suitable for theirage group. Additional efforts are required from
Socotab DOOEL Bitola to address this issue.

Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“Socotab will continue to increase farmers’ awarenessTwo (3%) farmers were unaware of the minimum
working age, and five (8%) farmers did not fully
understand the meaning of hazardous work.

on this subject by considering new methods and toolsof training. For example, in April 2018 stickers will becreated with hazardous tasks in tobacco production,
field staff will distribute these stickers to farmers andthey will advise them to put the stickers on visible andUnderlying factors that increase risk

available work places such as tractor, CPA locker etc.

CU identified three underlying
increased the risk of child labor:

factorsthat

1. In the specific case where CU found a childhelping with stringing activities, the farmer inquestion explained that he did not agree with
the ALP Principles and that he himself used towork as a child; furthermore, he did not agree
that stringing was a hazardous activity.

The idea is to distribute 3.000 stickers every year.
They will be distributed to farmers with children in
June - July 2018. Additionally, in April 2018 ALP
Coordinator will create posters with striking messages
that will contain country’s minimum employment age
and slogans that will put emphasis on all hazardous
activities in tobacco cultivation. Leaf Tobacco
Specialists will distribute these posters to 150

29. The scope and methodology of the assessment are described in Appendix II.
30. In the Republic of Macedonia the legal minimum age for employment in tobacco is 15 (See Appendix III for moredetailed legal information).
21

External Assessment

arrangement also determines the applicable law 31,
villages in the country by the end of June 2018, sothat they can attract farmers’ attention during peakof the season. Refreshment trainings of farmers withthe help of distributed ALP leaflets will also continue.”

2.2. ALP Code Principle 2: Income andwork hours
Income earned during a pay period or
growing season shall always be enoughto meet workers’ basic needs and shallinsufficient information was gathered during thevisits and interviews to determine under which typeof working agreements workers were employed ineach farm and thus in which cases labor law applies.
For the purpose of this report it has been decided
to use the labor rights as a benchmark for the farmfindings, as it is the most common practices to
use them as a reference to define if basic working
conditions are met at the farms, and because laborlaw set of rules is wider in scope and more strict
compared to what is allowed for the parties to agree
under contract for work32.

be of a sufficient level to enable the2.2.1. Payment of workers

generation of discretionary income.
Workers shall not work excessive orillegal work hours.
Main findings and challenges
Assessing presupposition before the farm visits
was that all farm working relations where subject
to “employment contacts” while the Macedonian
legislation also recognizes “contract for work”
as a valid working agreement. As a result of that
presupposition and because the type of working

All farmers with hired labor (10 of the 60 farmers
interviewed) paid their workers more than thelegal minimum wage (10,650 MKD/month or 61
MKD/hour) which would be applicable in caseof employment contract, but not in contract forwork. They were all aware of the minimum salary
for tobacco farming applicable for employment
contracts but none of them knew the corresponding
overtime rates; the same was found for the workers
interviewed about this topic. All farmers provided
breakfast to their workers, which was additional totheir salary.

Salary Range
AmountWorkers earning on an hourly basis
Workers earning per piece rate

120 MKD/hour

130 MKD/hour

9 (90%)

1 (10%)

35 MKD/string 33

1 (100%)Eight farmers (13%) occasionally employ so called “hired workers”, paying them between 150 and 300
MKD/decare34 for land preparation (10 minutes per decare) and CPA application (20 minutes per decare
including CPA preparation).
31. Both types of arrangements are recognized by the local legislations; “employment contract” agreements provide to
the workers a set of laws framed in the labor law legislation while workers under “contract for work” arrangements
are not subject to any specific labor law but whatever agreement has been made between employer and employee
prior the beginning of the working activities. For more details in regards to the differences between “Employment
Contract” and “Working of contract” in Annex III – Legal Information
32. Socotab also used the labor law applicable to “employment contract” in their communication materials.
33. Workers estimated that they made 4 to 6 strings per hour.
34. One decare is equal to 10 ares or 1000 square meters (hence 10 decares is equal to 1 hectare). The decare is acommon measure of land area in the Balkans.
22External Assessment

Payment schedule

Analysis and priorities

All of the farmers paid their workers on a daily
basis or per piece in accordance with the labor
law applicable for workers under an “employment
contract” arrangement.

CU’s findings show that wage rates and working
hours in the region are in compliance with the labor
law applicable for workers under an “employment
contract” arrangement. Awareness of the legal
minimum salary applicable for workers under an“employment contract” arrangement was highamong both workers and farmers. However, theirawareness of workers’ legal rights and benefits
applicable for workers under an “employment
contract” arrangement was very limited.

2.2.3. Work hours
No evidence was found of farmers disrespecting
the legal work hours on a regular basis applicablefor workers under an “employment contract”
arrangement. When asked, none of the farmers
hiring labor and none of the workers interviewed
knew the legal maximum amount of working hours
applicable for workers under an “employment
contract” arrangement, which would not beapplicable in case of “contract for work”. However,none of the workers were employed for more than 5hours per day. At all farms, workers received at least
one resting day per week, also during peak seasons.

2.2.4. Legal benefits
Apart from resting days, none of the farmers
provided their workers with the additional benefits
required by labor law.35 The main reason for thiswas that workers had verbal contracts only, andthat both farmers and workers were unaware of
the legal requirements regarding workers’ benefits,
which would be applicable in employment contract
arrangement, but not applicable under “contract forwork”.

Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“…the company’s field staff will conduct individual
trainings to farmers regarding income, work hours
and benefits. The workers of those farmers will bealso included at these trainings. Trainings will be done
during labor-intensive period in 2018 when there
is high tendency of hiring seasonal workers. Every
year all farmers will be trained on all applicable laws
regarding hiring labor.”

2.3. ALP Code Principle 3: Fair treatment

Farmers shall ensure fair treatment ofworkers. There shall be no harassment,
discrimination, physical or mental
punishment, or any other forms of abuse.

Underlying factors that increase risk
The level of awareness among farmers and workers
regarding the legal minimum wage was generally
high. The risk of workers being paid below the legal
overtime rate is low as overtime work seems to be
uncommon in the region.

Main findings and challenges

2.3.1. Treatment of workers
No evidence was found of verbal, sexual, or physicalabuse on the farms. 36 In addition, CU did not identify
any discriminatory practices.

35. Applicable only for “employment contract”, in addition to two resting days per week, workers employed under“employment contract” are entitled to receive social security, health insurance, holiday pay, parental leave, andseveral other benefits (see Appendix III for more detailed legal information).
36. According to regulations, CPA containers must be collected separately by a recycling company certified for this typeof hazardous waste. However, there is still not in Macedonia an appropriate collection system nor a treatment plant
to treat the refer waste according to the national law.
23

External Assessment

In some areas the workers were extended family,
friends or neighbor farmers who worked on one
another’s farms, which reduced the risk of unfair
treatment. Also, in some other areas, there wasa scarcity of workers, which meant that farmers
had to treat their workers well to ensure that theywould keep working for them.

2.3.2. Support mechanism
Support mechanisms facilitate workers’ access to
information, assist workers in difficult situations,and mediate disputes between farmers andworkers. PMI’s leaf tobacco suppliers are expected
to ensure that farmers and workers have access tosuch mechanism.
In October 2013 Socotab DOOEL Bitola launcheda support mechanism pilot in Krivogashtani and 7neighboring villages. The support mechanism is run
by the NGO Macedonia Center for International
Cooperation (MCIC), which assists farmers andworkers in ALP-related issues and provides
legal advice to farmers and workers. Farmers
and workers may access the mechanism via ananonymous hotline, by visiting the MCIC offices
in Krivogashtani, or during MCIC’s regular fieldvisits. In addition, MCIC and Socotab DOOEL Bitoladeveloped several communication materials 37
that address child labor and promote the hotline
telephone number. On a yearly basis, MCIC sharesa report with Socotab DOOEL Bitola, presenting,among other things, information on the amountand type of questions received and the level ofparticipation among workers and farmers.
Among the 35 farms visited by CU in the areas where
the support mechanism was being run, 14 (40%)
farmers were not aware of the support mechanism.
Two of these farmers made use of hired labor, andtheir workers were also not aware of the support
mechanism.
In addition to a formal support mechanism, the ALP
Code requires that farmers should make themselves
available to their workers to discuss potential

grievances before they escalate. No cases wereidentified where farmers were unavailable to theirworkers, as most of the workers were relatives,
friends or neighbors.

Analysis and priorities
No issues were found with regard to the Fair
Treatment principle, however, attention should be
paid to the fact that MCIC conducts its farm visits
together with the Leaf Tobacco Specialists. This
could make farmers and workers link MCIC directly
to Socotab DOOEL Bitola, and make them feel
uncomfortable to use the support mechanism andspeak freely. Furthermore, the support mechanism
pilot is only available in the Krivogashtani area,
which excludes contracted farmers in other districts
from support.
Socotab DOOEL Bitola response:“…for better and more comprehensive informing of
farmers, group presentations will be organized by SL
Operators with the help and support of Socotab field
staff. These presentations will be organized at thestart of the new season and will include farmers fromthe new villages that were included in this project in
the last 3 years and farmers from villages neighboring
Krivogashtani

Municipality.

Furthermore,

radio

commercial will be broadcasted during summer
months in order to raise farmers’ awareness about theSupport Mechanism and its function.”

2.4. ALP Code Principle 4: Forced labor
All farm labor must be voluntary. There
shall be no forced labor.
Main findings and challenges

2.4.1. Involuntary labor
No evidence was found of workers being unable toleave their employment or working against their

37. Year calendars, leaflets with hotline numbers, a book about child labor, mugs with the hotline numbers, etc. The
leaflets and books were made available in both the Macedonian and Albanian language.
24

External Assessment

will, or of contracted prison labor. Also, no evidence
was found of workers being obliged to hand overtheir original identity documents or pay a financial
deposit.

2.4.2. Direct payment
No evidence was found of workers not being paid
directly by the farmer.

Analysis and priorities
CU did not find evidence for widespread issues
related to this ALP Code Principle. This is mainly due
to the fact that most workers were relatives, friends,
or neighbors, or workers with a long employment
relationship with the farmers.

2.5. ALP Code Principle 5: Safe work
environment
Farmers shall provide a safe work
environment to prevent accidents andinjury and to minimize health risks.
Accommodation, where provided, shallbe clean, safe and meet the basic needsof the workers.
Main findings and challenges

2.5.1. Training and awareness of GTS
Nine (15%) farmers could not remember whether
they had been trained on the avoidance of GTS andwere not aware of the risks involved in handlinggreen tobacco without using proper protection. As aresult, these farmers either did not think it necessary
to train their workers and family members, or wereunable to train them. However, all of the “hired
workers” interviewed had been trained by their
farmer on GTS avoidance.

Furthermore, 17 (28%) farmers did not wear thecomplete set of required clothes when harvesting
green tobacco (long sleeves, long pants, shoes andgloves). Most farmers understood the need to use
protective clothing when harvesting, but generally
did not believe it necessary to protect their skinduring stringing.The common belief among farmers,family members and workers was that Oriental
Prilep tobacco would not cause GTS, and hence that
it was not necessary to cover the skin when handlinggreen tobacco of this variety.

Use of protective clothing
when handling green tobbaco

Number offarms

All protective clothing (Longsleeves, long pants, gloves, andshoes)

43 (72%)

Long sleeves, long pants andshoes

12 (20%)Long pants and gloves

5 (8%)

2.5.2. Training and handling of CPA
Safe handling of CPA proved to be a challenge on all
farms visited. On 24 farms (40%), farmers did notstore their CPA safely. In this group, 21 farmers had
a CPA storage area that could not be locked, while
the three other farmers had no designated storage
area at all. None of the farmers discarded the empty
CPA containers in a safe way as required by the law,because no such collection system was available 38.
As a result, 48 (80%) farmers threw the containers in
the regular waste containers. Sixteen farmers (27%)
washed and pierced the empty CPA containers prior
to disposal, while ten (17%) farmers burned theempty CPA containers on their farms. Two farmers(3%) declared to not handle empty CPA containers
as the CPA application at their farms was performedby hired workers who would afterwards deal withthe empty CPA containers disposal.

38. According to regulations, CPA containers must be collected separately by a recycling company certified for this typeof hazardous waste. However, there is still not in Macedonia an appropriate collection system nor a treatment plant
to treat the refer waste according to the national law.
25

External Assessment

At 3 farms (5%) CU found that some people handling
CPA were not properly trained on PPE usage; in allcases, these were family members who applied CPA
according to their own experience. However, on
all farms visited, the CPA application equipment
was in good condition and free from leaks. The one
hired workers provider interviewed by CU was able
to show certificates of attended trainings on theuse of proper PPE when applying CPA, and on thecalibration and maintenance of CPA applicationequipment.
At 17 farms (28%) people responsible for CPA
application did not use the complete set of PPE. In
ten of these cases people did not use an apron, and in
the other seven cases they failed to use masks. The
main reason identified by CU was that PPE (aprons,in particular) was considered uncomfortable to wear
in the field. In addition, farmers had some difficulty
to find good quality aprons in the agro stores selling
protective equipment.
The majority of the farmers (58, or 97%) did not takeany measures to ensure that no one would enter
their fields after recent CPA application.

2.5.3. Clean drinking and washing waterNo evidence was found of farmers not providing
clean drinking water, soap and washing water tofamily members and workers. However, elevenfarmers (18%) did not have sanitary facilities close
to the fields or barns.

Analysis and priorities
Safe work environment, in particular the use of PPE
for CPA application, is one of the two ALP CodePrinciples focused on by Socotab DOOEL Bitola. The
company had developed an initiative specifically
aimed at PPE distribution among famers. However,CU’s findings suggest that there is stillroom for
improvement, particularly with regard to the actualuse of PPE. Furthermore, the awareness among
farmers, family members and workers of the risks
of GTS is low, particularly in relation to exposure
during stringing activities.

2.6. ALP Code Principle 6: Freedom of
association
Farmers shall recognize and respect
workers’ rights to freedom of association
bargain collectively.
Main findings and challenges

2.6.1. Workers’ right to freedom of
association
No evidence was found of farmers disrespecting
their workers’ right to freedom of association39.
There were no active labor unions in the region of
the assessment. Farmers allowed their workers to
discuss common work goals and interests.

2.5.4. Workers accommodation
All workers went back to their homes after theworking day.

Underlying factors that increase risk
At eleven farms (18%) farming tools were lying
around or were not stored properly, posing a safety
risk. In addition, the lack of a proper collection
system for disposal of empty CPA containers with
toxic residues constitutes a health risk to farmers,family members and workers.

Analysis and priorities
This ALP Code Principle was not a focus area for
Socotab DOOEL Bitola as Socotab DOOEL Bitola
understood that the risk of violation of workers’ rightto freedom of association was low .Additionally, Leaf
Tobacco Specialists had an adequate knowledge ofthis topic.

39. The Macedonian Constitution protects the freedom of workers to form and join unions for purposes which are notcontrary to law. See Appendix III for more detailed legal information.
26

External Assessment

2.7. ALP Code Principle 7: Compliancewith the law
Farmers shall comply with all laws of
their country relating to employment.

Main findings and challenges

2.7.1. Information on legal rights
Typically, farmers informed their workers about thebasic employment conditions at their farm, such as
the wage they would receive, the hours they needed
to work, their tasks, and payment conditions.
However, none of the farmers fully informed theirworkers about their rights in terms of legal benefits,
the legal minimum wage or the legal minimum rate
for overtime hours which are applicable in case of“employment contract” agreements. This was foundto be due to three reasons: (1) farmers lacked thelegal knowledge about labor law legal employment
agreement to inform their workers; (2) farmers
were unaware of their responsibility to provide
this information to their workers; and (3) farmers
had no written contracts with their workers which
are applicable in case of “contracts for work”
agreements40 (see 2.2.4).

Analysis and priorities
While Leaf Tobacco Specialists showed a limited
understanding of this topic and where not able todescribe the possible types of agreements at thefarm level, farmers were even less aware of thelegal labor rights of workers. They did not knowthat in case workers are hired under “employment
contracts” agreements it was their responsibility
to inform workers about their legal rights. Socotab
DOOEL Bitola also did not provide information on
legal aspects to farmers neither assessed which typeof agreement applied at the farm level (see Chapter
1.4.1). Clearly, the knowledge of Leaf Tobacco
Specialists and farmers on this ALP Code Principle
and the applicable law needs to be improved. In
particular, more attention should be given to thetype of working agreements present on the field
and on the farmer’s obligation to inform his or her
workers of their legal rights.

40. Written employment contracts are only required when labor law applies. (See Appendix III for more detailed legal
information).
27

Chapter 3

ALP Program: feedback fromfarmers, workers, and otherstakeholders

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep, Mogila and Krivogashtani

External Assessment

Control Union asked farmers, family members andworkers what had changed on their farms since thestart of the ALP Program. The general feeling wasthat the number of children working in tobacco
production had decreased and that farmers andworkers were better protected when working withchemicals. One farmer reported that he was not
motivated to implement ALP, because the pricefor his tobacco did not increase if he followed thestandard. Some farmers also reported that they were
not aware of some of the initiatives implemented by
Socotab DOOEL Bitola and that they would like to
be included in these projects.
The general belief among farmers, family members
and workers was that Oriental Prilep tobacco would
not cause GTS, and hence that it was not necessary
to cover the skin when handling green tobacco ofthis variety.
Leaf Tobacco Specialists received feedback fromfarmers as well as workers and family members
during their farm visits. They would discuss theirfindings during meetings with their supervisors.
All findings are recorded digitally and Statisticalanalysis of these findings are shared regularly with
ALP team to find solutions as well as to receive
resource for the new initiatives. However, there
was no structured process for reporting each ofthese findings to the ALP team. Meeting minutes
only reflected the topics that had been discussed,
but did not record any feedback from the field or
details about the discussions.
There was also no formalized way in which farmers
could send feedback directly to Socotab DOOEL
Bitola. The company would get some insight into
farmers’ opinions and concerns regarding ALP
through the annual reports of the Macedonian
Center of Innovation, which was in charge ofconducting the support mechanism. However, thismechanism was not available to farmers outside the
Krivogashtani district.

29

Chapter 4

Appendices

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Oriental Prilep farmers in Prilep, Mogila and Krivogashtani

External Assessment

Appendix I – SOCOTAB Action Plan
Socotab DOOEL Bitola welcomes Control Union’s report from their assessment of the implementationof Agriculture Labor Practices Program in Macedonia and acknowledges it as valuable confirmation ofcompany’s efforts and progress in the promotion of ALP practices in Macedonia. At the same time, thefindings and insights provided in the report will serve Socotab as valid guidelines in its plans and endeavorsfor implementation and strengthening of ALP Program in Macedonia.
Many of the gaps and issues identified by Control Union are in line with the problems Socotab has faced
over the years in achieving comprehensive implementation of ALP practices by farmers. While it takes
time, resources and stakeholder’s engagement to resolve some issues, Socotab is fully committed to facethese challenges by proposing achievable solutions that can give results over time.
Below you can find the action plans for the findings and gaps detected by Control Union during theassessment, that Socotab engages itself to implement in the following years.

Implementation of the ALP Program
1.2. Strategy and objectives
While Control Union recognizes the high commitment to the ALP Program of all Socotab levels andemployees’ personal involvement and interest in program’s implementation, it proposes some improvementsin the formalization and better defining of some aspects such as risk assessment, root-cause analyses andtraining strategies.
During the assessment, CU noticed lack of formal and easily accessible structure that will help to understandbetter the prioritization of issues and evaluation of risks done by SMK ALP Team. Socotab realizes that theexistence of such formal document can contribute in having clear and constant approach in the evaluationof issues, which everybody can refer to. As a result, before start of the new crop season in April 2018, LTS
and Country ALP Coordinator will come together for a brainstorming session, and will create a formal root
cause analysis and the file will be updated at beginning of each year.
Control Union identified that in the implementation of the ALP Code, Socotab concentrates on continuous
training of farmers, while farm workers were the focus of the company’s strategy. Farmers are expectedto pass on their ALP knowledge to their workers, as they are employer of their own business. Realizing
the importance of wider implementation of ALP practices by all parties involved in tobacco production,
Socotab is monitoring/recording data regarding workers’ trainings in company’s system since the beginningof 2017. Strategy is already in place as per which LTSs together with Support Mechanism team will start
checking farm workers’ ALP training status in 2018.
1.3. Internal Capacity
1.3.3. Training and knowledge of the ALP Program
Since 2012, Socotab has had ALP team involving all departments of the company. The members of theteam have well-defined responsibilities in the implementation of the ALP Program. They regularly receive
trainings and guidance on ALP. The ALP Coordinator provides field personnel with annual refresher
trainings in addition to organizing weekly discussion meetings.

31

External Assessment

Even though Leaf Tobacco Specialists demonstrated very good knowledge of ALP Principles, Control Union
identified some room for improvement in the Income and Work Hours Principle and Safe Work Principle.
None of the Leaf Tobacco Specialists have the legal expertise and therefore did not emphasize the fact that
named hired workers can be engaged by the farmers by two existing types of working contract agreements
according to the local legal law – “employment contract” and “contract for work”.
Leaf Tobacco Specialists know the legal requirement for regular employment. However, since the practicein the agricultural sector between the farmer and worker is based on a verbal agreement (legally binding)and it is not an employment contract but more of a service provision, it could be the reason for not being
fully aware of the details related to this relationship to date. Nonetheless, in March 2018 Socotab willdevelop ALP training program for LTSs that will focus more on country-related legal requirements. The
program will be developed by the country’s ALP Coordinator and will aim to increase LTS’s awarenesson local law related to ALP principles. In April 2018, Leaf Tobacco Specialists will be trained on local law
related to ALP principles and their understanding will be cross-checked via tests before start of field visits.
Every year, the training program will be revised and updated, if necessary, and LTSs knowledge on local law
will be refreshed once per season or whenever changes in respective laws occur.
Also CU noticed that LTSs do not associate GTS as one of the risks from stringing activities. Therefore,
Socotab commits to continue informing LTSs and farmers about GTS and emphasizing the hazardous
conditions when handling green tobacco during LTSs trainings.
Additionally, despite the existence of specific instructions and procedures for solving individual PAI
situations, Control Union noticed lack of defined time frames for follow-up visits after agreed action plans
with the farmers. The defined deadline for follow-up visit is the next field visit, which is maximum 3 - 4 weeks
after the visit when PAI was observed. All personnel are familiar with this time frame. However, Socotab
country ALP Coordinator together with Socotab ALP Group Coordinator will update PAI Procedure andwill put this information in writing by decreasing related dead line to 3 weeks maximum.
1.4. Communication of the ALP Code requirements to farmers
1.4.1. Communication strategy and tactics
Farmers trainings on ALP Code and practices started early May 2012. Throughout 2012 and part of 2013
the company organized group trainings for the farmers. As of 2014 company’s strategy of training is
face-to-face training during individual visits on the farms as the company perceived these face-to-facetrainings as more beneficial. In addition to the group meetings and farm visits, Socotab DOOEL Bitola used
written communication materials to communicate with farmers about ALP, such as provisions included in
the Tobacco Cultivation and Purchase Contracts, leaflets attached to each contract describing all seven
ALP principles and their corresponding measurable standards and Oriental Tobacco Production Manual.
However, during the assessment CU found that 12 farmers were not able to name all seven ALP principles
and they had only read the first chapters of the distributed manual (which dealt with agricultural and quality
recommendations), overlooking the information on GAP and ALP. As Socotab we believe the effectivenessof face-to-face trainings and will continue to hold these during our field visits. Socotab will continue toupdate and distribute ALP leaflets to farmers during contracting period as they have done in the past.
Furthermore, Control Union observed that in Socotab’s ALP communication efforts, the company did nottake into account the so-called hired workers (individuals working as an agricultural contractor, who in
addition to being a farmer or employed worker, own machines and provide services such as plowing andland preparation). Socotab accepts this observation but for the purpose of clarification, it should be noted32External Assessmentthat most of these hired workers are also tobacco farmers so they are familiar with ALP Code. During 2018,
we will include related group of service providers as workers in our data capture system.
1.4.2. Farmers’ responsibilities
CU noted that Socotab DOOEL Bitola did not provide any incentives to farmers to encourage good
performance in relation to the ALP Code (e.g. termination of cultivation contract). In this respect, Socotab
regularly updates and distributes to all farmers ALP related materials as part of the contract. Additionally,
during all four visits, farmers are directly informed and reminded about ALP code, what they should do inorder to follow the code and what are the benefits for them.
One of Socotab significant initiatives is the implementation of digital system for data collection, so thatwhen LTSs visit the farms they have more time left for communicating ALP code and observing areas of
improvement for the farmer.
In the following years, the company will increase the supply of safety materials and equipment to farmers,
which will help farmers to better implement ALP best practices regarding safety of people on tobacco
farms as described below in section 2.5.
Socotab regularly updates and distributes to all farmers ALP related materials as part of the contract.
Additionally, during all 4 visits, farmers are directly informed and reminded about ALP code, what theyshould do in order to follow the code and what are the benefits for them. However, the company willfurther study and consider forms of incentives that are practical for implementation. Repeating issues thathas been classified as unacceptable will cause termination of the contract for next growing season”
1.5. Internal monitoring: data collection, accuracy, and addressing issues
Leaf Tobacco Specialists collect three types of ALP-related data from farmers: socio-economic data,
monitoring data and prompt action issues. All information is collected using a tablet computer and software
specifically designed for monitoring purpose and information are collected during regular farm visits.
1.5.1. Socio-economic data: Farm Profiles
All 60 Farm Profiles reviewed by CU were found to be accurate, except that eight (13%) of them did
not report that the farmer in question made use of hired workers. However, we must bear in mind thatmonitoring process is open during the whole season. This specific case could be a situation when an auditor
visited the farmer between the second and third visits (July and August), so LTS entered data for the second
visit (transplanting period), and the farmer was audited and visited during harvesting period when he hired
workers.
1.5.2. Systematic monitoring: situations not meeting the ALP Code standards
Socotab’s software for farm monitoring includes several sections: PAI section and ALP farm profile section
where all 32 measurable standards are also integrated and can be answered in the system as Yes, No and
Not applicable. In PAI section, LTS can directly write non-conformity that has been detected and related
follow up according to follow up visit. Whereas in ALP farm profile section both non-conformities andpositive feedbacks can be inserted under the “notes” section provided below each of the seven principles.
Taking into consideration that at 23% of the farms monitoring results did not match with CU findings,
Socotab plans to increase the accuracy of the collected data by enhancing the cross-checks of monitoring
results by increasing the unannounced visits from 1% to 2 % of the contracted farmers, cross-checking
33External Assessment

data once per month and informing LTSs on detected miss-match during monitoring season. In addition,
the ALP Coordinator will update LTSs handbook with instructions on how to enter various monitoring data
in March 2018.
1.5.3. Prompt Actions
Socotab had developed an escalation procedure to identify, register and follow up on Prompt Action
situations. Training material of PMI is in use to train LTS, which gives examples from all seven principles
on how to take action in case PAI is seen in related principle. Following CU observation, the escalation
procedure will be updated with time frames for follow-up visits. Required deadline to make follow up visit
is the next field visit which is generally max. 3 weeks later than PAI is initially detected. In March 2018, ALP
Coordinator together with Group Coordinator will update PAI Procedure with the time period for followup. LTSs will be refreshed with the updated PAI Procedure in April 2018, before start of the new monitoringseason and trainings will be organized for LTSs to emphasize them to be clearer to farmers about detected
PAIs.
Having in mind CU’s finding that seven of the farmers were not aware that a Prompt Action had beenreported for their farm, Socotab’s ALP Coordinator undertakes to constantly remind LTSs during
trainings and weekly meetings, to inform farmers on detected PAIs during their visits. The obligation of
the Leaf Tobacco Specialists is to inform the farmer about the action farmer is doing against company’s
recommendations and remind the farmer what he/she should do to eliminate the non-conformity with ALP
Code. The aim of this reminder is farmers to be more aware about their actions against ALP code. The
unannounced visits by SMK personnel and regular cross-checks of PAI electronic data will be means ofverification to verify whether LTSs are informing the farmers properly.
1.5.4. Improvement plans for individual farms
In line with CU’s recommendation for specific improvement plans for individual farms, in order to monitor
and manage all issues from the operational (management) part, in-house software system is getting
updates according to needs identified. For example, the ALP coordinator is able to see all PAIs regarding
not possessing PPE, thus he can decide the number of PPEs to be requested from the management for
distribution. Same is applicable for all different issues in the system. Any defectiveness could be determined
via reporting section of t-expert system during regular checks for reporting, in case LTS had not alreadyinformed his upper level. Socotab’s main goal is to fix as many issues as possible before the end of relatedseason. With the purpose of achieving wider implementation of ALP practices by tobacco farmers, Socotab
continues with its plan to supply farmers with useful safety materials, tools, equipment and solutions thatwill help them and workers follow ALP practices better. LTSs are supporting farmers with these materials
throughout the growing season.
1.6. Address systematic and/or widespread issues
At the time of the assessment, Control Union identified the following operational initiatives implemented
by Socotab DOOEL Bitola:• Distribution of gloves, masks and goggles to farmers lacking proper protective equipment for CPA
application;• Distribution of CPA storage boxes with locks to farmers lacking proper storage for CPA;
• Distribution of stringing machines• Distribution of first-aid kits34

External Assessment

However, not all visited farmers declared to be aware of these initiatives. While Socotab’s initiatives are
ongoing and will aim to cover more farmers with issues throughout the years, based on an evaluation planof priority risk areas ALP Coordinator and Steering Committee plan these initiatives at beginning of eachseason for specific farmers and all farmers are not covered by the initiative in one season. Socotab gives
a considerable budget to ALP program mainly as workforce as well as initiatives supplied to farmers. As apriority, we expect from our farmers to understand the need to protect their own family, their workers andeven themselves. During 2018 700 set of PPEs, 200 First aid kits and 100 CPA lockers will be distributed
to farmers.

Farm-level assessment of the implementation of ALP Code Principles and Standards
2.1. ALP Code Principle 1: Child Labor
Even though Control Union acknowledged Socotab’s great efforts in changing farmers’ traditional habits
and noticed significant progress in the elimination of child labor at the farm level, some challenges remain.
Some farmers seem to be unaware, or even reluctant, to comply with certain measurable standards of theChild Labor principle, such as involvement of children in stringing and small percentage of farmers not
hiring workers were not aware of the minimum employment age.
In Macedonia children are simply involved in some tasks when not going to school as part of the housechores and part of the regular family life, not being aware of the potential hazards. However, Socotab
will continue to increase farmers’ awareness on this subject by considering new methods and tools of
training. For example, in April 2018 stickers will be created with hazardous tasks in tobacco production,
field staff will distribute these stickers to farmers and they will advise them to put the stickers on visible
and available work places such as tractor, CPA locker etc. The target is to distribute 3.000 stickers every
year. They will be distributed to farmers with children in June - July 2018. Additionally, in April 2018 ALP
Coordinator will create posters with striking messages that will contain country’s minimum employment
age and slogans that will put emphasis on all hazardous activities in tobacco cultivation. Leaf Tobacco
Specialists will distribute these posters to 150 villages in the country by the end of June 2018, so that they
can attract farmers’ attention during peak of the season. Refreshment trainings of farmers with the helpof distributed ALP leaflets will also continue, promoting usage of mechanization and implementing Child
Labor Remediation Project by Support Mechanism partner will continue to be held.
2.2. ALP Code Principle 2: Income and work hours
Less than 5% of the tobacco farmers in Macedonia hire labor, mostly for harvesting and stringing activities.
All workers are seasonal and they are hired on temporary basis. Farmer-worker relations are arranged withverbal mutual agreements. Workers usually work around 5 hours per day and they are paid hourly or daily.
All farmers paid their workers more than the legal minimum wage which is 10,650mkd/month or 61 mkd/
hour. Accommodation has not been provided to hired workers since they are all locals coming from thesame or nearby villages. However, transport and regular breaks are provided to seasonal workers.
Even though no breach of local laws and violation of workers’ rights has been noticed historically in
Macedonia, Control Union identified certain lack of awareness among few farmers in terms of overtime
rates and legal maximum amount of working hours on daily/weekly basis. Also, CU noticed that none of thevisited farmers provided their workers with the additional benefits required by labor law.

35

External Assessment

In Macedonia, tobacco seasonal field workers work 5 hours per day and they never exceed the regular
working hours limit. Therefore, overtime rates are not in the focus of farmer-worker dealings, even though
they are all aware that overtime should be paid more.
Nonetheless, company’s field staff will conduct individual trainings to farmers regarding income, work
hours and benefits. The workers of those farmers will be also included at these trainings. Trainings will bedone during labor-intensive period in 2018 when there is high tendency of hiring seasonal workers. Every
year all farmers will be trained on all applicable laws regarding hiring labor.
Regarding the benefits provided to hired labor, for better understanding of the situation in the country, it
should be noted that aside from the labor law, there is an option in the country to make dealings and offer
services under the law on obligations. The farmers and legal entities have opted for the verbal agreementthat is in line with the law on obligations which does not necessarily impose obligation to provide benefits.
As per this law, in the service contract we have two parties, party that orders and pays the service and party
that provides the service.
In terms of above mentioned items the ALP brochure with current worker law will be updated anddistributed at the beginning of each year to 100% of the farmers.
2.3. ALP Code Principle 3: Fair treatment
No evidence was found of verbal, sexual, or physical abuse on the farms. In addition, CU did not identify
any discriminatory practices. Additionally, Socotab participates in support mechanism pilot project thatwas launched in October 2013 and currently covers Krivogashtani Municipality and seven neighboringvillages. The support mechanism is run by local NGO Macedonia Center for International Cooperation(MCIC), which assists farmers and workers in ALP-related issues and provides legal advice to farmers andworkers. Farmers and workers may access the mechanism via an anonymous hotline, by visiting the MCIC
offices in Krivogashtani, or during MCIC’s regular field visits. Moreover, MCIC and Socotab DOOEL Bitoladeveloped several communication materials that address child labor and promote the hotline telephone
number. On yearly basis, MCIC shares a report with Socotab DOOEL Bitola, presenting, among otherthings, information on the amount and type of questions received and the level of participation among
workers and farmers.
However, 40% of the farmers assessed by CU were not were not aware of the support mechanism. The
reason for this can be the fact that in the last three years, operators visited farms with children andworkers and it is possible farmers who were visited by auditors were not in the target group or area of
this mechanism (farmers with children up to 18 years and hired labor). It is a characteristic for the country
that most of the workers are relatives, friends or neighbors, so there is possibility the farmers who werevisited by auditors, not to have reported that they are using workers. However, for better and morecomprehensive informing of farmers, group presentations will be organized by SL Operators with the help
and support of Socotab field staff. These presentations will be organized at the start of the new season andwill include farmers from the new villages that were included in this project in the last 3 years and farmers
from villages neighboring Krivogashtani Municipality. Furthermore, radio commercial will be broadcasted
during summer months in order to raise farmers’ awareness about the Support Mechanism and its function,

36

External Assessment

bulk SMS notifications by Socotab will be sent to farmers in the project area.
2.4. ALP Code Principle 4: Forced labor
No issues were observed under this principle during the years and no findings were identified by CU either.
Nonetheless, LTSs will continue to promote and monitor the best practices recommended by this ALP
principle at tobacco farms.
2.5. ALP Code Principle 5: Safe work environment
Farm safety is one of the areas where most issues are detected and reported by Leaf Tobacco Specialists
during farm visits. In order to address the re-occurring issues, Socotab has undertaken many activities andinitiatives throughout the years, such as constant trainings, distribution of leaflets and written materials,
supply of safety materials. The efforts resulted in positive changes, mainly with regard to the use andstorage of CPAs, as it was also noticed by Control Union. However, there are many areas where the planned
progress is still not achieved. Control Union identified some findings under this principle, which Socotab
intends to use as starting point in the development of action plans for the following years. Below are theactivities that Socotab plans to undertake for achieving positive results.
– – Since 15% of the visited farmers could not remember whether they had been trained on GTS
avoidance and were not aware of the risks involved in handling green tobacco without using proper
protection, in April 2018, SMK ALP Coordinator will create posters with striking messages andpictures emphasizing the need for GTS knowledge. LTSs will distribute and display the posters to
150 villages by the end of June 2018. In the next 3 years, 200 posters will be printed per year anddisplayed in 150 village. Different villages will be selected every year. With this activity Socotab
expects to significantly raise farmers’ awareness and knowledge on GTS.
– – 28% of the assessed farmers did not wear the complete set of required clothes when harvesting
green tobacco (long sleeves, long pants, shoes and gloves). Most farmers understood the need touse protective clothing when harvesting, but generally did not believe it necessary to protect theirskin during stringing, because a common belief among farmers is that Oriental Prilep tobacco would
not cause GTS. Even though Socotab recognizes this situation, one must know that the reason why
farmers find it unnecessary to cover their skin during stringing is that most of them use stringing
machines and they string tobacco in field immediately after harvesting. Moreover, the numberspresented in the above table show rather high percentage of farmers using complete set of protective
clothing. Nonetheless, before start of 2018 season, the company will update farmers’ training
materials with photos demonstrating proper protection from GTS during harvesting and stringing.
Also, STP Steering Committee decided to develop a long-term plan to provide farmers gloves during
harvesting and stringing period initial plan is to distribute 500 box of gloves to 500 farmer each year.
– – All visited farms faced challenges in safe handling and disposing of CPAs. Therefore, Socotab will
intensify its training program for farmers regarding safe storage of CPAs. Trainings will be performed
by Leaf Tobacco Specialists during individual farm visits as verbal reminders and via leaflets.
Additionally, the company will continue supplying farmers with CPA lockers as part of the measures
to spread safe CPA storage practices. In the next 3 years, 100 CPA lockers will be distributed peryear to farmers who have pending PAI for unsafe CPA storage from the current and previous crop.
With the help of local authorities, in 2018 the companies will develop joint-industry pilot projectfor collection of hazardous waste and try to find applicable methods for safe disposal of empty CPA
containers by farmers. ALP Training program will be develop to promote this method among farmers.
In 2019 and 2020, farmers will be trained by LTSs during farm visits. The proper usage of the lockers
37External Assessment

and proper disposal of empty CPA containers (as recommended by the company) will be carefully
monitored during farm visits and checked during unannounced visits.
–– At 5% of the farms CU found that some people handling CPA were not properly trained on PPE
usage. For that reason, before the start of 2018 monitoring season, ALP Coordinator will create
posters with striking messages and visuals emphasizing the proper handling and use of CPAs. LTSs
will distribute these posters to 150 villages by the end of June 2018. In the next 3 years, 200 posters
per year will be distributed to 150 different villages. At the same time, refreshment trainings will be
provided to farmers by our field staff.
–– Even though at all farms the CPA application equipment was in good condition and free from leaks,
at 28% farms people responsible for CPA application did not use the complete set of PPE. In order toimprove this situation, Socotab plans to intensify its training program for farmers regarding properuse of PPEs for CPA applications. Trainings will be performed by Leaf Tobacco Specialists during
individual farm visits as verbal reminders and via leaflets. Additionally, the company will continue
supplying farmers with PPE sets for CPA application as part of the measures to spread safe CPA
usage. In 2018 700 PPE sets will be distributed to farmers who have pending PAI for not using or
possessing PPEs from the current and previous crop.
–– The majority of the farmers (97%) did not take any measures to ensure that no one would enter
their fields after recent CPA application. Consequently, during farm visits, LTSs will emphasize tofarmers the need to mark the sprayed fields, mostly for the sake of their own safety and protection,and to read manufacturer’s instructions before CPA use, focusing not only on the dosage but also
on the recommended re-entry period. Additionally, before start of 2018 monitoring season, ALP
Coordinator will update ALP leaflets with information about recommended re-entry period (2-3days) after CPA application. These leaflets will be distributed to 100% of the contracted farmers
additionally 700 warning signs will be distributed each year starting from 2018.
–– At eleven farms (18%) farming tools were lying around or were not stored properly, posing a safety
risk. In addition, the lack of a proper collection system for disposal of empty CPA containers with
toxic residues constitutes a health risk to farmers, family members and workers. Socotab will strive
to change farmers’ traditional habits by emphasizing to farmers the need to store equipment andtools safely, for their own protection and safety of all people on the farm. This will be done by LTS
during farm visits. The purpose will be to continue to train all farmers on farm safety every year.
–– Even though CU did not identified lack of clean drinking water, soap and washing water to family
members and workers at any of the visited farmers they pointed out that 18% of the farms did nothave sanitary facilities close to the fields or barns. While Socotab appreciates this observation, it
should be taken into consideration that it is specific for Macedonia curing barns to be placed infarmers’ yards / homes where everyone has access to sanitary facilities. As for the access to sanitaryfacilities on all tobacco fields, we believe that this cannot be available at the moment and in the
future as well, because of practical point of view.
2.6. ALP Code Principle 6: Freedom of Association
Leaf Tobacco Specialists demonstrated adequate knowledge on this tobacco. Moreover, no issues wereobserved under this principle during the years and no findings were identified by CU either. Nonetheless,
LTSs will continue to monitor the implementation of these standards at tobacco farms.
2.7. ALP Code Principle 7: Compliance with the law
38External Assessment

Control Union noticed that farmers informed their workers about the basic employment conditions attheir farm, such as the wage they would receive, the hours they needed to work, their tasks, and payment
conditions. However, none of the farmers fully informed their workers about their rights in terms of legal
benefits or the legal minimum rate for overtime hours. CU identified three reasons behind this situation:(1) farmers lacked the legal knowledge about labor law legal employment agreement to inform theirworkers; (2) farmers were unaware of their responsibility to provide this information to their workers;and (3) farmers had no written contracts with their workers which are applicable in case of “employment
contract” agreements.
For better clarification, it should be taken into consideration that the verbal agreement is an assignment
agreement and not an employment contract ruled by the labor law. Therefore, the parties agree on theservice to be carried out and the fee for the service. Neither party is dissatisfied and that is why the form ofagreement continues uninterrupted over the years and additionally it is totally legal. However, continuous
efforts are made by the company to remind the farmers that they should satisfy the basic needs of theiremployment taking in to consideration of labor law and need to educate their workers about their legal
rights as per the local law.
Rulebooks who are published in Official gazette (for example No. 34 from 1968 during former Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) will require legal expert opinion to define whether these rulebooks are stillin force.
Even in case that rulebooks still are in force (for example No. 34 from 1968 article 112 is in direct collision
with restrictions regarding incineration of hazardous waste that are published in article 57 (paragraph 3)
of Law on waste management (Official gazette of RM No. 68/2004).

ALP Program: feedback from farmers, workers, and other stakeholders
Leaf Tobacco Specialists received feedback from farmers as well as workers and family members during
their farm visits. They would discuss their findings during meetings with their supervisors. All findings
are recorded by the help of in house developed software. Statistical analysis of these findings are shared
regularly with ALP team (consisting of managers) to find solutions as well as to receive resource for the
new initiatives. However, there was no structured process for reporting these findings to the ALP team.
Meeting minutes only reflected the topics that had been discussed but did not record any feedback from thefield or details about the discussions. Socotab appreciates the observation, but kindly requests rephrasingof this paragraph, since during regular weekly meetings LTSs share verbally with ALP team re-occurring
concerns and topics which are raised and discussed with farmers during their farm visits. Every feedback
is significant for the company and taken into consideration. However, it is not feasible to put in writing all
shared feedbacks. The weekly meetings are dynamic meetings where concerns are raised and immediate
solutions are provided, when possible.

39External Assessment

Appendix II – Scope and methodology
Assessment team
The team responsible for conducting thisassessment consisted of three auditors (two from
Serbia and one from the Republic of Macedonia)
and two CU coordinators (one from Argentina andone from the Netherlands). 41 The three auditors
conducted farm assessments and interviewed
Leaf Tobacco Specialists. The two coordinatorsinterviewed Socotab DOOEL Bitola management
and external stakeholders. The auditors as well as
the coordinators were trained by Verité and Control
Union. This qualification process consisted of thefollowing stages:• Selection of candidates by CU;• Webinars organized by CU to verify suitability ofcandidates;• Completion of online training provided by Verité;• Full week classroom training conducted by Verité
with CU;• Two-day refresher training by the CU coordinator
prior to starting the field visits; and• Shadowing during farm visits by CU coordinators.
Desk review
Prior to this assessment Socotab DOOEL Bitola wasrequested to send documentation to CU to give theassessment team a better idea about the market
characteristics and the management systems thatwere in place. Polenak Law Firm provided the legal
information that was relevant to the ALP Code (SeeAppendix III for more detailed legal information).
This was important to ensure a thorough preparationof the assessment.
Opening meeting
On 13 July 2017, CU started the assessment witha meeting at Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s head office inDragozhani, Republic of Macedonia. This meeting
was attended by Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s ALP
Steering Committee and ALP Country Team, as well
as PMI Regional. CU presented the objectives andapproach of the assessment, while Socotab DOOEL
Bitola provided a brief overview of the market andcompany background.
Methodology for ALP implementation systemreview
The methodology used for evaluating Socotab
DOOEL Bitola’s implementation of the ALP Program
was based on the widely used PDCA 42 cycle, which
is a management method for the continuous
improvement of processes and products. As partof this evaluation, CU spent two days (13 and
14 July 2017) at Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s head
office to interview members of the Steering
Committee and ALP Country Team. CU interviewed
management staff, analyzed documentation,and evaluated Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s systems,
to better understand how the implementationof the ALP Program was organized. In total, CU
interviewed seven management personnel and
15 field personnel (Tobacco Leaf Specialists) of
Socotab DOOEL Bitola, and two staff members of
PMI Regional. Additionally, CU interviewed three
employees of one stakeholder: the NGO Macedonia
Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), which
was in charge of running the support mechanismin the Krivogashtani district. All interviews wereconducted individually, so that interviewees felt
comfortable to speak freely and raise any issues.
Scope and farm sampling
Oriental Prilep tobacco production in the Republicof Macedonia mainly takes place in three regions:
Pelagonia, East Macedonia and Povardarie.
CU was requested to conduct the assessmentin the Pelagonia region, which consists of themunicipalities of Mogila, Prilep and Krivogashtani.

41. The coordinator from Netherlands did not stay for the entire assessment, but only for the management assessment
and two field days.
42. Plan, Do, Check, Act
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External Assessment

Socotab DOOEL Bitola Tobacco production in Pelagonia

The majority of the farmers in the scope of thisassessment (60%) grew tobacco on an area of lessthan one hectare, while 33% grew an area of 1-2
hectares and 7% grew more than two hectares.
In 2017, Socotab DOOEL Bitola had contracts with
3,647 Oriental Prilep farmers in the Pelagonia
region which was also the total number of farmers
in the scope of this assessment. These farmers were
supported by four Senior Leaf Tobacco Specialists
and 22 Leaf Tobacco Specialists. To constitute ameaningful sample, CU needed to visit at least 60
farms, the square root of the total population of
farmers within the scope. In total, CU visited 60
farmers, which were sampled randomly or selectedbased on geographical spread. Additionally, one
hired worker (agricultural contractor hired by someof the farmers) was interviewed. This interview
was shorter and focused only on understanding theservice provider’s activities on the different farms
and his knowledge of ALP principles.

Over a period of two weeks CU visited 12 farms
per day, where each field day was followed by areporting day.
The graphs below provide demographic information
about the farms visited.
Previously contracted by
Socotab DOOEL Bitola

5%

95%
Yes
No

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External Assessment

Farm size (ha contracted by
Socotab DOOEL Bitola)

Type of farm

7%
17%

33%
60%
83%
0-1
1<2

Family farm with family members working*>2

Farm with family members and local workers***Seven (7) farmers declared to employ hired workers(Land preparation, Planting and CPA related activities)**Three (3) farmers declared to employ hired workers(Land preparation, Planting and CPA related activities)

Stage of tobacco production

60

59

57

Harvesting

CuringFarmers

50
40
30
20
10

3

1

Growing

Topping0

Tobacco Stage42

External Assessment

Thanks to the openness and collaboration of
Socotab DOOEL Bitola, CU managed to conduct allof the farm visits unannounced. This meant that thefarmers had not been informed about the visit andits objectives prior to CU’s arrival. Socotab DOOEL
Bitola did inform farmers in the weeks before theassessment that a visit could take place within acertain period, but said nothing in the days prior
to the visits. The day before each field visit CU
informed Socotab DOOEL Bitola about the namesof the selected Leaf Tobacco Specialists to join thefarm visits the next day. The names of the farmers
were provided on the day of the visit itself, while inthe car, and only for the next farmer to be visitedthat day. The reason for this procedure is that CU
wanted to obtain a realistic picture of the farm
practices, which was most likely to be seen whenarriving unannounced.

People interviewed
Whenever possible, interviews with workers andfamily members were conducted individually andwithout the farmer, to avoid undue bias. For the same
reason, all interviews with farmers were conductedwithout the Leaf Tobacco Specialists. In total, 139
people were interviewed by CU (60 farmers, 73
family members, five contracted workers and one
hired worker).
Demographic information on the family members(73), external workers (5) and hired workers (1)interviewed:
People interviewed
1%
6%

Methodology for ALP farm practices review
The methodology used during the farm visits was
based on triangulation of information. Auditors
were instructed to seek at least two, preferably
three, sources of information. They used theirfindings to draw conclusions about whether farm
practices were meeting the standard of the ALP
Code. These sources could be interviews with
farmers, family members, or workers. Sources
could also include documentation and visualobservation of the farm area, field, storage facility,
and curing barns. This methodology was also used
to investigate the underlying factors that increase
the risk of not meeting the standard. In addition to
information triangulation CU also used the “FiveWhys” methodology, a commonly used technique
to obtain an understanding of problems and toinvestigate the reasons behind certain issues.
Before every interview CU explained the objectiveof the assessment and assured intervieweesthat all information would be kept completely
anonymous. Next to assessing labor practices, CUalso verified how the impact of Socotab DOOEL
Bitola’s management systems and ALP Program
was perceived by Leaf Tobacco Specialists, farmers,family members, and workers.

93%
Family members
External workers (local)
Hired workers

40%

60%

FemaleMale

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External Assessment

Only one family member interviewed was a child; allothers (including the external worker) were adults.
All external workers interviewed had been employed
for less than one month with their current employer
for this season. All contracts were for several days aweek but none were full-time.
Closing meeting
On 31 August 2017 a closing meeting was held at
Socotab DOOEL Bitola’s head office in Dragozhani,
Republic of Macedonia. Similar to the opening
meeting, this meeting was attended by Socotab
DOOEL Bitola’s Steering Committee and ALP
Country Team, and PMI Regional. The Verité
consultant for Europe was also present. After CU
presented their initial findings, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola requested clarification of some items, which
was followed by a constructive discussion on several
topics. Overall, CU’s findings were considered auseful base for taking action to improve Socotab
DOOEL Bitola’s implementation of the ALP Program.

Reporting procedure
During the assessment, auditors reported after eachfield day to the coordinator. This person monitored
the auditors’ findings, and provided feedback
whenever necessary. The coordinator compiled all
findings and combined these with the findings fromthe management assessment. Public release of CU’s
assessment report demonstrates PMI’s commitment
to transparency, which is an important componentof the ALP Program. CU authored the final report,
which was evaluated by Verité. PMI reviewed thereport to ensure consistency of the presentation ofCU’s findings worldwide. Finally, Socotab DOOEL
Bitola reviewed the report to verify that all theinformation was correct, and to finalize their action
plan based on this report.43

43. Leaf tobacco suppliers can start drafting their action plans after the closing meeting, as initial findings usually do notdiffer much from the final report.
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Appendix III – Legal information
The information below has been approved and provided by PMI to CU before the assessment. CU reviewed
this information to ensure that it was clear and complete so that it could be used for the assessment.

1. Principle 1 – Child Labor
1.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Minimum age for employment (in tobacco)• Requirements applying to farmers’ own children or other family members such as nieces andnephews helping on the farm
• Age (or ages) limit for compulsory schooling• Definitions of hazardous work (incl. agricultural activities that constitute hazardous work) as well as
any tasks that workers under 18 are specifically prohibited from participating in by law• Other restrictions or requirements on the employment of workers under 18 years (e.g. limit on work
hours, work permits, etc.)
1.2 Applicable laws
• Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia (Устав на Република Македонија) (“Official Gazette of
the Republic of Macedonia” no. 52/1991; 1/1992; 1/1992; 31/1998; 91/2001; 84/2003; 107/2005;
3/2009; 49/2011) – hereinafter: the “Constitution”;• Law on Labor Relations (Закон за работните односи) (“Official Gazette of the Republic ofMacedonia” no. 62/2005; 106/2008; 161/2008; 114/2009; 130/2009; 149/2009; 50/2010;52/2010; 124/2010; 47/2011; 11/2012; 39/2012; 13/2013; 25/2013; 170/2013; 187/2013;
113/2014; 20/2015; 33/2015; 72/2015; 129/2015 and 27/2016) – hereinafter: the “LLR”;• Family Law (Закон за семејството) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 80/1992,
9/1996, 38/2004, 33/2006, 84/2008, 67/2010, 156/2010, 39/2012, 44/2012, 38/2014, 115/2014,
104/2015 and 150/2015);• Law on Secondary Education (Закон за средното образование) (“Official Gazette of the Republicof Macedonia” no. 44/1995, 24/1996, 34/1996, 35/1997, 82/1999, 29/2002, 40/2003, 42/2003,
67/2004, 55/2005, 113/2005, 35/2006, 30/2007, 49/2007, 81/2008, 92/2008, 33/2010, 116/2010,
156/2010, 18/2011, 42/2011, 51/2011, 6/2012, 100/2012, 24/2013, 41/2014, 116/2014,
135/2014, 10/2015, 98/2015, 145/2015, 30/2016 and 127/2016);• Law on Child Protection (Закон за заштита на децата) (“Official Gazette of the Republic ofMacedonia” no. 23/2013, 12/2014, 44/2014, 144/2014, 10/2015, 25/2015, 150/2015, 192/2015
and 27/2016).
Note: Legislation cited herein is available online in Macedonian language at: www.pravo.org.mk(free registration required) and http://www.slvesnik.com.mk/.

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1.3 Your answera) Minimum age for employment (in tobacco)
Article 42 para (2) of the Constitution provides that a person under the age of 15 cannot be employed.
Children that are 15 years of age are not subject to this prohibition and they can be employed under special
conditions explained further below.
Article 18 para (2) of LLR provides that a child under the age of 15 (children 15 years of age not included),or a child that has not finished compulsory education is not allowed to work, except for participation in
activities allowed by law, but not longer than 4 hours a day. No special rules are provided as to how manydays a week can such minors take part in these activities.
The LLR does not stipulate another minimum age requirement below the age of 15. Therefore, Article 18
para (2) of LLR applies to children at any age below the age of 15.
Furthermore, the LLR does not provide special limitations concerning how many days a week can a childunder the age of 15 be engaged in these activities. However, Article 18 para (3) of the LLR provides that theemployer shall be obliged to ensure protection of the young persons against economic exploitation and any
type of work that can harm their safety, health, physical, mental, moral or social development or endanger
their education.
The activities that children under the age of 15 can part take in are regulated in Article 18 para (4) of
LLR, which provides that, as an exception, a child that is younger than 15 years of age can participate, fora compensation, in activities which regarding their scope and nature do not affect their health, safety,
development and education, such as: participation in cultural and artistic activities, sports events andadvertisement activities.
Para (5) of the same Article provides a further condition for children under the age of 15 to participate in
the activities referred to in para (4) of the same Article. Namely, this provisions stipulates that the child canparticipate in these activities only upon prior consent of the legal guardian of the child and upon approval
for carrying out such activities issued by the State Labor Inspectorate, based on a request of the organizerof the activities, to be issued after a conducted inspection by the labor inspection of the place where theactivities are to be carried out.
A special minimum age for employment in the tobacco business is not stipulated; therefore, the minimum
age defined in the Constitution and LLR will apply as well in the tobacco business.
b) Requirements applying to farmers’ own children or other family members such as nieces and nephews
helping on the farm
Work done on the family farm by the farmer’s own children, or by other family members (nieces andnephews) that are minors living in a common household with the farmer, would generally be deemed as
performance of household chores, rather than as employment. Therefore, the provisions from Article 18
paras (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the LLR would not apply to such performance of household chores.
However, please note that the Family Law imposes limitations as to the type of activities that minors canperform as household chores and the way they can be performed, and prescribes deprivation of parental
rights as a sanction in case of violation of such limitations.
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External Assessment

Namely, Article 90 para (1) of the Family Law provides that a parent who abuses his/her parental rights or
grossly neglects parental duties shall, upon prior opinion from the social works center, be fully deprived ofhis/her parental rights by way of a court decision adopted in a non-litigious civil procedure.
Para (2) of the same Article provides that abuse or gross neglect of parental duties within the meaning inpara (1) of this Article shall exist where the parent:• inflicts physical or emotional violence on the child;• sexually abuses the child;• forces the child to do work not suitable for the child’s age;
• allows the child to use alcohol, drugs or other psychotropic substances;• induces the child to panhandling or uses the child for panhandling;• accustoms the child to socially unacceptable behavior;• abandons the child and does not take care of the child for more than three months; and• in any other way grossly violates the rights of the child.
To the extent that the farmer and the farmer’s own children, or other family members that are minor, wish
to establish an employment relationship, the same minimum age requirements for employment apply forfarmer’s own children or other family members (nieces and nephews) helping on the farm, as stipulated in
the Constitution and LLR.
c) Age (or ages) limit for compulsory schooling
Under Article 44 para (3) of the Constitution, primary education is compulsory and free.
Under Article 3 para (1) of Law on Secondary Education, secondary education is compulsory for every
citizen, under equal conditions determined by this law.
After finishing primary education, minors are required to continue with secondary education, which
they usually finish at the age of 18. Children usually start primary education at the age of 5 or 6. Primaryeducation lasts for 9 years, while secondary education lasts for 4 years.
d) Definitions of hazardous work (incl. agricultural activities that constitute hazardous work) as well as
any tasks that workers under 18 are specifically prohibited from participating in by law
The LLC does not operate with the term “hazardous work”, but it does prohibit the participation of
employees under the age of 18 in certain works and tasks.
Namely, under Article 173 para (1) of LLR, employees under the age of 18 cannot perform:
a. hard manual labor;
b. works performed underground or underwater;c. works connected with sources of ionization radiations; andd. other works, which can have a harmful and a dangerous impact on the health condition anddevelopment as regarding their physical and mental characteristics.
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External Assessment

Para (2) of the same Article provides that the works referred to in para (1) of this Article are to be further
specified by the Minister of Labor, in coordination with the Minister of Health. However, to date, theMinister of Labor and the Minister of Health have not adopted such bylaw.
Furthermore, under Article 18 para (3) of LLR, the employer shall be obliged to ensure protection of theyoung persons against economic exploitation and any type of work that can harm their safety, health,physical, mental, moral or social development or endanger their education.
Para (6) of the same Article provides that any person who can conclude an employment contract for carryingout activities that are not harmful to his health and safety, and is at least 15 years of age, but under 18 yearsof age, and is not included in the compulsory education, shall be considered as young person.
Furthermore, Law on Child Protection guarantees further rights for the child and provides instruments forprotection of children. Under Article 11 para (1) of this Law, any person till the age of 18, as well as persons
having impediments in their physical or mental development till the age of 26, shall be deemed as a child.
Article 12 of Law on Child Protection provides the following:
1. All forms of discrimination based upon race, skin color, sex, language, religion, political or otherbelief, national, ethnic or social origin, cultural or other background, property, disability, birth orother status of the child or of its parent or legal guardian, are prohibited.
2. All forms of sexual exploitation and sexual child abuse (harassment, child pornography, childprostitution), forced procuring, selling or trafficking children, psychological or physical violenceand harassment, punishment or other inhuman treatment, all kinds of exploitation, commercial
exploitation and abuse of children that violates basic human freedoms and rights and rights of thechild, are prohibited.
3. The procuring or offering of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors to a child under the ageof 18 is prohibited and all unlawful activities and abuse of child labor for the production and tradewith drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors are also prohibited.
4. The abuse of children for political or religious organizing and agency is prohibited.
5. The involvement of children in armed conflicts and their recruitment in units that take military andother activities is prohibited.
6. The state and institutions of the system are required to take all necessary measures to ensure therights of the children and prevent any form of discrimination or abuse regardless of the place where
they are committed, their severity, intensity and duration.
7. Every citizen is required to report to a competent authority any form of discrimination, abuse or
exploitation of a child in the forms listed in paras (1) - (5) of this Article immediately after becoming
aware of the occurrence.
e) Other restrictions or requirements on the employment of workers under 18 years (e.g. limit on work
hours, work permits, etc.)
The following restrictions apply to employees under the age of 18:

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1. Workload:
The employer must not use the reward method in order to increase the volume of the work which would
endanger the safety and health of the young person (Article 18 para (12) of LLR). The LLR does not stipulate
further rules as to the rewards that the employer is not allowed to use for this purpose, which implies thatthe word “reward” here should be interpreted in its general sense to include any kind of monetary or nonmonetary benefit.
2. Working hours, rest period and break:
Article 18 paras (7) – (11) of LLR regulate the working hours of young persons.
The maximum number of working hours for a young person under 16 years of age shall be 30 hours per
week, even in the case the young person is employed with more employers at the same time. For avoidanceof doubt, this rule applies only to young persons at the age of 15 (until they turn 16 years of age).
The maximum number of working hours for a young person over 16 years of age shall be 37 hours and 45
minutes per week, even in the case the young person is employed with more employers at the same time.
For avoidance of doubt, this rule applies only to young persons at the age of 16 and 17 (i.e. from turning 16
till turning 18 years of age).
The working hours of a young person cannot exceed eight hours in a period of 24 hours.
The time that the young person spends in vocational training within the frames of the theoretical andpractical education shall be considered as work.
The work done by a young person at the employer for which he receives compensation shall be consideredas participation in training.
Article 174 paras (1) – (3) of LLR contain further rules on the working hours and breaks of young persons.
The working hours of the employee under the age of 18 must not exceed eight hours a day and 40 hours aweek.
The employee under the age of 18 who works at least four and a half hours a day shall be entitled to a breakof at least 30 minutes during the working hours.
The employee under the age of 18 shall be entitled to a rest period of at least 16 consecutive hours in aperiod of 24 hours.
3. Overtime work:
Under Article 120 item 5) of LLR, the employer cannot order work beyond the full-time hours to an
employee under the age of 18.
4. Night work:
Under Article 175 para (1) of LLR, the employee under the age of 18 must not work at night between 22:00
and 06:00 the following day.
By exception, under para (2) of the same Article, it may be provided for the employee under the age of 18 towork at night in case of force majeure, when such work lasts for a determined period of time and must be49

External Assessment

carried out immediately and the adult employees are not available. In that case, the employees under theage of 18 must be provided with adequate rest period during the following three days.
During such night work, the employer must provide supervision by an adult employee (para (3) of the same
Article).
5. Annual leave:
Under Article 176 of LLR, the employee under the age of 18 shall be entitled to annual leave extended byseven working days.

2. Principle 2 – Income and Work Hours
2.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Laws on regular and overtime hours (e.g. maximum work hours)• Requirements that employers must meet to request overtime from workers• Laws on regular and overtime wages (e.g. minimum wages, minimum wages agreed with unions)• Laws on basic entitlements to be paid to workers (e.g. social security, health care, holidays, otherleave entitlements etc.)• Wage and hours law specific to piece rate workers, seasonal workers, and migrant workers• Laws on payment of wages relevant to the frequency of payment in agriculture, for example, laws on
whether end-of-season one-time payments are permissible• Laws on in-kind payment• Legal requirements for migrant workers to ensure they are legally permitted to work
• Other specific rules applicable to migrant workers
2.2 Applicable laws
• LLR;• Rulebook on the manner and the keeping of the electronic records of the full-time hours and of
the overtime work (Правилник за начинот и водењето на електронската евиденција наработно време и на прекувремената работа) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia”
no.115/2014 and 137/2016) – hereinafter: the “Rulebook on working time records”;• Collective Agreement for Employees in the Tobacco Industry (Consolidated text) (Колективен
договор за вработените од тутунското стопанство (пречистен текст)) (“Official Gazetteof the Republic of Macedonia” no.137/2016) - hereinafter: the “CATI”;• Law on the Minimum Salary in the Republic of Macedonia (Закон за минималната плата воРепублика Македонија) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 11/2012, 30/2014,180/2014, 81/2015, 129/2015 and 132/2017);
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External Assessment• Agreement on determining the minimum salary for employees in the tobacco business (Спогодба заутврдување на најниската плата за вработените од тутунското стопанство) (“Official
Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.115/2014);• General Collective Agreement for the Private Sector in the field of Economy (Општ колективен
договор за приватниот сектор од областа на стопанството) (“Official Gazette of the
Republic of Macedonia” no.115/2014 (consolidated text), 119/2015 and 150/2016) - hereinafter:
the “GCAPS”;• Law on Contributions for Mandatory Social Insurance (Закон за придонеси за задолжително
социјално осигурување) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 42/2008, 64/2009,
156/2009, 166/2010, 53/2011, 185/2011, 44/2012, 15/2013, 91/2013, 170/2013, 97/2014,
113/2014, 180/2014, 188/2014, 20/2015, 48/2015, 129/2015, 217/2015 and 190/2016);• Law on Foreigners (Закон за странците) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia“ no.
35/2006, 66/2007, 117/2008, 92/2009, 156/2010, 158/2011, 84/2012, 13/2013, 147/2013,
148/2015 and 217/2015);• Law on Employment and Work of Foreigners (Закон за вработување и работа на странците)(“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.217/2015)
2.3 Your answer
The issues discussed here are regulated in the Law, the GCAPS, the CATI – a branch-level collective
agreement applicable to the employees and employers in the tobacco industry, as specified in the CATI –and the Agreement on determining the minimum salary for employees in the tobacco business, which wasconcluded based on the CATI.
Article 2 of the CATI provides that the CATI is binding on all employees and employers in this sector,
members of the Agrosyndicate (http://www.agrosindikat.org.mk/) and of the Organizations of Employersof Macedonia – Association of employers from the tobacco business (http://www.orm.org.mk/index.php/mk/). This is in line with Article 205 para (3) of the Law that provides that the branch, that is, departmentcollective agreement, in accordance with the National Classification of Activities, shall apply directly andshall be obligatory for employers that are members of employers’ association, signatories of the collective
agreement or those that joined the association additionally.
However, please note that the CATI does not specify in more details the term “tobacco industry”. In ourview, its scope of application would include tobacco farming as agricultural activity and any employment
relations established in such activity, including employment relations with seasonal farm workers.
Furthermore, please note that the Agreement on determining the minimum salary for employees in the
tobacco business, which was concluded between the Agrosyndicate and the Organizations of Employers of
Macedonia – Association of employers from the tobacco business based on Article 59 para (4) of the CATI,
has the same scope of application (in terms of employers and subject-matter) as that of the CATI.
a) Regular working hours and regular working week:
Article 116 paras (1) – (8) of LLR regulate the regular working hours.
The full-time working hours must not exceed 40 hours a week.
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External Assessment

As a general rule, the working week shall last five working days.
A law or a collective agreement may define the working hours which is shorter than 40 hours a week, but
not shorter than 36 hours a week, as full-time hours. A law or other regulations, or collective agreement,
may define the full-time hours for jobs prone to greater danger of injuries or health deterioration to be
shorter than 36 hours a week. If the full-time hours are not defined by law or collective agreement, theworking hours of 40 hours per week shall be considered as full-time hours.
The employer shall be obliged to keep records of the full-time hours. The employer, who employs over 25
employees and whose operation process is carried out at one or more locations, shall be obliged to keep at
each location electronic records of the full-time hours and overtime work. The employer that employs up
to 25 employees shall be obliged to keep attendance lists for the employees, which shall contain the data
about the start and end of the working hours. The manner and the keeping of the electronic records of the
full-time hours and of the overtime work are regulated in the Rulebook on working time records.
Under Article 101 para (1) of the CATI, the regular working hours may not exceed 40 hours a week. However,the para (3) of the same Article provides that by way of a collective agreement adopted at the level of anindividual employer, weekly hours shorter than 40 hours may be provided for.
Articles 123, 124-a and 125 of the LLR regulate the scheduling of work hours.
The work schedule is generally determined by the employer. However, the work schedule for jobs in thefield of traffic and communications, sale of goods, health care, social and child protection, education andother public institutions, public utility activities, catering, tourism and handicrafts, shall be defined by adecision of the competent state administrative body.
The distribution and conditions for temporary redistribution of working hours may be defined by law,collective agreement or employment contract. The working hours shall be distributed in accordancewith the nature or organization of the work, or the needs of the customers. The employer must notify theemployee in writing on the temporary redistribution of working hours, at least one day in advance.
The full-time work schedule must comply with the following basic requirements:
1. There must be no less than four working days in a week;
2. The working hours must not exceed 40 hours a week; and3. There must be no less than four working hours a day.
The employer can also organize the work in shifts. Work in shifts shall mean any method of organizing
the work in shifts according to which the employees shift one after another at the same job position, in
accordance with a certain plan, and which can also be continuous or with interruptions, including the needof the employees to work in different time for a given period of days or weeks. The plan must be submitted
to the union at the employer at least ten working days before its application.
Articles 124 and 126 of the LLR regulate the rescheduling of work hours.
The working hours may be redistributed (rescheduled) when required so by the nature of the activities,
that is, works and duties. In such case, the redistribution of working hours shall be made in such a way thatthe average total working hours of the employee do not exceed 40 hours per week during the year.
However, under article 124 para (3) of the LLR, when redistributing (rescheduling) the working hours ofseasonal workers, the working hours cannot exceed 12 hours a day or 55 hours a week, for a period not52

External Assessment

longer than four months. In such case, the working hours that exceed 40 hours during the working week
shall be calculated and compensated as shorter working hours in other working days or as days off during
the term of validity of the employment contract.
The redistributed working hours shall not be considered as over-time work for which salary allowance is
paid.
Work with redistributed working hours of a younger worker, disabled worker, pregnant worker, worker
who continuously takes care of a child up to three-year old, worker - single parent who continuously takes
care of a child younger than 15 years shall be prohibited.
The employee who, due to redistribution of the working hours, and who in the time prior to termination of
the employment in the calendar year, accumulates more working hours at work than it is determined for afull-time work, may request to have his surplus hours converted into working days with full-time hours. The
calculated days shall be included in the employee’s years of service, as if he has spent them at work. The
total period of service in the calendar year must not exceed 12 months.
b) Overtime working hours:
Under Article 117 para (2) of LLR, the overtime working hours can last eight hours a week at the most andmaximum 190 hours a year, except for works which cannot be terminated due to the specific process ofoperation or for works for which there are no conditions and possibilities to be organized in shifts. The
overtime work for a period of three months cannot be more than eight hours a week in average.
Furthermore, Article 104 para (1) of the CATI, the daily working time, including the overtime work, may notlast more than 10 hours daily, and no more than 190 hours a year.
c) Requirements for overtime work:
Under Article 120 of LLR, the employer cannot order beyond the full-time hours:
1. if the work may be carried out by appropriate organization or distribution of duties, by organizationof the working hours or introduction of new shifts;
2. to a female employee, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, for the purpose of protecting
pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood;
3. to a mother with a child under the age of three and self-supporting parent with a child under the ageof six, except if the employee gives a written statement declaring that she voluntarily agrees to workovertime;
4. to an older employee without his consent;
5. to an employee under the age of 18;
6. to the employee whose health condition is going to deteriorate due to such work, according to a
medical commission opinion;
7. to the employee with full-time hours shorter than 36 hours a week, due to work at position which
includes higher risks of injuries or health deterioration; and8. to the employee who works shorter than the full-time hours, (part-time work) in compliance withthe provisions on pension and disability insurance (disability), the provisions on health insurance(medical rehabilitation) or other regulations (parental responsibilities).
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External Assessment

The employer may order overtime work to employees not covered under Article 120 of LLR under theconditions stipulated in Article 117 of LLR.
Namely, on request of the employer, the employee shall be obliged to carry out work exceeding the fulltime hours (overtime work):
1. in cases of exceptional increase of the volume of work;
2. in case the business or production process needs to be extended;
3. if it is necessary to eliminate the damage of the work equipment which would result in suspensionof work;
4. if it is necessary to provide safety of persons and property, and to secure the turnover; and5. in other cases determined by law or collective agreement.
The employer shall be obliged to keep special records of the overtime work and to show separately thehours of overtime work in the monthly calculation of the employee’s salary.
The employer shall be obliged to inform in advance, in writing, the regional state labor inspector about
each introduction of overtime work. For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the employee’s consent is
not required for the employer to introduce overtime work.
If the employer introduces overtime work longer than 190 hours a year, it shall be obliged to reorganize theworking hours or to introduce new shifts.
d) Regular wages:
Articles 105 and 106 of LLR regulate the regular wages of employees.
The employee shall be entitled to payment of earnings – salary, in accordance with the law, collective
agreement and employment contract.
The salary shall be composed of (i) basic salary, (ii) part of the salary for job performance and (iii) allowances,
unless otherwise defined by another law.
(i) The basic salary shall be determined taking into account the requirements of the job position for which
the employee has concluded the employment contract. By way of clarification, the concept of “basic
salary” is comparable to the concept of “net salary”.
(ii) The job performance of the employee shall be determined taking into account the economical conduct,
quality and volume of the performed work, for which the employee has concluded the employment
contract.
(iii) The allowances shall be determined for special working conditions, arising from the distributionof working hours, such as work in shifts, split time work, night work, work on duty introduced inaccordance with law, overtime work, work on a weekly rest day, work on holidays determined by law,and years of service allowance.
The employer can also pay the employee 13th salary, provided that the employer has the resources to
pay it. The LLR does not specify when the 13th salary should be paid by the employer, once the employer
decides to pay out such a salary.

54

External Assessmente) Minimum wages:
Article 107 of LLR prescribes that the salary of a full-time employee cannot be lower than the minimum
salary determined by law and collective agreement.
Under Article 2 of Law on the Minimum Salary in the Republic of Macedonia, the minimum salary shall be
the lowest monthly amount of the basic salary which the employer is obliged to pay to the employee fora work done during full-time hours and achieved predefined work results. The predefined work results
shall be determined by the employer, every year, in February, on the basis of production process efficiency
criteria, determined by the employer in cooperation with the employees, and such criteria must be thesame for each technical and technological whole at the employer. The predefined work results should beachievable for at least 80% of the employees in each technical and technological whole separately. The
employer is obliged, at the end of every month, to issue a certificate to the employee about the predefined
work results that are achieved together with the written calculation of the salary.
Article 3 of the same Law provides that all employees shall have the right to a minimum salary under
the provisions of the on the minimum salary in the Republic of Macedonia, in the amount determined inaccordance with the mentioned Law. The amount of the minimum salary of a part-time employee or an
employee who works less hours than the full-time hours shall be calculated proportionally to the timespent at work. The provisions of this Law shall not apply to self-employed persons.
Under Article 4 of this Law, the amount of the minimum salary paid in gross amount in the previous year
shall be harmonized in March every year with:• one third of the increase of the average salary paid in the Republic of Macedonia,• one third of the increase of the costs of living index, and• one third of the actual increase of the gross domestic product for the previous year, according to thedata of the State Statistical Office.
The minister of labor and social policy, upon a previous opinion of the Economic and Social Council, shall
publish the amount of the minimum salary in the gross amount harmonized as described above in the“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” in March every year, which shall be paid starting from thesalary paid in the April in the current year.
The gross amount of the minimum salary for the salary to be paid in September 2017, up to and including
the salary to be paid in June 2018, shall amount MKD 17,130 (app. EUR 278). The amount of the minimum
salary applicable since 1 January 2016 until 1 September 2017 was 10,080 Macedonian Denars (tenthousand and eighty Macedonian Denars) (app. 164 Euros) in the net amount. .
On the other hand, please note that, in accordance with Article 59 para (1) of the CATI, and in accordancewith the Agreement on determining the minimum salary for employees in the tobacco business, the minimum
salary for the employees in the tobacco business is 10,650 Macedonian Denars (ten thousand six hundredand fifty Macedonian Denars) (app. 173 Euros) in net amount for a 100% achieved norm determined in the
branch or full time work out of the annual average of 174 hours per month. For avoidance of doubt, thisminimum amount refers to the minimum net salary per month.
CATI may currently not be harmonized with the Law on the Minimum Salary in the Republic of Macedonia, as
amended. In such case, the Law on the Minimum Salary in the Republic of Macedonia will take precedence.

55External Assessmentf) Overtime wages:
Under Article 24 of the GCAPS, applicable to all employers and employees in the private sector, in case ofovertime work the basic salary of the employee shall be increased for a minimum of 35% per hour.
Under Article 117 para (4) of LLR, the employer shall be obliged to pay, except the salary allowance, a bonus
in the amount of one average salary in the Republic to the employee who has worked over 150 hours longer
than the full-time hours, and has not been absent from work for more than 21 days during the year with thesame employer in which the days spent on a holiday are not calculated.
g) Social Security Contributions:
The Law on Contributions for Mandatory Social Insurance defines the types of social security contributions
and their applicable rates, which are as follows:

Applicable Rate
Type of Social Security Contribution

For 2017 and till endof June 2018

As of July 2018

Mandatory pension and disability insurance

18%

17.6%

Contribution for disability and physicalimpairment caused by injury at work or
professional disease4%4%7.3% (except for certain
categories of taxpayers
for which the rate is
10% or 5.4% or 13%,
accordingly)

7.3% (except for certain
categories of taxpayers
for which the rate is
10% or 5.4% or 13%,
accordingly)

Additional contribution for mandatory
health insurance in case of injury at workand professional disease

0.5%

0.5%

Mandatory contribution for insurance in theevent of unemployment

1.2%

1.2%

Mandatory health insurance

The minimum base for calculating and paying social security contributions for the current year equals 50%of the average national salary published in January of the current year by the State Statistics Office of the
Republic of Macedonia. The average national salary in 2017 is MKD 32,877 [approx. EUR 534].
The maximum base for calculating and paying social security contributions equals 12 times the averagenational salary (for 2017, this would amount to MKD 394,524 [approx. EUR 6,415]).
By exception, for self-employed individuals, the maximum base equals eight times the average nationalsalary (for 2017, this would amount to MKD 263,016 [approx. EUR 4,276]).

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External Assessmenth) Salary allowances:
The employee is entitled to the following types of salary allowances under conditions stipulated in LLR, the
GCAPS and the CATI:– – Allowance for work in shifts,– – Allowance for split time work,– – Allowance for night work,– – Allowance for work on duty introduced in accordance with law,
– – Allowance for overtime work,– – Allowance for work on a weekly rest day,– – Allowance for work on holidays determined by law, and– – Allowance for years of service allowance.
Under Article 24 of the GCAPS, the basic salary (i.e. the net salary) of the employee shall be increased perhour at least for:(i) overtime work – by 35%;(ii) night work – by 35%;(iii) work in three shifts – by 5%; and(iv) work in a day of weekly holiday – by 50%.
For work done on holidays and non-working days determined by law, the employee is entitled to acompensation of the salary that would be due on those days that the employee is not working and to asalary for hours spent on work increased by 50%.
The salary allowances are not mutually exclusive of each other.
The right to an increased compensation for work in three shifts shall be exercised by the employee for thetime actually spent working on shift.
Under Article 25 of the GCAPS, the basic salary (i.e. the net salary) of the employee shall increase by 0.5%
for each year of service.
i) Salary Compensation:
Article 112 of LLR provides the following:
1. The employee shall be entitled to salary compensation for the whole period of absence in the casesand duration defined by law, as well as in the cases when he does not work due to employer-related
reasons.
2. The employer shall be obliged to pay salary compensation in cases of absence from work due to useof annual leave, paid extraordinary leave, additional training, holidays determined by law and days
off and in the cases when the employee does not work due to employer-related reasons.

57External Assessment

3. The employer shall also pay salary compensation in the cases of employee’s incapability to work due
to illness or injury for a period of up to 30 days, and if the absence lasts more than 30 days, the salarycompensation shall be paid by the health insurance. In case of starting a new sick leave within threedays after the expiry of the previous sick leave, the employer shall be entitled to request from thefirst instance medical commission to confirm the new sick leave or to extend the previously expired
sick leave.
4. As an exception to para (3) of this Article, in case of incapability of the worker to work due to injuries
incurred as a result of not ensuring the measures defined by the regulations pertaining to safety andhealth at work by the employer, the employer shall pay salary compensation for more than 30 days,on the basis of minutes from the state administration body competent for issues in the field of labor
inspection. In the minutes for the completed inspection with the employer, the labor inspector shallbe obliged to state whether the particular injury is a result of not securing measures for safety andhealth at work by the employer, Copy of the minutes shall as well be delivered by the labor inspector
to the Health Insurance Fund of Macedonia.
5. In the cases referred to in para (4) of this Article, the salary compensation for the temporary agency
workers who by an engagement contract are engaged by an employer-user through the Agency
for Temporary Employment, the obligation to pay the salary compensation shall be covered by theemployer-user.
6. The employer may also pay salary compensation against the other obligor, if so determined by law oranother regulation.
7. If the employee is not able to perform his work due to force majeure, he shall be entitled to half of thesalary, which he would receive if he has been working.
8. Unless otherwise defined by this or another law, the employee shall be entitled to salary compensationin the amount of his average salary during the past 12 months. If the employee has not been receiving
salary within that period, he shall be entitled to salary compensation in the amount of the minimum
salary.
9. The employer shall be obliged to pay salary compensation to the employee for as many days andhours as the duration of the employee’s working duty on the day when he does not work due tojustified reasons.
10. In case of interruption of the operating process due to business reasons, the employer shall beobliged to hand down the employee a decision and to pay him 70% of the salary for a period of up to
three months in the current year.
GCAPS prescribes that the employer should pay compensation to the employees, as follows:(i)for sick leave - during the temporary inability to work;(ii)

for annual vacation;(iii) for paid irregular vacation;(iv) during interruption of the working process caused by the employer;(v)

for holidays and non-working days determined by law or other act;(vi) for work in days off;58

External Assessment(vii) for education and qualification, in accordance with the needs of the employer;(viii) for trade union training, in agreement with the employer;(ix)during notice period; and(x)in other case determined by collective agreement on a branch level, or employer’s level.

In such cases, the employee is entitled to compensation in amount of his average salary in the last 12
months, unless otherwise prescribed by law.
Article 35-a of the GCAPS prescribes that the employee is entitled to compensation based on thecontribution of innovations, rationalizations and other types of works, for the needs of the employer which
is determined in the contract between the employee and employer.
Article 35-b of the GCAPS prescribes that for uninterrupted sick leave for more than 6 months due to injury
at work or occupational disease, according to collective agreement at a branch level or at an employer’s
level pursuant to collective agreement at the level of activity or at an employer’s level, compensation shallbe paid in the amount of the base. The base for calculating of this fee is the average monthly net salary per
employee in the Republic of Macedonia paid in the last three months.
Article 35-c of the GCAPS prescribes that the right and the amount of the New Year’s compensation may
be determined by a collective agreement at the level of activity or at an employer’s level. In this regard,under Article 95 of the CATI, the amount of the New Year’s compensation during the New Year’s holidays
is 65% of the average monthly salary in the Republic of Macedonia paid out in the previous three months.
The collective agreement at the level of an employer may provide for a higher amount. The New Year’scompensation is to be paid out no later than the 31 March of the current year for the previous year.
Article 35-d of the GCAPS prescribes that the employer may pay to the employee compensation in event ofsevere consequences of natural disasters, at least in amount of one base. The base for calculating of this fee
is the average monthly net salary per employee in the Republic of Macedonia paid in the last three months.
j) Compensation for work-related costs:
Article 113 of LLR provides as follows:
1. The employee shall be entitled to compensation for the following costs related to the work:1) business trip,
2) field allowance,
3) use of private vehicle for business trips,
4) family separation allowance, and
5) death of the employee or a member of his family.
2. The employee shall be entitled to severance pay when retiring, as well as to jubilee awards.
3. The amount, base and period of calculating and paying the compensation for these costs shall be laid
down by law and collective agreement.
4. The employer may organize transportation for the employees to and from work, and may provide
food during working hours at its own expense.
59External Assessment

5. The costs for food referred to in para 4 of this Article may amount up to 20% the most of the average
net salary per worker paid in the previous year, and the transportation costs in the amount of theactual public transportation costs.
In this regard, it should be noted that under Article 93 of the CATI, employees for which transportation toand from the place of work is organized by the employer shall be paid a compensation equaling the ticket
price for public transportation, provided that the distance between the employee’s place of residence andhis/her place of work exceeds two (2) kilometers.
Article 35 of GCAPS prescribes that the employee shall be entitled to compensation for the following costs
related to the work, determined by law and collective agreement, namely:
1. day-wage for business trips in the country of at least 8% of the base;
2. day-wage for business trips abroad in accordance to the collective agreement at an employer’s level,or an act of the employer, but no less than the Regulation on expenses for business trips and moving
abroad recognize for the administrative bodies in current costs;
3. fieldwork allowance depending on the provided conditions for fieldwork (accommodation, nutrition,etc.) to the amount determined by a collective contract at a branch level, that is at an employer’s
level;
4. compensation of life separate from the family, in the amount determined by collective agreement at
the level of activity or at the level of an employer, but not less than 60% of the base, the compensation
for separate life from the family shall be paid when an employee is deployed, that is sent to workoutside the seat of the company or outside of the place of permanent residence;
5. compensation of the costs of use of one’s own car for the needs of the employer in the amount of 30%of the price per liter of fuel that the car uses for each kilometer;
6. compensation of the costs of moving to the needs of the employer, in the amount of the actual costs;
7. recourse for annual leave of at least 40% of the base, provided that the employee worked at least 6months in the calendar year for the same employer.
The collective agreement at a branch level or collective agreement at an employer’s level may determine
the regress for annual leave in a larger amount than the amount specified in this collective agreement.
The recourse for annual leave is paid once a year. The amount is determined according to the base which isvalid on the day of adoption of the resolution for payment. Under Article 94 of the CATI, the amount of therecourse for annual vacation is one average monthly salary in the Republic paid out in the previous threemonths.
The following compensations shall also be paid:
1) in event of death of a worker, his family shall be paid with a compensation in amount of threebases;
2) in event of the death of a husband, wife, children and parents living in the same family, the worker
shall be paid with a compensation in amount of two bases;
3) in the event of jubilee award in the amount of the base – for at least 10 years work at the same
employer;4) in the event of retirement at least double of the amount of the base.

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External Assessment

The base for calculating of the compensation of employees is the average monthly net salary per employee
in the Republic of Macedonia paid in the last three months.
The employer at its own expense may organize transportation for the workers to and from the workplace,as well as the nutrition during work. The nutrition costs may be up to 20% of the average net salary paid in
the previous year, and the transportation costs may be in the amount of actual costs in the public traffic.
The employee shall be paid with other fees in accordance to the collective agreement at the branch levelthat is department or at an employer’s level.
k) Wage and hours law specific to piece rate workers, seasonal workers, and migrant workers
1. Wage and Hours law specific to piece rate workers
Piecework is not expressly regulated in LLR. However, Law on Minimum Salary in the Republic of Macedonia
requires that all employees, including any piece work employees, are paid by the employer at least theprescribed minimum salary. Furthermore, the general provisions of LLR regulating work hours would also
apply to piece rate workers.
2. Wage and Hours law specific to seasonal workers
No special rules apply to wages for seasonal workers. The general rules of the LLR and the Law on Minimum
Salary in the Republic of Macedonia shall apply to such issues. For avoidance of doubt, this means that
Macedonian employers that employ seasonal workers (either from Macedonia or from abroad) in Macedonia
are required to pay such seasonal workers at least the minimum salary and that such salary must be paid in
the form (monetary), in the manner and in periods are regulated by the general rules of the LLR describedabove.
In terms of working hours, the general rules of the LLR shall also apply. However, as explained above, thespecial rules apply with respect to rescheduling (redistributing) working hours of seasonal workers.
The working hours may be redistributed (rescheduled) when required so by the nature of the activities,
that is, works and duties. In such case, the redistribution of working hours shall be made in such a waythat the average total working hours of the employee do not exceed 40 hours per week during the year.
However, under article 124 para (3) of the LLR, when redistributing (rescheduling) the working hours ofseasonal workers, the working hours cannot exceed 12 hours a day or 55 hours a week, for a period notlonger than four months. In such case, the working hours that exceed 40 hours during the working week
shall be calculated and compensated as shorter working hours in other working days or as days off during
the term of validity of the employment contract.
3. Wage and Hours law specific to migrant workers
No special rules apply to working hours and wages for migrant workers (that have migrated either internally,
from within Macedonia, or from abroad) employed by Macedonian employers in Macedonia. The generalrules of the LLR and the Law on Minimum Salary in the Republic of Macedonia shall apply to such issues.
l) Frequency of payment of wages
Article 109 of LLR provides that the salary is paid in periods, which may not be longer than one month.
Therefore, end-of-season one-time payment of salaries is not allowed.
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External Assessment

The salary must be paid not later than 15 days upon the expiration of the payment period. If the payment
day is a non-working day, the salary shall be paid the following working day, at latest.
The employer is obliged to previously notify the employees in writing for the payment day or change of thepayment day.
m) Laws on in-kind payment
Article 105 para (2) of LLR provides that the remuneration on the basis of the employment contract must
always be paid in money. Making in-kind payments as salary under employment contracts is prohibited.
n) Legal requirements for migrant workers to ensure they are legally permitted to work
Foreigners, who in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Employment and Work of Foreigners
or other law, may be employed, self-employed, or work in the Republic of Macedonia, must possess atemporary residence permit for work purposes issued by the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic ofMacedonia, or a work permit issued by the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia andregulated residence on any other ground in the Republic of Macedonia.
Under Articles 48 and 49 of the Law on Foreigners, a foreigner must possess a temporary residence permit
if he/she intends to stay in the Republic of Macedonia longer than three months or, inter alia, if he/she
intends to work in the Republic of Macedonia. In the latter case, the temporary residence permit shallrepresent a single permit for work and stay of the foreigner to whom it is issued. The temporary residence
permit is issued for a specific purpose and specific period. The foreigner who is granted a temporary
residence for a specific purpose can stay in the Republic of Macedonia only for the purpose for which his/her residence is granted.
Under Article 50 of the same Law, a foreigner can be issued a permit for temporary residence in the Republicof Macedonia, provided that he/she:– – possesses subsistence means, that is his/her subsistence is ensured in any other legal way,
– – has ensured accommodation or has means for accommodation,– – has a health insurance,– – fulfills the requirements provided for different types of temporary residence permits, and– – there are no grounds for entry denial determined in Article 23 of this Law.
Under Article 23 of this Law, a foreigner can be denied entry into the Republic of Macedonia, if he/she:– – does not fulfill the requirements for entry into the Republic of Macedonia as determined by this Law,
– – there is a serious suspicion that his/her stay in the country is to be connected with committing actsof terrorism or other violent acts, criminal acts related to production and trade in narcotic drugs,
psychotropic substances and precursors, or committing other criminal acts for which a sentence ofat least one-year imprisonment is envisaged,– – has an intention to pass through the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, but does not meet theentry requirements for a third country,

62External Assessment– – has not paid the costs incurred by his/her prior temporary detention and forcible return,– – does not act in accordance with the final decision regarding a committed misdemeanor adopted
by a competent court, that is a competent misdemeanor body of the territory of the Republic ofMacedonia;– – there is a grounded suspicion that he/she is to be employed or work on the territory of the Republicof Macedonia contrary to the regulations on labor relation,– – there is a grounded suspicion that he/she is not to stay in the Republic of Macedonia for the purpose
indicated, or– – presents incorrect data for him/herself or the purpose and circumstances of his/her travel and stay,or uses falsified, another person’s or invalid travel or other documents.
The entry denial shall be entered in the foreigner’s travel document.
Under Article 7 of the Law on Employment and Work of Foreigners, a work permit is a document on thebasis of which the domestic or foreign employer concludes an employment contract, in accordance withthe provisions of this Law. The work permit is issued for a definite period of time of up to one year or for
an indefinite period of time. The foreigner may be issued only one work permit for the same time period.
Under Article 10 of the same Law, a work permit which is issued for a definite period of time of up to one
year shall be a renewable or permanent form of a work permit, which allows the foreigner free access to thelabor market during its validity period.

3. Principle 3 – Fair Treatment
3.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Laws defining and prohibiting verbal, psychological, physical punishment, and sexual harassment
and abuse• Laws defining and prohibiting discrimination• Protection of workers from discrimination (workers’ rights and employers’ obligations)• Laws on resource for victimized workers, if applicable
3.2 Applicable laws
• Constitution;• LLR;• Law on Prevention of and Protection from Discrimination (Закон за спречување и заштита оддискриминација) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 50/2010, 44/2014, 150/2015
and 31/2016) – hereinafter: the “Anti-Discrimination Law”;• Law on Protection against Harassment at the Workplace (Закон за заштита од вознемирувањена работно место) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 79/2013 and 147/2015)– hereinafter: the “Anti-Harassment Law”;
63External Assessment• Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (Закон за еднакви можности на жените имажите) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 6/2012, 30/2013, 166/2014 and150/2015);• Criminal Code of the Republic of Macedonia (Кривичен законик на Република Македонија)(“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 37/1996, 80/1999, 4/2002, 43/2003, 19/2004,
81/2005, 60/2006, 73/2006, 7/2008, 139/2008, 114/2009, 51/2011, 135/2011, 185/2011,
142/2012, 166/2012, 55/2013, 82/2013, 14/2014, 27/2014, 28/2014, 41/2014, 115/2014,132/2014, 160/2014, 199/2014, 196/2015 and 226/2015) – hereinafter: the “Criminal Code”;
3.3 Your answera) Laws defining and prohibiting verbal, psychological, physical punishment, and sexual harassment andabuse
1. Definitions and prohibitions under the LLR
The LLR prohibits the following forms of behavior at the workplace:• Direct and indirect discrimination (Articles 6 and 7);• Harassment (Article 9 para (1));• Sexual Harassment (Article 9 para (1)); and• Psychological Harassment (Article 9-a para (1)).
The LLR provides the following definitions of the above terms:
Discrimination – means:• unequal treatment by the employer of the job candidate or the employee because of racial or ethnic
origin, color, gender, age, health condition, that is, disability, religious, political or other belief,
membership in unions, national or social origin, family status, property and financial situation,
sexual orientation or other personal circumstances (Article 6 para (1)); and/or• failure to provide equal opportunities and equal treatment of women and men job candidates or
employees in connection with: access to employment, including promotion and work-related
vocational and professional training; working conditions; equal payment for equal work; occupationalsocial security schemes; absence from work; working hours, and termination of employment contract(Article 6 para (2)).
Direct discrimination - any action conditioned by any of the grounds referred to in the definition for
Discrimination by which the person has been, is or could be put in a less favorable position than otherpersons in comparable circumstances.
Indirect discrimination - when a certain, apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice, places orwould place the job candidate or the employee in less favorable position in relation to other persons due toa certain feature, status, orientation or belief referred to in the definition for Discrimination.

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Harassment - any unwanted behavior caused by any of the events of Discrimination that aims at orconstitutes violation of the dignity of the job candidate or the employee, and which causes fear or createshostile, humiliating or offensive behavior (Article 9 para (3)).
Sexual harassment - any verbal, non-verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature that aims at orconstitutes violation of the dignity of the job candidate or employee, and which causes fear or createshostile, humiliating or offensive behavior (Article 9 para (4)).
Psychological harassment - any negative behavior of an individual or group that often repeats (in aperiod of at least six months), and constitutes violation of the dignity, integrity, reputation and honor of
the employees, and causes fear or creates hostile, humiliating or offensive behavior, which may aim at
termination of the labor relation or resignation from the job (Article 9-a para (3)); one or several persons
displaying such negative behavior, regardless of their status (natural person as an employer, responsible
person or worker), may be a perpetrator of psychological harassment in the workplace (Article 9-a para
(4)).
Furthermore, the LLR provides that harassment, sexual harassment and psychological harassment shall bedeemed to constitute a form of discrimination (Article 9 para (2) and Article 9-a para (2)).
2. Definitions and prohibitions under the Anti-Harassment Law
The Anti-Harassment Law prohibits the following forms of behavior at the workplace:• Mental Harassment (Article 5 para (1)):• Sexual Harassment (Article 5 para (2));• Encouraging or inducing mental harassment (Article 5 para 4);• Encouraging or inducing sexual harassment (Article 5 para 4); and• Abuse of rights related to harassment at the workplace (Article 4).
The Anti-Harassment Law provides the following definitions of the above terms:
Mental harassment - any negative behavior of an individual or a group which is continuously andsystematically repeated, violates the dignity, integrity, reputation, and honor of the employee and evokes
the feeling of fear, or causes embarrassment, humiliation, the final goal of which is to damage the physicaland mental health, compromise the professional future of the employee, terminate the employment orleave the job; this conduct shall be regarded as mental harassment at the workplace, provided that it has
not terminated even upon the written warning by the harassed person that he/she finds the conduct of theharassing person disturbing, and that he/she shall consider it as workplace harassment (Article 5 para (3)).
Sexual harassment - any verbal, non-verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, which is aimed at or
causes violation of the dignity of the job candidate or the employee, and which evokes the feeling of fear, orcauses embarrassment, humiliation; this conduct shall be regarded as sexual harassment at the workplace,provided that it has not terminated even upon the written warning by the harassed person that he/she finds
the conduct of the harassing person disturbing, and that he/she shall consider it as workplace harassment(Article 5 para (3)).

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Abuse of rights related to harassment at the workplace – any abuse by an employee who knew or musthave known that there are no reasons for initiation of a procedure for protection against harassment at theworkplace, but he/she has launched or has initiated the launching of such a procedure, with the purpose ofobtaining material or non-material benefit for him/herself or for another, or with the purpose of inflicting
damage to a third person.
The Anti-Harassment applies to the employers, the employees, the job candidates, as well as to the persons
engaged under contracts, who participate in the work of the employer.
An employer shall be a legal entity and a natural person, as well as another entity (state administrative
body, body of the local self-government unit, subsidiary of a foreign company, diplomatic and consularmission), which employ workers based on an employment contract. An employer of the persons engaged
under a volunteering contract, contract for services, intellectual property contract, and other types ofcontracts, which participate in the work of the employer, in terms of this Law, shall be the employer wherethese persons carry out the work.
Person engaged in harassment at a workplace may be one or several persons who conduct negatively,
irrespective of their capacity – an employer in the capacity of a natural person, a responsible person at an
employer – legal entity, an employee or a group of employees at an employer, or a third person with whom
the employee or the employer comes into contact in the performance of tasks at the workplace.
The place of mental and sexual harassment at the workplace shall be considered the workplace where
the employee who is subjected to harassment usually works or the place where the employee is posted towork by the employer. The place of mental and sexual harassment at the workplace may also be considered
the place/places where the employee who is subjected to harassment usually passes on the way to andfrom work, only in the cases of mental and sexual harassment made by an employee at the same employer,
or another person who works at the same employer who travels or moves together with him/her or is in
immediate surrounding of the employee, that is, the other person who works at the same employer with theperson who is subjected to harassment.
The time of mental and sexual harassment at the workplace shall be considered the time within the working
hours and the time of travel to and from the workplace, when the type and manner of conduct which isregarded as workplace harassment is pursued.
This being said, it is important to note that under Article 8 of the Anti-Harassment Law, the following
conduct and activities shall not be considered workplace harassment shall be:
1. individual documents adopted by the employer deciding upon rights, obligations, and responsibilities
under employment, against which the employee has the right of protection in a procedure establishedby law;
2. deprival and prevention of achievement and exercise of rights established by law, collective
agreement and employment contract, the protection of which is achieved in a procedure at theemployer and before a competent court;
3. any type of unjustified differentiation during an unequal treatment of an employee on whateverground of discrimination, which is prohibited and in view of which protection is provided, in
accordance with law; and4. occasional differences in the opinions in view of matters and issues related to the performance of thework and tasks, unless they are aimed at hurting or intentionally insulting the employee.
66External Assessmentb) Laws defining and prohibiting discrimination
1. Prohibitions under the Constitution
Article 9 para (1) of the Constitution provides that citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are equal in theirfreedoms and rights, regardless of sex, race, color of skin, national and social origin, political and religious
beliefs, property and social status.
Under Article 54 of the Constitution, the freedoms and rights of the individual and citizen can be restricted
only in cases determined by the Constitution. The restriction of freedoms and rights cannot discriminate
on grounds of sex, race, color of skin, language, religion, national or social origin, property or social status.
2. Definitions and prohibitions under the LLR
As mentioned above, the LLR prohibits discrimination by the employer against job candidates andemployees.
Article 7 para (4) LLR provides that discrimination at the employer is prohibited in respect to:1) employment requirements, including the criteria and requirements for selection of candidates
for carrying out certain work, in any branch, that is, department, in accordance with the National
Classification of Activities, and at all levels of the professional hierarchy;2) promotion at work;3) access to all types and levels of professional training, retraining and up skilling;4) working conditions and the work and all rights deriving from the labor relation and the rights
pertaining to the labor relation, including pay equity;5) termination of employment contract; and6) rights of the members and the work in the associations of employees and employers or in any
other professional organization, including the privileges resulting from that membership.
The provisions of the collective agreements and the employment contracts that set forth discrimination
shall be null and void (Article 7 paras (4) and (5)).
In addition, Article 9-b of the LLR expressly prohibits all forms of discrimination of a female employee ongrounds of pregnancy, giving birth and parenthood, no matter the duration and the type of employment
established in accordance with the law. This prohibition on discrimination shall apply to the access toemployment, the working conditions, and all the rights under the employment and the termination of theemployment contract of female employees that are pregnant or exercise rights resulting from giving birthand parenthood.
However, under Article 8 of the LLR, the following shall not be considered as infringing upon the prohibition
on discrimination stipulated in the LLR:
1) Any distinction, exclusion or preference in respect to certain work shall not be considereddiscrimination when the nature of the work or the conditions in which it is performed are suchthat the characteristics related to some of the cases referred to in Article 6 of LLR represent
real and determining occupational requirement, provided that the goal that is aimed to beaccomplished is legitimate and the requirement is proportionate.
67External Assessment2) All measures anticipated by LLR or another law, collective agreements and employment contracts
referring to special protection and assistance to specific category of employees, especially thosefor protection of disabled persons, elderly employees, pregnant women and women exercising
any of the rights to motherhood protection, as well as the provisions referring to the special
rights of parents, adoptive parents and dependents, are neither considered discrimination nor
they may be considered a ground of discrimination.
3) In regard to employment requirements, the employees employed for a definite period of timeshall not be treated less favorably than the employees for an indefinite period of time just because
they have an employment contract for a definite period of time, unless the different treatment isjustified by objective reasons.
4) The period for acquiring qualifications in regard to certain requirements shall be the same whenemploying workers for an indefinite period of time and workers for a definite period of time,
unless the period for acquiring the qualifications is longer than the validity of the employment
contract for a definite period of time.
3. Definitions and prohibitions under the Anti-Discrimination Law
The Anti-Discrimination Law prohibits the following forms of conduct:• Discrimination (Article 5 point 3));
• Direct and indirect discrimination (Articles 6);• Discrimination of persons with mental and physical impediment – (Article 8);• Call for and incitement to discrimination (Article 9);• Victimization (Article 10);• Discrimination in the provision of goods and service (Article 11); and• Severe forms of discrimination (Article 12).
The Anti-Discrimination Law provides the following definitions:
Discrimination - any unjustified legal or factual, direct or indirect, differentiation or unequal treatment,
i.e. omission (exclusion, limitation or giving priority) with respect to persons or groups based on sex, race,color, gender, belonging to a marginalized group, ethnic origin, language, nationality, social background,religion or religious beliefs, education, political affiliation, personal or social status, mental and physical
impediment, age, family or marital status, property status, health condition or any other ground.
Direct discrimination - any unfavorable treatment, differentiation, exclusion or limitation which results
or may result in deprivation, violation or limitation of the equal recognition or enjoyment of the humanrights and fundamental freedoms, compared to the treatment another person gets or may get in the sameor similar situation.
Indirect discrimination - placement of a person or a group in an unfavorable position compared to otherpersons by adopting apparently neutral provisions, criteria, or by accepting certain practices, unless suchprovisions, criteria or practices result from a justified aim, while the means for achievement of the referred
aim are appropriate and necessary.

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Discrimination of persons with mental and physical impediment – means:– – the intentional disabling or hindered access to health protection, i.e. restriction of the rights to healthprotection, regular medical treatment and medicinal products, rehabilitation means and measuresin accordance with their needs, restriction of the right to marry and to create a family, and othermarriage and family relations rights, restriction of the right to education, work and labor relationrights:– – failure to undertake measures for removal of the obstacles, i.e. for adjustment of the infrastructure
and the space, use of publicly available resources or participation in the public and social life.
Call for and incitement to discrimination - any activity on the basis of which a person directly or indirectly
calls for, encourages, gives directions or incites another person to discriminate.
Victimization - unfavorable behavior towards a person, bearing harmful consequences as a result of theactivities it undertook in order to protect against discrimination (has reported discrimination, initiated aprocedure due to discrimination and testified in the course of the procedure).
Discrimination in the provision of goods and service - hindering or limiting the use of goods and services
by a person or group of persons on any of the grounds of discrimination.
Severe forms of discrimination – means:
1) the discrimination inflicted on a certain person on multiple discriminatory grounds (multiple
discrimination);
2) discrimination inflicted several times (repeated discrimination);
3) discrimination being inflicted for a longer period (extended discrimination); or
4) discrimination the consequences of which severely affect the discriminated person.
The Anti-Discrimination Law shall be applied by all state bodies, bodies of the local self-government units,
legal entities with public authorizations, and legal entities and natural persons in the field of:1) labor and labor relations;2) education, science and sport;
3) social security, including the area of social protection, pension and disability insurance, healthinsurance and health protection;4) judiciary and administration;5) housing;6) public information and media;
7) access to goods and services;8) membership and activity in unions, political parties, citizens’ associations and foundations orother membership-based organizations;9) culture, and10) other areas determined by law.

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However, the Anti-Discrimination Law provides exceptions to the prohibition on discrimination.
Namely, under Article 13, the affirmative measures undertaken by state administration bodies, bodies ofthe local self-government units, other bodies and organizations exercising public authorizations, public
institutions, or by natural persons or legal entities shall not be deemed discrimination if they are establishedas justified in the past, in the present, or in the future and may be undertaken until the complete factual
equality is achieved:1) for the benefit of a person, group of persons or community, in order to eliminate or reduce thefactual inequalities, if the differentiation is justified and proportional to the aim, and in order toensure their natural development and effective achievement of their right to equal opportunities
compared to other persons, groups of persons or communities, and2) the affirmative measures aimed at protection of marginalized groups, in order to eliminate or
reduce the factual inequalities, if the differentiation is justified and proportional to the aim, andin order to ensure their natural development and effective achievement of their right to equal
opportunities compared to other persons, groups of persons or communities.
Furthermore, Article 14 expressly provides that the following shall not be deemed discrimination:1) the different treatment of persons that are not nationals of the Republic of Macedonia, pertaining
to the freedoms and rights provided for by the Constitution, the laws and the international
agreements accessed by the Republic of Macedonia, which directly derive from the nationality of
the Republic of Macedonia;
2) the different treatment of persons on the basis of characteristics referring to any of thediscriminatory grounds, in case when those characteristics, due to the nature of the occupationor the activity, or due to the conditions under which that occupation is carried out, represent anessential and decisive requirement, the aim is legitimate, and the requirement does not exceed
the necessary level for its accomplishment;3) the different treatment of persons on the basis of religion, belief, sex or other characteristics
related to an occupation carried out in religious institutions or organizations when, according
to the nature of the relevant occupation or activity, or due to the requirements under which thereligion is exercised, the belief, sex or other characteristics represent an essential and decisive
requirement from a point of view of the institution or the organization, when the aim is legitimate,
and the requirement does not exceed the necessary level for its accomplishment;4) the different treatment of persons on the basis of religion, belief, sex or other characteristics inregard to education and training for the aims of the occupation related to the relevant religion;5) if the members and bodies of churches and religious communities, citizens’ organizations,political parties, unions and other organizations entered in a register in accordance with theConstitution and the laws, act in accordance with their doctrine, convictions or beliefs and/or
the aims determined in their statutes, programs and/or regulations;6) the regulation of marriage, unwed partnership and family exclusively as a union of different
sexes, i.e. a man and a woman;7) the exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed principle of freedom of speech, public appearance,
opinion and public information;8) the establishment of a requirement for minimum age, professional experience or length of service
in the processes of selection or granting certain privileges in regard to the operation, provided
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it is objectively justified for achieving the legitimate aim, while the extent of this differentiation
does not exceed the level necessary for achievement of the aim, and9) the establishment of a requirement for maximum age in the process of employment related
to the need for training or due to the needs of rational time limitations related to retirement
anticipated by law, when it is objectively justified for achievement of the legitimate aim, and theextent of this differentiation does not exceed the objective level necessary for achievement of
the aim.
Also, with respect to the protective mechanisms for particular categories of persons, under Article 15, thefollowing shall not be deemed discrimination:1) the special protection of the pregnant woman and mother, anticipated by law, except when the
pregnant woman or mother does not want to exercise this protection and notifies the employer
thereof in a written form;2) the measures anticipated by law for employment encouragement;3) the different treatment of persons with impediment in the participation in training and receiving
education in order to meet the special educational needs for the purpose of evening the chances;4) the anticipation of minimum and maximum age for access to certain levels of training andeducation, provided that it is objectively justified for achievement of the legitimate aim, andthe extent of this differentiation does not exceed the one necessary related to the nature of
the training or education, or the conditions in which they are delivered and the extent of thisdifferentiation does not exceed the level necessary for achievement of the aim;5) the measures aimed at securing balance in the participation of the men and women, until thosemeasures are necessary;6) the special measures beneficial for the persons or groups which are placed in an unfavorable
position occurred as a result of any of the discriminatory grounds, for the purpose of evening
their opportunities, as long as those measures are necessary;7) the special protection, anticipated by law, for children without parents, juveniles, single parents
and people with disability;8) the measures for protection of the specifics and identity of the persons belonging to ethnical,
religious or linguistic minorities and their right to cherish and develop their own identity
individually or in a community with the other members of their group as well as stimulateconditions for promotion of that identity, and9) the measures in the field of education and training which should ensure participation of thepersons of the ethnical minorities, until those measures are necessary.
4. Prohibitions under the Criminal Code
Article 417 of the Criminal Code sanctions the criminal offence of “Racial or Other Discrimination” asfollows:
1) Whosoever based on the difference in sex, race, skin color, class, membership in a marginalizedgroup, ethnic background, language, nationality, social background, religious belief, othertypes of beliefs, education, political affiliation, personal or social condition, mental or physicaldisability, age, family or marital status, property status, health condition, or any other groundforeseen by law or ratified international agreement, violates the basic human rights and freedoms
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acknowledged by the international community, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of six months
to five years.
2) The sentence referred to in paragraph 1 shall also be imposed to whosoever prosecutes
organizations or individuals because of their efforts for equality of the people.
3) Whosoever spreads ideas about the superiority of one race over another, or who advocates
racial hate, or instigates racial discrimination, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of six months
to three years.
5. Definitions and prohibitions under the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men.
The Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men prohibits:– – Gender based discrimination (Article 4 point 3));
– – Direct gender based discrimination (Article 4 point 4));
– – Indirect gender based discrimination (Article 4 point 5));
The Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men provides the following definitions:
Gender based discrimination - any differentiation, exclusion or limitation on grounds of gender, resulting inendangering or disabling the recognition, achievement or exercise of the human rights and the fundamental
freedoms on the grounds of equality of women and men in the political, economic, social, cultural and civil
or other sphere, regardless of their race, skin color, gender, belonging to a marginalized group, ethnicity,
language, citizenship, social background, religion or religious belief, education, political belonging, personalor social status, mental and physical impediment, material condition, health condition or any other grounds.
Direct gender based discrimination – when a person has been treated, is treated or would be treatedworse than another person in a similar situation, on grounds of the gender.
Indirect gender based discrimination - when apparently neutral provision, criterion or customary law
places people of one gender into a particularly unfavorable position compared with persons of the opposite
gender, unless that provision, criterion or customary law is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and themeans of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.
c) Protection of workers from discrimination (workers’ rights and employers’ obligations)
1. Protection under the LLR
In case of discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment or psychological harassment, the job candidate or
the employee has the right claim damages, under Article 10 LLR.
In such case, the burden of proof rests on the defendant to prove that there has been no discrimination orharassment, i.e. that the defendant has acted in compliance with the provisions related to the prohibition
on discrimination and harassment, except if the defendant proves that any different treatment has resulted
from the exceptions from the prohibition on discrimination.
The working conditions of the employee cannot be directly or indirectly aggravated, that is, the employee
cannot be put in a less favorable position, especially by decreasing the remuneration, transferring toanother job or preventing promotion or professional development, because of initiation of a procedure for72

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legal protection against psychological harassment in the workplace (mobbing), as well as witnessing during
the procedure (Article 11 para (3) LLR).
2. Protection under the Anti-Discrimination Law
Under the Anti-Discrimination Law, the person who finds to have suffered discrimination has the following
legal recourse:
1) Filing a complaint to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (the “Commission”);
and2) Filing a lawsuit to the competent court, and, if necessary, seeking interim measures.
Furthermore, under Article 41 of this Law, associations and foundations, institutions or other organizations
from the civil society which have justified interest in the protection of the collective interests of a certain
group or within the framework of their activity deal with protection of the rights to equal treatment, may
file a lawsuit and act as co-litigants against the person who has violated the right to equal treatment in theprocedure with the court, provided that they render probable that the right to equal treatment of greaternumber of persons has been violated by the treatment of the defendant. However, such lawsuit shall beallowed if the person claiming to be discriminated concurs.
As part of such lawsuit, a request may be raised for the court:
1) to determine that the treatment of the defendant has violated the equal treatment in respect tothe members of the group;2) to prohibit the undertaking of activities which violate or may violate the equal treatment, i.e.
to carry out activities that eliminate the discrimination or its consequences in respect to themembers of the group, and
3) to announce in the media the verdict whereby violation of the right to equal treatment isdetermined, at the expense of the defendant.
2.1. Complaint to the Commission
The person who finds to have suffered discrimination shall submit a complaint to the Commission, in writingor orally to the minutes, without an obligation to pay a fee or any other compensation. Together with thecomplaint, the person shall provide proofs and facts whereby the act or the action of discrimination may
be determined.
The complaint may be submitted within three months as of the day the violation has been committed at
the latest, or within a year as of finding out about the act of discrimination at the latest. However, theCommission may also initiate a procedure even after this period has expired, if it finds that the case is ofsuch importance that it would be necessary and purposeful to conduct the procedure.
The Commission shall act upon the complaint, if a procedure with the court for the same matter has not been
already initiated or completed in a legally valid manner. The Commission shall not act upon the complaint if
it is obvious that no violation of the right invoked by the submitter exists, if it has already acted in the same
matter and new proofs have not been offered, and if it is determined that it is impossible to achieve the aimof the procedure because of expiry of the period after violation of the right.

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The Commission shall deliver the complaint to the person against whom it has been submitted within 15
days as of the day of its receipt. This person may plead to the allegations of the complaint within 15 days asof the day of its receipt.
Upon receipt of the complaint, the Commission shall determine the factual situation by inspecting the
documents and taking statements from the person who submits the complaint, the person against whom
the complaint has been submitted, as well as from other persons.
The Commission shall give an opinion regarding the alleged discrimination within 90 days as of the day ofsubmitting the complaint and shall notify the person who submits the complaint and the person against
whom the complaint has been submitted.
Upon determined discrimination, and by a written opinion, the Commission shall recommend a mannerof elimination of the violations of the right. The person to whom the recommendation is directed shall beobliged to act upon the recommendation and to eliminate the violation of the right within 30 days as of the
day of receipt of the recommendation, as well as to notify the Commission thereof. If the person, to whom
the recommendation is directed fails to act upon the recommendation, i.e. fails to eliminate the violationof the right, the Commission may initiate a procedure with a competent body for determining its liability.
In this regard, please note that the Anti-Discrimination Law sanctions certain conduct as misdemeanors.
Regarding the misdemeanors determined by this Law, a misdemeanor procedure shall be conducted and amisdemeanor sanction shall be imposed by the competent court. These misdemeanors are as follows:– – (Article 42) Fine amounting Euro 1.000 in Denar equivalent shall be imposed for the misdemeanoron the legal entity, that is, sole proprietor which calls for or incites discrimination or helps indiscriminatory treatment on discriminatory grounds (Article 3). Fine amounting 30% of thedetermined fine for the legal entity, that is, sole proprietor shall be imposed for such misdemeanoron the responsible person in the legal entity, that is, on the responsible person in the sole proprietor.
– – (Article 43) Fine amounting Euro 1.000 in Denar equivalent shall be imposed for the misdemeanoron the legal entity, that is, sole proprietor which violates the dignity of a particular person or creates
intimidating, hostile, humiliating or offensive environment, approach or practice (Article 7). Fineamounting 30% of the determined fine for the legal entity, that is, sole proprietor shall be imposed
for such misdemeanor on the responsible person in the legal entity, that is, on the responsible personin the sole proprietor.
– – (Article 44) Fine amounting Euro 1.000 in Denar equivalent shall be imposed for the misdemeanor
on a legal entity, that is, sole proprietor which places in an unfavorable position the person who
has reported discrimination or in any other manner has participated in the discrimination procedure(Article 10). Fine amounting 30% of the determined fine for the legal entity, that is, sole proprietor
shall be imposed for such misdemeanor on the responsible person in the legal entity, that is, on the
responsible person in the sole proprietor.
2.2. Filling a lawsuit at the competent court
A person shall be authorized to file a lawsuit with a competent court should it consider that some of its
rights has been violated due to discrimination. Such procedure shall be urgent. The provisions of the Law
on Litigation Procedure shall accordingly apply to the procedure.

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By way of the lawsuit, the plaintiff may seek from the court:
1) to determine that the defendant has violated the right to equal treatment of the plaintiff, i.e. theaction that he/she undertook or omitted to undertake may directly cause violation of the rights
to equal treatment;2) to prohibit the undertaking of activities which violate or may violate the right of the plaintiff toequal treatment, i.e. to carry out activities that eliminate the discrimination or its consequences;
3) to compensate the material and non-material damage caused by violation of the rights protectedby the Anti-Discrimination Law; and4) to announce in the media the verdict whereby violation of the right to equal treatment isdetermined, at the expense of the defendant.
The abovementioned claims may be raised together with the claims for protection of other rights resolved
in litigation procedure if all claims are mutually related and if the same court has actual competence,
regardless whether decision in general or separate litigation has been prescribed for such claims.
Furthermore, the court may determine measures for securing, on a proposal of the party, prior to theinitiation or during the procedure upon the petitions stated with the lawsuit. The following shall also be
required when submitting the proposal for measures for securing:1) the person which submits the request to render probable that his/her right to equal treatment
has been violated; and2) determination of the measure being necessary for eliminating the risk of irreparable damage,
particularly extremely severe violation of the rights to equal treatment or for prevention ofviolence.
If the party in the court procedure claims that, in accordance with the Anti-discriminatory Law, its right toequal treatment has been violated, it shall be obliged to provide all facts and proofs justifying the claim. The
opposite party shall bear the obligation to substantiate that discrimination has not occurred. The burden of
proof shall not apply to a misdemeanor and penalty procedure.
The request for announcement of the court decision shall be adopted by the court should the following be
determined:
1) the right to equal treatment has been violated through the media; or2) the information on the treatment that violates the right to equal treatment has been announced
in the media, and such announcement of the verdict is necessary due to full compensation of thecaused damage or prevention of unequal treatment in future cases.
If the court adopts the request for announcement of the verdict, for protecting personal data, it shall orderfull or partial announcement of the verdict. The verdict that orders announcement in the media, shall bebinding for the publisher of the media where the verdict is to be announced, regardless whether it has beena party in the procedure.
3. Protection under the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men
Under the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, the person who finds to have suffered aviolation of their rights under this Law has the following legal recourse:

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1) Filing a complaint to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (the “Ministry”); and
2) Filing a lawsuit to the competent court.
3.1. Filling of a complaint to the Ministry
The person whose right to equal treatment on the grounds of gender has been violated may file a complaint
to the Ministry. The procedure in the Ministry shall be conducted by the representative (a civil servant
employed in the Ministry and responsible for conducting a procedure for determination of unequal
treatment of women and men).
A complaint may be filed by any legal entity or natural person, personally or through an attorney-in-fact, inwriting, orally to the minutes or in another form, by fax, or by e-mail. The complaint filed by phone shouldbe also submitted in writing within a period of eight days. An official note shall be composed for the orally
filed complaint. The complaint shall contain personal data on the person filing it, data on the entity (legal
or natural) to whom the complaint refers, circumstances and facts on which the complaint is based, data on
the legal instruments previously exhausted by the person filing it (if any) and signature of the person filing
it. Anonymous complaints shall not be reviewed. The person filing the complaint shall be exempted frompayment of administrative fee and another charge. The representative may initiate a procedure upon his/her own initiative.
The complaint shall be filed within a period of six months as of the day of acknowledgement about theact of discrimination or within a period of one year as of the commission of the violation at the latest. If
the complaint is incomprehensible and does not contain the necessary facts by which the act or action of
discrimination may be confirmed, the representative may require from the person filing the complaint toclarify it and to amend it within a period of 15 days as of the day the amendment is required.
Upon the receipt of the complaint, the representative shall determine the actual condition by inspecting
the submitted documents, taking written or oral statements from the person filing the complaint, fromthe person against whom the complaint is filed, as well as from other persons considered to dispose withinformation about the case. The filed complaint shall be submitted to the person against whom it is directed
within a period of five working days as of the day of initiation of the procedure, for it to declare upon the
allegations therein within a period of 15 days as of its receipt.
The legal entities and natural persons shall be obliged, upon a request of the representative, to submit thedata they have at their disposal about cases of discrimination, as well as to allow direct inspection in the
documentation within a period of 30 days as of the submission of the request.
The representative shall conduct the procedure and prepare an opinion in writing within a period of 90days as of the receipt of the complaint. The opinion shall contain explanation of the determined unequal
treatment on the grounds of gender, and a recommendation for the manner of elimination of the violationof the right. The prepared opinion shall be submitted to the Minister of Labor and Social Policy. The opinion
shall also be submitted to the person filing the complaint, the person against whom the complaint is filed
and to other legal entities and natural persons included in the procedure within a period of eight days as ofthe preparation.
The person to whom the recommendation is addressed to shall be obliged to act upon it and to eliminate
the violation of the right within a period of 30 days as of the receipt of the opinion and notify the
representative thereof. If the person to whom the recommendation is directed to does not act upon it, i.e.
does not eliminate the violation of the right, the representative may initiate a procedure with a competentbody for determination of its responsibility.
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3.2. Filling a lawsuit to the competent court
The person who considers to have been violated the right to equal treatment on the grounds of gender
may file a lawsuit with a competent court. Such procedure is urgent. The provisions of the Law on
Litigation Procedure shall accordingly apply to the procedure, unless otherwise determined by the AntiDiscrimination Law.
By way of the lawsuit, the plaintiff may seek from the court:
1. to determine if the plaintiff has violated the right to equal treatment on the grounds of gender ofthe defendant, i.e. the action undertaken or omitted that may directly cause violation of the rights toequality in the acting;
2. to prohibit undertaking of activities that violate or may violate the right to equal treatment of theplaintiff, i.e. to carry out activities for elimination of the unequal treatment or the consequences
thereof;3. to compensate the material and non-material damage caused by the violation of the right to equal
treatment, in accordance with the Law on Obligations; and4. to publish the verdict that confirms the violation of the right to equal treatment in the mass media
at the expense of the defendant.
When a person who considers his/herself to be a victim of discrimination states facts whereby it may besupposed that there has been discrimination, the person alleged to have committed an act of discrimination
shall be obliged to prove that he/she has not violated the principle of equal treatment. The burden of proof
shall not apply to criminal procedures.
d) Laws on resource for victimized workers, if applicable
Under the Anti-Harassment Law, the employee or the person engaged under a contract who participatesin the work of the employer and who is deemed to be subjected to harassment at the workplace (the“victimized worker”) has the following legal recourse:
1) filling of a written request to the employer for protection against harassment at the workplace
to initiate a previous procedure (Article 18 para (1)); and2) filling of a lawsuit to the competent court, including proposing injunctions for preventing violent
conduct or for the purpose of eliminating a non-compensable damage (Article 34).
1. Previous procedure
The victimized worker should address, in writing, the person who is deemed to be harassing him/her, andshould point out that his/her conduct is inappropriate, unacceptable, and unwanted, with the intentionof solving the disputable situation, that is, event without initiating a procedure for protection against
harassment at the workplace and should warn him/her that he/she shall seek legal protection if the specificconduct does not terminate immediately.
The victimized worker, before filing a lawsuit before a competent court, shall file a written request forprotection against harassment at the workplace to the employer. The victimized worker who finds him/
herself subjected to harassment by a managing body in the legal entity or the natural person being an
employer may file a lawsuit before the competent court upon a previous written warning to the harassing
person, without a previous procedure for protection against harassment at the workplace at the employer.
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Such request shall be filed to the responsible person at the employer having the capacity of a legal entity(director or other authorized person), that is, to the employer having the capacity of a natural person or
another person who they are to authorize (hereinafter: the authorized person). Such authorization shall begiven in writing. Such request may be also filed by a representative of the trade union, a person in chargeof matters related to safety and health at work or human resources management, and a representative of
the employees, upon a written consent of the employee who finds him/herself subjected to harassment at
the workplace.
The request shall include: data on the requesting entity, data on the employee who finds him/herself
subjected to harassment at the workplace, if he/she is not the requesting entity, data on the employee who
is deemed to be harassing, brief description of the conduct which is justifiably regarded as harassment at
the workplace, duration and frequency of the conduct which is regarded as workplace harassment, as wellas the date of the last such behavior, and list of fact and proofs.
The request may be submitted within six months as of the day of the last behavior which is regarded as
workplace harassment at the latest. The right of initiation of a procedure for protection against harassment
at the workplace shall become time barred upon the expiry of the six-month deadline. During the sixmonth deadline and during the mediation procedure, the statutes of limitation established by law for
determination of the liability of the employee for non-observance of the working order and discipline or
violation of the working duties shall not run.
The employer, that is, the responsible person at the employer shall be obliged immediately, and no later
than eight days as of the day of receipt of the request, to propose mediation to the parties as a mannerof solving the dispute and to suggest them to select a person from the list of mediators prepared by theemployer. If the parties and the employer, that is, the authorized person at the employer cannot agree
on the appointment, that is, selection of a mediator, the employer, that is, the responsible person at theemployer shall be obliged, within eight days as of the day of expiry of the eight days deadline, to submit
a written notification to the requesting entity and to the employee who finds him/herself subjected toharassment at the workplace, and who is not the requesting entity, that a mediator has not been selected.
As of the day of submission or non-submission of the notification, the period of 15 days for filing a lawsuit
for protection against harassment at the workplace before a competent court shall begin to run.
The previous procedure for protection against harassment at the workplace at the employer shall not
be mandatory and shall not constitute a ground for initiation of a court procedure for protection against
harassment.
The mediation procedure at the employer shall be urgent. The mediator shall be obliged to act independently
and impartially and in such a manner to help the parties to reach an agreement. The representative ofthe trade union in which the employee is a member, that is, a representative of the employees may also
participate in the mediation procedure, at the request of the parties. The mediation procedure shall beclosed for the public. The data collected during the procedure may be disclosed solely to the participantsin the procedure. The disclosure of the data obtained during the mediation procedure shall constitute a
violation of the working duties.
The parties may reach an agreement regarding the manner in which the mediation procedure shall be
conducted. If the parties fail to reach an agreement on the manner of conducting the procedure, themediator shall conduct a mediation procedure, having into consideration the circumstances of the
disputable relation and the interests of the parties, by observing the principle of urgency. The mediator may
lead joint or separate conversations with the parties and, with the consent of the one party, may convey and78

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deliver a proposal and stands on particular issues to the other party. Where needed, the mediator may also,
during the procedure, lead conversations with persons which are proposed as witnesses by the parties. Тhemediator shall prepare a report on each action taken regarding the conversations made with the parties
and with the witnesses. The mediator should complete the mediation procedure within a period of 15 days.
If the mediation procedure is successful, that is, if the parties have reached an agreement, the mediatorshall, within a period of three days as of the day of completion of the mediation procedure, prepare anagreement which shall contain recommendations for the harassing person at the workplace and for theemployer, the cessation of the harassment and the manner of elimination of the possibilities of continuing
the harassment at the workplace, the transfer of the employee to another business premises, that is,
another location. The agreement shall be signed by the both parties and the mediator. (4) The employer
shall be obliged to act in line with the recommendations
If the parties in the mediation procedure fail to reach an agreement for termination of the workplaceharassment, the mediator shall be obliged, within a period of three days as of the end of the mediation
procedure, to prepare a written notification that an agreement has not been reached, that is, that themediation is unsuccessful. The written notification regarding the unsuccessful mediation shall be delivered
to the both parties and to the employer.
If in the course of the mediation procedure the parties, by means of a written statement, renounce from thefurther continuation of the procedure, the mediator shall be obliged to adopt a conclusion on terminationof the procedure within a period of three days as of the receipt of the statements. The mediator shall deliver
the conclusion to the both parties and to the employer.
If the health condition of the victimized worker, according to the opinion of an authorized health institution
carrying out the activity of labor medicine, has been impaired due to the workplace harassment, theemployer shall be obliged to temporarily transfer the employee into another business premises, that is,
working environment, until the completion of the procedure for protection against workplace harassment.
The employer may impose one of the measures for non-observance of the working order and discipline,that is, violation of the working duties, in accordance with law, to the employee who harasses at theworkplace or abuses the right to protection against harassment at the workplace. If the employee who has
been imposed the measure due to harassment at the workplace, repeats the act of harassment within aperiod of six months, the employer may terminate his/her employment contract, that is, impose a measurefor termination of the employment in accordance with law.
The initiation of a procedure for protection against harassment at the workplace, as well as the participationin that procedure as a witness, cannot constitute a ground for putting the employee in a more unfavorable
position in view of exercising the rights and obligations under the employment, initiation of a procedure
for establishing disciplinary, material and other liability of the employee, cancellation of the employment
contract, that is, termination of the employment of the employee due to business reasons, within two years
as of the day of initiation of the procedure for protection against harassment or as of the day when he/she
participated as a witness in a procedure for protection against harassment at the workplace.
2. Court protection
The employee who finds him/herself subjected to harassment at the workplace, and who is not satisfied
with the outcome of the procedure for protection against harassment at the workplace at the employer

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the Anti-Harassment Law shall have the nature of labor disputes. The plaintiff, by means of the lawsuit may
seek:1) establishment that he/she has been subjected to harassment at the workplace;2) prohibition against conducts which amount to harassment at the workplace, that is, prohibition
against repeating the harassment at the workplace;3) taking measures for eliminating the consequences of harassment at the workplace; and4) compensation of material and non-material damage caused by the harassment at the workplace.
If during the procedure, the plaintiff has made the existence of the harassment at the workplace probable,
the burden of proof that there has not been a conduct which amounts to workplace harassment shall beborne by the defendant.
Prior to the commencement or during the procedure, the court may, upon the proposal of the party, grant
injunctions for preventing violent conduct or for eliminating a non-compensable damage. The injunctions
shall include:
1) prohibition on coming near the workplace of the employee; and2) prohibition on telephoning and communicating (verbal or electronic).
The appeal against the decision for granting injunctions shall not postpone the enforcement of the decision.

4. Principle 4 – Forced Labor
4.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Legislation on forced labor• Laws on prison labor• Legislation regulating the operation of labor brokers and other third party recruiters• Laws relating to limits or prohibitions on recruitment fees and deposits workers may be required topay
4.2 Applicable laws
• Constitution;• LLR;• Criminal Code;• Law on Enforcement of Sanctions (consolidated text) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia”
no. 2/2006, 57/2010, 170/2013, 43/2014, 166/2014, 33/2015, 98/2015 and 11/2016);• Law on Employment and Insurance against Unemployment (consolidated text) (“Official Gazetteof the Republic of Macedonia” no. 37/1997; 25/2000; 101/2000; 50/2001; 25/2003; 37/2004;80

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4/2005; 50/2006; 29/2007; 102/2008; 161/2008; 50/2010; 88/2010; 51/2011; 11/2012; 80/2012;
114/2012; 39/2014; 44/2014; 113/2014; 56/2015; 129/2015; 147/2015; 154/2015; 27/2016 and119/2016);• Law on Agencies for Temporary Employment (consolidated text) (“Official Gazette of the Republic ofMacedonia” no. 49/2006, 102/2008, 145/2010, 136/2011, 13/2013, 38/2014, 98/2015, 147/2015
and 27/2016);
4.3 Your answera) Legislation on forced labor
1. Constitution
Forced labor is prohibited under Article 11 para (3) of the Constitution.
Under Article 32 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,
protection at work and material assistance during temporary unemployment. Every job is open to all underequal conditions. Every employee has a right to appropriate remuneration. Every employee has the rightto paid daily, weekly and annual leave. Employees cannot waive this right. The exercise of the rights of
employees and their position are regulated by law and collective agreements.
2. Abolition of Forced Labor Convention
The Republic of Macedonia is a party to the ILO Abolition of Forced Labor Convention (No. 105), which isavailable in English at the following link: http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C105.
3. Criminal Code
Article 418 of the Criminal Code sanctions the criminal offence of “Founding slavery and transportation of
persons in slavery”, as follows:
1) Whosoever by violating the rules of international law places another in slavery or in some similar
relation, or keeps him under such relation, buys, sells, hands him over to another, or mediates inthe buying, selling or handing over of such a person, or instigates another to sell his freedom or
the freedom of a person he supports or who supports him, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of
one to ten years.
2) Whosoever transports persons under slavery or similar relation from one country to anothershall be sentenced to imprisonment of six months to five years.
3) Whosoever commits the crime referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 against a juvenile, shall besentenced to imprisonment of at least five years.
Article 418-a of the Criminal Code sanctions the criminal offence of “Human trafficking”, as follows:
1) Whosoever by force, serious threat causes delusions or other forms of coercion, by kidnapping,by deceit and abuse of his own position and abusing the pregnancy or the position of weakness ofsomebody else, or the physical or mental disability of another, or by giving or receiving money orother benefits in order to obtain agreement of the person that has control over another person,
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or in any other manner turns, transports, transfers, buys, sells, harbors or accepts persons
for the purpose of exploitation through prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation,
pornography, forced labor or servitude, slavery, forced marriages, forced pregnancy, unlawful
adoption or similar relations to it, begging or exploitation for purposes forbidden by law, or illicit
transplantation of human organs, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least four years.
2) Whosoever seizes or destroys the ID, passport or other identification document in order tocommit the crime from paragraph (1) of this Article, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of atleast four years.
3) Whosoever uses or makes it available for another to use sexual services or other type of
exploitation of persons knowing that they are victims of human trafficking, shall be sentenced to
imprisonment from six months to five years.
4) If the crime referred to in paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of this Article is committed by an official
person while performing his service, he shall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least eight years.
5) The consent of the victim of human trafficking perpetrated with the intent to exploit them, as
provided for in paragraph 1, is not significant to the existence of the crime from paragraph 1.
6) If the crime referred to in this Article is committed by a legal entity, it shall be fined.
7) The immovables and objects and transport means used for the commission of the crime, shall be
seized.
Article 418-b of the Criminal Code sanctions the criminal offence of “Trafficking of migrants”, as follows:
1) Whosoever by force or by serious threat commits an assault on the life and body, by kidnapping,
deception, covetousness, by abuse of his official position and the position of weakness of another,illegally transfers migrants over the state border, and the one that makes, procures or possesses
a false traveling documents for such purpose shall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least 4
years.
2) Whosoever turns, transports, transfers, buys, sells, harbors or accepts migrants shall besentenced to imprisonment of one to five years.
3) If during the commission of the crimes from paragraphs 1 and 2, the life and health of a migrantis threatened, or the migrant is subject to particularly humiliating conduct or brutality, or the
migrant is prevented from exercising the rights determined by international law, the offendershall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least eight years.
4) If the crime from paragraphs 1 and 2 is committed against a juvenile, the offender shall besentenced to imprisonment of at least eight years.
5) If the crime referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this Article is committed by an official
person while performing his service, he shall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least ten years.
6) The objects and means of transport used for committing the crime shall be seized.
Article 418-c of the Criminal Code sanctions the criminal offence of “Organizing a group and instigating
performance of crimes of human trafficking, trafficking in juveniles and migrants”, as follows:
1) Whosoever organizes a group, gang or other association for committing the crimes from Articles
418-a, 418-b, 418-d and 418-e, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of at least eight years.

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2) Whosoever becomes member of the group, gang or other association from paragraph (1), or insome other way helps the group, the gang or the association, shall be sentenced to imprisonmentof at least one year.
3) A member of the group from paragraph (1), who reveals the group before it commits the crime
within it or on its behalf, shall be acquitted from the sentence.
4) Whosoever calls for, instigates or supports the commission of the crimes referred to in Articles
418-a, 418-b, 418-d and 418-e, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of one to ten years.
Article 418-d of the Criminal Code sanctions the criminal offence of “Trafficking a child”, as follows:
1) Whosoever induces a child to sexual activities or enables sexual activities with a child or persuades,
transports, transfers, buys, sells or offers for sale, obtains, supplies, harbors or accepts a child forthe purpose of exploiting him in sexual activities for money or other forms of compensation orother forms of sexual exploitation, pornography, forced work or servicing, begging or exploitation
for an activity prohibited by law, slavery, forced marriages, forced fertilization, illegal adoption,or forces consent as a mediator for child adoption, illegally transplants human organs, shall besentenced to imprisonment of at least eight years.
2) Whosoever commits the crime of paragraph (1) by use of force, serious threat, delusion orother form of forcing, kidnapping, defraud, abuse of the position or pregnancy, powerlessness
or physical or mental disability of another, or by giving and receiving money of other benefit forthe purpose of obtaining consent of a person controlling another person, or the act is committed
over a child younger than 14 years shall be sentenced to imprisonment of minimum ten years.
3) Whosoever uses or enables another to use sexual services or other type of exploitation of a childknowing, or being obliged to know that he is a victim of human trafficking, shall be sentenced tominimum imprisonment of eight years.
4) The user of sexual services given by a child younger than 14 years shall be sentenced to
imprisonment of at least 12 years.
5) Whosoever seizes or destroys an ID, passport or another’s personal identification document,
for the purpose of committing the crime referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, shall be sentenced to
imprisonment of minimum four years.
6) If the crime referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this Article is committed by an official
person while performing his service, he shall be sentenced to at least ten years of imprisonment.
7) The consent of the child for the actions provided for in paragraph (1) is not significant to theexistence of the crime of paragraph (1).
8) If the crime referred to in this Article is committed by a legal entity, it shall be fined.
9) The immovables, objects and means of transport used for the commission of the crime, shall be
seized.
b) Laws on prison labor
Article 47 of Law on Enforcement of Sanctions provides that inmates (convicted persons) should be
provided with work that will be useful and appropriate to the manner it is performed at liberty. Achieving
economic benefit cannot be the sole purpose of such work.

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The work should enable inmates to gain and develop work habits, to maintain their work skills and gain
expert knowledge necessary for work at liberty.
Inmates cannot be required to do works that are dangerous and harmful for their health.
Working hours for the inmates must be appropriate to the working hours at liberty.
c) Legislation regulating the operation of labor brokers and other third party recruiters
The brokerage and intermediation role on the labor market in the Republic of Macedonia is performed by
the following entities:
1) Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia (the “Employment Agency”) – a public
institution that provides support and assistance, and provides services to the participants in thelabor market;2) employment intermediation agencies – private agencies that provide intermediation services for
employment in the country and abroad in consideration for a fee; and3) agencies for temporary employment – legal entities which in accordance with the law conclude
employment contracts with temporary agency employees for their borrowing to employers-users
for doing temporary work under their supervision and management.
The work of the Employment Agency and of employment intermediation agencies is regulated in the Law on
Employment and Insurance against Unemployment, while the work of agencies for temporary employment
is regulated in the Law on Agencies for Temporary Employment.
1. Employment Agency
The manpower needs of an employee can be met by intermediation of the Employment Agency bysubmitting an application to the Agency regarding the need of an employee. The employer shall be obliged
in the application to indicate the job, the job requirements, the duration of the announcement, and the time
when the employer is to make the selection.
The Employment Agency shall be obliged, immediately and free of charge, to announce the application in
the Employment Agency for informing the unemployed and the other job-seekers (an economically active
or inactive person entered in the records of the Agency, but not seeking a job actively and/or not being
prepared to accept a job offer).
The interested unemployed and other job-seekers shall apply to the announcement published in the
Employment Agency with the employer, within the period determined in the announcement.
The manpower needs of the employer can be met via intermediation of the Employment Agency by sending
a person from among the records of unemployed persons to be employed by the employer. Sending a person
entered into the records of unemployed persons shall be performed by screening the files of unemployedpersons in the Employment Agency for the purpose of finding unemployed persons according to theirprofessional skills, knowledge and experience, and the activities they can and seek to perform, and therequirements for the indicated manpower needs.

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2. Employment Intermediation Agency
The manpower needs of the employer can be met via an employment intermediation agency by charging
the employer, in accordance with an agreement concluded between the employer and the agency.
The employment intermediation agency shall perform the intermediation by charging the employer for its
intermediation services.
The employment intermediation agency cannot charge the job-seekers for its intermediation services(Article 26-b para (2) of the Law on Employment and Insurance in case of Unemployment).
The employment intermediation agency, based on a previously received approval for performing
employment intermediation, shall be entered in the Central Register of the Republic of Macedonia. It
cannot commence working prior to its entry in the Central Register of the Republic of Macedonia.
The employment intermediation agency in the country and abroad, may be established by a natural personwho:• holds at least a secondary education degree,• is not employed,• has a special, appropriate minimal business premise of at least 30 m2 available, and it meets therequirements in accordance with the regulations on occupational safety and health,• has at least two persons employed for indefinite period and• has obtained a license for employment intermediation from the ministry responsible for activities in
the field of labor.
The persons who work on employment intermediation in the employment intermediation agency shallhold a university degree. The founder of the employment intermediation agency shall also be a responsible
person of the employment intermediation agency. A foreigner may be approved fee-charging employment
intermediation, only if there is a reciprocal relation with the country of citizenship in terms of fee-charging
employment intermediation.
The employment intermediation agency cannot be founded by or an owner of a trade company, sole
proprietor or another person carrying out an activity, nor can the employment intermediation agency befounder of a trade company, nor can it carry out another activity except the employment intermediation
activity.
3. Agencies for temporary employment
The agency for temporary employment shall provide the temporary employments based on a previously
concluded agreement on borrowing of an employee between the agency for temporary employment
and another employer-user and an employment contract concluded between the agency for temporary
employment and the employee who is borrowed to another employer-user.
The agency for temporary employment, based on an agreement for borrowing an employee between
the agency and another employer, may borrow an employee to another employer-user for performing
temporary work in the following cases:

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1) replacement for a temporary absent employee;2) temporary increase in the workload;3) seasonal job;
4) work on a project;
5) specific non-continuous works that are not part of the predominant business activity of theemployer-user; and
6) unpredictable short-term activities coming out from performing the predominant businessactivity of the employer-user.
The agency for temporary employment, based on an agreement for borrowing an employee between theagency and another employer, may also borrow an employee to another employer-user in the cases referred
to above for short-term employment.
Agreement on borrowing an employee for performing the same temporary works may be concluded for aperiod during which the need exists, but not longer than a year.
The agency for temporary employment must not borrow an employee for performance of the same works
at the same employer without interruption or with interruption longer than a year.
The agency for temporary employment shall provide the temporary employments by charging a service feeto the employer-user. The agency for temporary employment cannot charge a service fee for temporary
employment to the persons it employs or borrows to another employer-user (Article 8 para (2) of the Law
on Agency for Temporary Employment).
The provisions of the regulations on labor relation, the regulations on safety and health at work, and theregulations on equal treatment of women and men referring to the protection of women during pregnancy,
giving birth, parenthood and child care, protection of children and juveniles, shall also apply to the borrowed
agency employees from the agency for temporary employment to the employer-user.
The employer-user shall be obliged to inform the borrowed agency employees about all publishedannouncements for vacancies at the employer-user, by displaying the public announcements on a visible
place at the employer-user, to ensure that they have the same opportunity as the other workers to be
employed for a definite or indefinite period. The employer-user should provide equal access for the
borrowed agency employees to the trainings and the trainings planned for the employees at the employeruser, for improving their knowledge and skills for employment and promotion at work.
Provisions that prohibit or hinder the conclusion of employment contracts between the employer-user andthe borrowed agency employee after his/her borrowing cannot be laid down by the employment contracts,
and if the contracts contain such provisions, they shall be null and void.
The temporary agency employees shall have the right their representatives to participate in the bodies that
represent the employees, which in accordance with the regulations are formed at the employer-user in thesame manner as if they are directly employed by the employer for the same period.
An agency for temporary employment may be established by a natural person who:
• has at least a high school degree,• is not employed,86External Assessment• has available separate, suitable, minimum working premises based on a proof of ownership or lease,personnel and equipment, in compliance with the law,
• a bank guarantee in the amount determined by law,
• is granted a license for providing temporary employments, in accordance with the Law on Agencies
for Temporary Employment,• has a statement on establishment of an agency for temporary employment;• has a statement on a founder - responsible person of the agency for temporary employment, and• a notary verified signature of the founder - responsible person of the agency for temporary
employment.
An agency for temporary employment may be also established by a legal entity registered in accordancewith the Law on Trade Companies which fulfills the requirements defined by this Law. However, such agency
cannot borrow employees for temporary employment at a legal entity that has established the agency andat the companies related by capital with the above-mentioned company.
A foreigner may be approved provision of temporary employment by charging a fee only if there is areciprocity for intermediation for temporary employment by charging a fee with the state whose national
is the foreigner.
The founder of the agency for temporary employment shall in the same time be a responsible person in theagency for temporary employment. The persons that perform employment intermediation related works inthe agency for temporary employment should hold a university degree.
o carry out the temporary employment related activities, the agency for temporary employment shall beobliged to provide business premises of at least 60 m2 for obtaining an A license, at least 40 m2 for a B
license, at least 20 m2 for a C license which meet the sanitary and the other requirements in accordancewith the regulations on safety and health at work. The fulfillment of the spatial and technical requirements
defined by this Law shall be established by a labor inspector within a period of 15 days as of the day of entryof the agency of temporary employment in the Central Register of the Republic of Macedonia.
The agency for temporary employment shall be obliged to employ at least six persons for an indefinite
period of time for the purpose of obtaining an A license, at least four persons for an indefinite period oftime for a B license, at least two persons for an indefinite period of time for a C license.
The agency for temporary employment may carry out activities related to temporary employment onlyin the country, if these activities are carried out as its only business activity. The agency for temporary
employment cannot commence its operation before the issuance of the license for providing temporary
employment and before its entry in the Central Registry of the Republic of Macedonia.
The Ministry for Labor and Social Policy shall, upon request by the founder, issue:
1) A license for conclusion of more than 250 employment contracts by the agency for temporary
employment;
2) B license for conclusion of up to 250 employment contracts by the agency for temporary
employment; and3) C license for conclusion of up to 100 employment contracts by the agency for temporary
employment.
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The license for providing temporary employment shall be issued for a two-year period with a possibility
for extension at every two years, based on a request of the founder - the responsible person of the agency
for temporary employment submitted 90 days before the expiry of the validity period at the latest andupon a previously conducted inspection by the labor inspector of the fulfillment of the requirements forestablishment and work of the agency determined by this Law.
The agency for temporary employment must not conclude employment contracts exceeding the number ofcontracts for which the license has been issued, for establishing temporary employments, nor for a period
exceeding the validity period of the license for providing temporary employments and the bank guarantee
validity period.
d) Laws relating to limits or prohibitions on recruitment fees and deposits workers may be required topay
The Employment Agency shall be obliged, immediately and free of charge, to announce the employer’s
application for the need of an employee in the Employment Agency for informing the unemployed and theother job-seekers (an economically active or inactive person entered in the records of the Agency, but notseeking a job actively and/or not being prepared to accept a job offer) (Article 7 paras (1) and (2) of the Law
on Employment and Insurance in case of Unemployment).
The employment intermediation agency cannot charge the job-seekers for its intermediation services(Article 26-b para (2) of the Law on Employment and Insurance in case of Unemployment).
The agency for temporary employment cannot charge a service fee for temporary employment to thepersons it employs or borrows to another employer-user (Article 8 para (2) of the Law on Agency for
Temporary Employment).

5. Principle 5 – Safe Work Environment
5.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Requirements for provision of medical protection, such as availability of first aid kit, health & safety
training, etc.
• Requirements to report accidents and injuries• Requirements for personal protective equipment needed for using, handling, storing, or disposing ofcrop protection agents (CPA). This might vary depending on the CPA in question• Restrictions on CPA use, handling, storing, or disposing. Most countries will have restrictions onvulnerable populations interacting with CPA (or prohibit this outright), such as persons under 18,
pregnant women, nursing mothers, etc.
• Restrictions on farm equipment (such as maintenance and licensing for operators)• Other legislation related to CPA, such as how and where they may be stored or transported; more
explicit restrictions for specific CPA; weather conditions under which CPA may or may not beapplied; and any other restrictions limiting contact or exposure with CPA

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External Assessment• Requirements related to providing drinking water and safe housing for workers• Specific requirements if worker accommodation is provided
5.2 Applicable laws
• Law on Safety and Health at Work (Закон за безбедност и здравје при работа) (“Official Gazetteof the Republic of Macedonia” no. 92/2007, 136/2011, 23/2013, 25/2013, 137/2013, 164/2013,
158/2014, 15/2015, 129/2015, 192/2015 and 30/2016);• Law on Health Protection (Закон за здравствена заштита) (“Official Gazette of the Republic ofMacedonia” no. 43/2012, 145/2012, 87/2013, 164/2013, 39/2014, 43/2014, 132/2014, 188/2014,
10/2015, 61/2015, 154/2015, 192/2015, 17/2016 and 37/2016);• Law on Plant Protection Products (Закон за производи за заштита на растенијата) (“Official
Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 110/2007, 20/2009, 17/2011, 53/2011, 69/2013,10/2015, 129/2015 and 39/2016);• Law on Vehicles (Закон за возила) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.140/2008;
53/2011; 123/2012; 153/2012; 70/2013; 164/2013; 138/2014; 154/2015; 192/2015 и 39/2016)
5.3 Your answera) Requirements for provision of medical protection, such as availability of first aid kit, health & safety
training, etc.
The employer is obliged to provide medical protection of the employees from any aspect of the work. Within
the scope of its obligations, the employer must take the measures necessary for the employees’ safety
and health at work, including prevention of occupational risks, provision of information and training, andprovision of appropriate organization and necessary means. The employer shall be obliged to introduce
such protective measures and to choose such working and production methods that improve the level ofsafety and health at work and are implemented in all activities of the employer and at all organizational
levels.
In accordance with Law on Safety and Health at Work, the employer must organize and provide:• theoretical and practical first aid training of the employees;• first aid to the employees in the event of injury at work or unexpected disease until they are taken toa health institution for treatment;• first aid and evacuation measures in the event of danger;• at each workplace and working premises where up to 20 employees work simultaneously, at least
one of them must be trained and designated for provision of first aid, fire extinction, evacuation andrescue, and if the number of employees is bigger, minimum one employee at every 20 employees;• first aid, by way of concluding agreements with other legal entities specialized in rendering services,
especially in relation to provision of first aid, urgent medical help and activities for evacuation andrescue, and fire protection.

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Furthermore, Article 96 para (4) of Law on Health Protection provides that the state bodies, judiciarybodies, as well as trade companies with more than 100 employees shall mandatorily organize a healthcare
point as an internal organizational unit. The legal entity may be imposed with a fine in the amount of 2,200
Euros in Denar equivalent, if it fails to organize a healthcare point as an internal organizational unit.
Further applicable measures for safety and health at work may be provided for in the following rulebooks
as well:– – Rulebook on protection at work in agriculture (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968);– – Rulebook on protection at work in loading and unloading load (“Official Gazette of the SRM”
no.11/1988);– – Rulebook on safety and health when using equipment for work (“Official Gazette of the Republic ofMacedonia” no.116/2007);– – Rulebook on the personal protective equipment to be used by employees at work (“Official Gazetteof the Republic of Macedonia” no.116/2007);– – Rulebook on health and safety at work by manual transfer of loads (“Official Gazette of the Republicof Macedonia” no.135/2007);– – Rulebook on minimal safety and health requirements at work for young workers (“Official Gazette of
the Republic of Macedonia” no.127/2012);– – Rulebook on the minimum health and safety at work requirements for employees regarding risks
related to exposure of chemical substances (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia”
no.46/2010) etc.
b) Requirements to report accidents and injuries
The employee is obliged to report accidents at work to the employer.
In accordance with Article 42 para (1) of Law on Safety and Health at Work, the employee must immediately
inform his/her employer, of any fault, danger to the safety and health or any other incident that may
endanger his/her own safety and health and the safety and health of the other employees. If the employer
fails to undertake appropriate measures for elimination of such incidents, the employee may request for anintervention by the competent labor inspector.
On the other side, under Article 37 para (1) of Law on Safety and Health at Work, the employer is obliged
to keep records, inter alia, for the injuries at work and cases of death at work.
Furthermore, under article 36 of Law on Safety and Health at Work, the employer is obliged immediately
and within a period of 48 hours as of the occurrence of the event at the latest, to report in writing to thestate administrative body responsible for the activities in the field of labor inspection and the president of
the union organization, that is, the union representative of the representative union or the representativeof the employees if there is no union and the representative of the employees for safety and health at work
about:

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any case of death;(ii) collective accident and injuries at work that cause temporary incapacity to work for more than 3
working days; and(iii) any situation that poses direct danger and threatens the safety of the employees at work.
c) Requirements for personal protective equipment needed for using, handling, storing, or disposing ofcrop protection agents (CPA).
This might vary depending on the CPA in question
Under the Law on Safety and Health at Work, the employer is required to provide the employees withappropriate personal protective equipment.
The minimum health and safety requirements that apply to personal protective equipment to be used by
employees at work, as well as the requirements as to the type of personal protective equipment that is tobe provided, are regulated in detail in the Rulebook on safety and health when using equipment for work(Правилник за личната заштитна опрема која вработените ја употребуваат при работата)(“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.116/2007) and in the Rulebook on protection at workin agriculture (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968).
d) Restrictions on CPA use, handling, storing, or disposing
Article 162 of the LLR provides that the female employee must not carry out works during pregnancy andone year following the childbirth if they have increased risk to her health or the health of the child. These
works are to be prescribed by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy in concurrence with the Minister of
Health.
The pregnant employees working with hazardous chemical materials shall have to be acquainted with theadditional risks posed by these substances to them and their unborn children.
In addition to the female employees during pregnancy and one year following the childbirth, the young
persons, elderly workers and disabled persons shall be considered as specific and risky groups.
The employer shall be obliged to assess all safety and health risks related to all works and positions
connected with specific risk of exposure of the employees from the specific risk groups to harmful effectsof physical, chemical and biological factors, influences and processes and, on the basis of a professional
assessment of the respective doctor about the health state, the readiness of the employees from thespecific risk groups, and to decide on adoption of appropriate measures.
The employer shall be obliged to fulfill these obligations before assigning the working tasks to the employees
from the specific risk groups, as well as during substantial change in the working conditions when it shallparticularly take into account the equipment and schedule of working position, nature, extent and durationof the exposure to physical, biological and chemical factors and influences, the type, scope and manner ofuse of the equipment, the procedures and organization of work, the level of vocational training and trainingof the employer.
Provided that any of the risks referred to above that cannot be eliminated in any other way is determined,
the employer shall be obliged to change the working conditions or the working hours, or to offer an91

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alternative work. If that is also not possible, it shall be necessary for the employee to be exempted fromthe normal work flow as long as it is needed to protect the health and safety of the pregnant employee andher child.
Further requirements are provided for in the Rulebook on the minimum health and safety at workrequirements for employees regarding risks related to exposure of chemical substances (Правилник заминималните барања за безбедност и здравје при работа на вработени од ризици поврзани соизложување на хемиски супстанци) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.46/2010) and in
the Rulebook on protection at work in agriculture (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968).
e) Restrictions on farm equipment(such as maintenance and licensing for operators)
Farm equipment (such as tractors, moto cultivators etc.) must meet minimum technical characteristics
and is subject to registration requirements as prescribed in the Law on Vehicles. Only authorized persons
having an appropriate driver’s license can operate in the traffic vehicles that constitute farm equipment.
Health and safety at work requirements applying to farm equipment are further prescribed in the Rulebook
on safety and health when using work equipment (Правилник за безбедност и здравје при употребана опрема за работа) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no.116/2007) and in the Rulebook
on protection at work in agriculture (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968).
f) Other legislation related to CPA, such as how and where they may be stored or transported; more
explicit restrictions for specific CPA; weather conditions under which CPA may or may not be applied;
and any other restrictions limiting contact or exposure with CPA
Article 36 para (1) of Law on Plant Protection Products, the products for plant protection should be used inaccordance with the approval of the Phytosanitary Office (a state body within the Ministry of Agriculture)and in accordance with the data on the product label.
ara (2) of the same Article provides that during the use of the products for plants protection, it is important:(i) not to exceed the maximum dose;(ii) not to shorten the intervals for application which are prescribed in the instructions for use;(iii) to respect the principles of good agricultural practice and if possible integrated protection;(iv) that the application of the products is done with machines and devices that shall ensure proper use;(v) not to deviate from the instructions to protect the health of people and animals, water, bees, aquatic(vi) organisms and earth (soil) organisms, referring to the instructions for use;(vii) that the plants of the wider environment, beyond the location where the application is made, mustnot be damaged;(viii) that the products which under the authorization are labeled with standard phrases for specificrisk:– – R 50

“very toxic to aquatic organisms”;– – R 51

“toxic to aquatic organisms”;
92External Assessment– – R 52

“harmful to aquatic organisms”; and– – R 53

“may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment”, can only be applied
at distances of water on surfaces that would exclude the possibility of deposition fallingor wind blowing them into the water or later be taken with rain water and(ix) with the package of the used products, unused products to comply with the regulations governing
waste management.
The Phytosanitary Office, as a state body within the Ministry of Agriculture, is obliged to organize education
for the users related to the application of the plant protection products. Please note that the users of theplant protection products, are obliged to keep records for every treatment of plants and of plant products.
Such records are to be kept for a period of five years.
Furthermore, Article 37 of Law on Plant Protection Products stipulates specific rules intended for theprotection of bees and wild life. Namely, persons (individuals and entities) using products to treat plants
are not allowed to apply such products:
1) that are designated, pursuant to the approval for their use, as being toxic for bees, except
where such person has notified thereof the beekeepers or the association of beekeepers or themunicipal bodies in charge of taking measures to protect bees and the media at least 48 hours
prior to the application, and2) whose use, pursuant to the approval for their use, is hazardous or especially hazardous forland vertebrae, in a surrounding that is part of a hunting ground, except where the user orconcessionaire of such hunting ground has been notified thereof no less than three days prior to
the start of the application of the product, for protective measures to be taken.
Application by air of products toxic for bees is prohibited.
Any application of plant protection products by air must be notified (on a prescribed form) in advance tothe municipal bodies and the media, at least 48 days prior to the start of the application.
The Rulebook on protection at work in agriculture (Правилник за заштитата при работата воземјоделството) (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968) prescribes rules for transportation, storage,
handling and use of chemical agents for the protection of plants from diseases and pests and chemicalmeans for destroying weeds and harmful game, hazardous or toxic to the health and life of people (“chemical
agents”), as follows:(Article 98) Chemical agents must be placed in special warehouses or in special storage space separated
from the other premises where materials are located, and, in particular, where food for human consumption
or fodder is located. Storage areas for chemical agents must be remote from the living facilities. Gaseousand easily flammable chemicals must be stored outside of settlements in accordance with applicableregulations.
(Article 99) The warehouse for chemical agents must have an antechamber. The entrance door of thewarehouse must be firm and open to the outside. The door of the warehouse must have a lock or padlock.
The door must have a plaque with the inscription: “Poison”. Microclimatic conditions provided for by the
manufacturer’s instructions must be maintained in the warehouse for chemical agents. The concentrationof harmful gases and dust in the premises of the warehouse must not exceed the limits of maximum
permissible concentrations (MPCs) provided for in the applicable standards.

93External Assessment(Article 100) Access to the warehouse for chemical agents must be prohibited to unauthorized persons.
The door of the warehouse for chemical agents must be locked at the time when the warehouse keeper is
not in the warehouse. Sleeping, smoking, drinking and eating in the warehouse for chemical agents shallbe prohibited. A sign to this effect must be placed at the entrance to the warehouse or on the door of thewarehouse.
(Article 101) Chemical agents must be neatly organized in the warehouse and must be placed so thatthey can be easily taken from the floor or shelves. The warehouse keeper must be aware of the harmfulproperties of all stored chemicals and, when handling these agents, must strictly adhere to the chemical
agent producer’s and employer’s instructions.
(Article 103) Chemical agent must be stored in original packaging, on which there must be a label (declaration)with prescribed data. If the label (declaration) disappears from the packaging during delivery or in thewarehouse, or it becomes unreadable, the chemical agent from such packaging must not be used until its
contents are determined. If the content of the chemical agent cannot be determined, such chemical agent
must be destroyed. When handling chemicals and using chemicals, the instructions from the manufacturerof chemicals must be complied with.
(Article 104) The protection measures provided for in the provisions of Articles 73 to 80 of this Rulebook
shall apply accordingly to the devices for application of chemical agents (sprinklers, sprayers, pressure
vessels, pipelines, pumps, atomizers, etc.) and to the operation with such devices. Handling chemicals withbare hands is prohibited.
(Article 105) After each charge of the devices for the use of chemicals, the chemical agent which has been
spilled after it must be removed. Vessels in which solutions of chemicals are prepared must not be used forother purposes.
(Article 106) Spraying, dusting, sprinkling, or blurring with chemical agents from an airplane must be carriedout only with the help of a special device built for this purpose in the aircraft. The chemicals delivered at
the point of departure of the aircraft (airport, etc.) must be stored at a specified place secured from theaccess by unauthorized persons. The loading of chemical agents on the plane must not be carried out by thepilot of the aircraft. It is forbidden to fly the plane through a fog of chemical agents. After the work withthe chemical agents has been completed, the valve of the device for the use of chemicals must be closed.
(Article 107) All moving and rotating parts of cleaning and disinfecting machines for seeds for plant
protection must be supplied with suitable protective devices (with armor, wire mesh, etc.). In the work
areas where such machines are located, the concentration of harmful gases and dust must not exceed thelimits of the maximum allowed concentrations (MACs) provided for in the applicable standards.
(Article 108) Seed treated as a chemical agent must be fed into the packaging directly from the devices foruse with chemicals, without the use of manual work. Manual handling of poisonous chemical agents for theprotection of seeds is prohibited. The seed seized with mercury preparations, which has remained fromsowing or was not used for sowing for any reason, must not be used for human or animal feed, nor may it
be released on the market.
(Article 109) The preparation of chemical agents for use must not be carried out at temperatures exceeding
300C. The chemical agent should be prepared in the amount that can be spent during the working day. The
remaining solution of the chemical agent should be removed or stored in a marked package and be secured
from access by unauthorized persons. The preparation of chemical agents for use, as well as the spillage ofthe remaining solution of chemical agents, must not be carried out near wells and standing water.
94External Assessment(Article 110) Prior to the use of chemical agents on a larger area of land, measures must be taken to warn ofthe danger of poisoning, by informing the people working on the adjacent plots, by informing the populationof the removal of livestock, bees, etc. The access to the surface of the land that is treated with toxinsmust include an inscription: “Access denied – Envenomed area”, indicating the date of treatment. Afterthe danger ceases, the warning must be removed. The protective measures mentioned above must also be
applied when placing poison baits for the destruction of plant pests.
(Article 111) Working with chemical agents must not be carried out in strong wind. Spraying, dusting,sprinkling, or blurring with chemical agents in a weaker wind can only be performed in the direction inwhich the wind is blowing.
(Article 112) An empty paper or plastic packaging that used to contain toxic chemical agents must
be incinerated, and an empty tin or glass packaging should be squeezed or developed and then buried.
Destruction or burial of the packaging must not be carried out near wells and standing water. Empty
packaging that is to be returned to the manufacturer is kept until dispatch to storage for chemical agents.
The packaging and the dispatch of such packaging must be carried out according to the instructions fromthe manufacturer.
(Article 113) The person in charge of the use of chemical agents must inform the workers of the propertiesof the chemical agents, the manner of handling and the measures for protection, as well as warn about thedanger in case of improper handling.
(Article 114) Persons working with chemical agent (when used) must be provided with personal protective
equipment during work, depending on the type of work and the harmful effects of chemicals, such as:1) when opening vessels, diluting, mixing or pressing - with rubber gloves, with rubber boots,with a respirator, that is, with a face shield, with overalls and with a rubber apron, or with animpermeable staple;
2) when applying chemical agents in glass gardens, other than aerosols or generators for smoking with rubber gloves, rubber boots, hood, respirator or facial shield, overalls or impermeable staple;
3) when using aerosols indoors - with overalls, with a hood with rubber gloves and with a respirator;
4) for working in a work area treated with chemical agents up to 8 days - with rubber gloves;
5) when marking the ground for spraying from an airplane - with overalls, rubber gloves, rubberboots, rubber garters, with respirator or with a face shield.
(Article 115) Gloves must be put over the ends of the sleeves of the protective clothing. When using rubberboots, the protective clothing must be pulled over the boots. After completing the work, gloves and bootsmust be washed with soap in clean water.
(Article 116) Workers handling chemical agents must be provided with clean protective clothing. If during
work clothes are usually contaminated by spilling of the solution of the chemical agents, workers must be
provided with spare protective clothing. Overalls and hoods must be replaced with clean ones after eachuse of up to 6 working days.
(Article 117) Damaged personal protective equipment (scattered, torn, pierced, etc.) must be replaced
immediately with new ones. The use of damaged personal protective equipment is prohibited.
(Article 118) During work, workers should often rinse their mouth with appropriate disinfectants, especiallybefore eating, drinking and smoking. Exposed parts of the body should be washed more frequently with95

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clean water and soap. A part of the body where the chemical agent is spilled or which is sprayed with achemical agent must be immediately washed with clean water and soap. During work with chemical agents,
smoking or eating shall be prohibited.
(Article 119) Work with highly toxic chemicals must not last more than 6 hours during the day, and mustbe performed in two parts. Work with less toxic chemicals must not last less than 7 hours during the day.
(Article 120) Workers who have not previously been subjected to specialist medical examination must not
be assigned to work with toxic chemical agents. Workers who work with toxic chemicals must undergo a
specialist medical examination once a month. Persons under the age of 18, as well as women, must not be
assigned to work with chemical agent.
(Article 121) Workers with open wounds (with burns, wounds, eczemas, fresh acne, etc.), as well as workers
in a drunken state must not be allowed to work with chemical agents. A worker who, in the course ofworking with chemical agents, will feel trouble (weakness, headache, etc.) must be immediately referred toa medical examination.
(Article 122) If chemical agents are applied in places remote from settlements, there must be running waterand soap for washing of workers during the work, alcoholic rinsing agents and necessary antidotes. Baths
with hot and cold water must also be provided for workers working with chemical agents. Simultaneous or
joint bathing of workers working with chemical agents and other workers is prohibited.
(Article 123) Special rooms must be provided for storing work clothes and footwear, as well as otherpersonal protective equipment of workers working with chemical agents.
g) Requirements related to providing drinking water and safe housing for workers
Such requirements are prescribed in the Rulebook on protection at work in agriculture (Правилник зазаштитата при работата во земјоделството) (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968) as
explained above.
h) Specific requirements if worker accommodation is provided
Such requirements are prescribed in the Rulebook on protection at work in agriculture (Правилникза заштитата при работата во земјоделството) (“Official Gazette of the SRM” no.34/1968), as
explained above.

6. Principle 6 – Freedom of Association
6.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Laws on organizing unions and their operation (workers’ rights and employers’ obligations)• Requirements for collective bargaining• Prohibitions on union discrimination and employer interference in their operations• Requirements that worker representatives be in place96External Assessment

6.2 Applicable laws
• LLR;
6.3 Your answera) Organizing unions and their operation (workers’ rights and employers’ obligations)
Article 184 of LLR prescribes the following:1) The employees shall have the right to constitute a trade union and become its members by theirown free choice, under the conditions set forth by the statute or by the rules of that trade union.
2) The trade union is an autonomous, democratic and independent organization of employees which
they join voluntarily for the purpose of representing, presenting, promoting and protecting theireconomic, social and other individual and collective interests.
3) The employers shall have the right to constitute an association and become its members by theirown free choice, under the conditions set forth by the statute or by the rules of that association.
4) The employers’ association is an autonomous, democratic and independent organization which
they join voluntarily for the purpose of presenting, promoting and protecting their economic,
social and other interests.
5) The unions and associations referred to in paragraphs (1) and (3) of this Article may be constituted
without any previous approval.
Furthermore, Article 185 para (1) of LLR prescribes that the employee, that is, the employer shall freely
decide on his joining and leaving the trade union, that is, employers’ association.
Under Article 186 para (2) of LLR, the activity of the union and its representative may not be limited by
employer’s regulation, if it is in compliance with the law and collective agreement.
Article 195 of LLR provides that the employers and their associations must not supervise the establishment
and activity of the unions, that is, their associations at a higher level, nor finance or support the unions, thatis, their associations at a higher level in any other manner for the purpose of such supervision.
b) Requirements for collective bargaining
1. Collective agreementsCollective agreement shall be concluded as a general at a national level, as a specific at a branch, that is,department level, in accordance with the National Classification of Activities, and as an individual at an
employer level.
The following shall be concluded at the level of the Republic of Macedonia:
1) general collective agreement for the private sector in the field of economy; and2) general collective agreement for the public sector.
The general collective agreement for the public sector applies to the bodies of the state authority andother state bodies, the bodies of the local self-government units, institutions, public enterprises, institutes,
agencies, funds and other legal entities carrying out activities of public interest.
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The general collective agreement for the private sector in the field of economy shall apply directly and shallbe obligatory for employers and employees in the private sector.
The general collective agreement for the public sector shall apply directly and shall be obligatory for theemployer and the employees in the public sector.
The branch, that is, department collective agreement, in accordance with the National Classificationof Activities, shall apply directly and shall be obligatory for employers that are members of employers’
association, signatories of the collective agreement or those that joined the association additionally.
2. Subject of collective bargaining
The collective agreements shall regulate the rights and obligations of the parties which have concluded theagreement, and may also include legal rules regulating the conclusion, content and termination of labor
relations and other issues arising from or related to labor relations.
Legal standards incorporated in the collective agreement shall apply directly and shall be obligatory for
all persons to which the collective agreement is applied to, in accordance with the provisions of this Law.
Persons that, pursuant to this Law, may be parties to the collective agreement shall be obliged to bargain
in bona fide for concluding a collective agreement for issues which, under this Law, may be subject of thecollective agreement.
The collective agreement shall be binding for all persons that have concluded it and for all persons that at
the time of conclusion of the collective agreement have been or have additionally became members of theassociations that have concluded the collective agreement.
The collective agreement shall also be binding for all persons that have acceded to it and for all persons thathave additionally became members of the associations which have acceded to the collective agreement.
The individual collective agreement shall also be binging – valid for the employees with the employer who
are not members of a trade union or of the trade union - signatory of the collective agreement.
The collective agreement shall be concluded in a written form.
3. Parties to collective agreements
The collective agreement shall be concluded between the employer or the representative employers’
association and the representative trade union.
The representativeness of a union, that is, employers’ association at a level of the Republic of Macedonia,
at a public sector level, at a private sector level in the field of economy, and at a branch, that is, department
level in accordance with the National Classification of Activities, shall be determined by the Ministry forLabor and Social Policy, on proposal of the Commission for Determining Representativeness.
When a request for determination of representativeness is submitted, but the conditions forrepresentativeness (see below) with regard to percentage of members are not met, a collective agreement
shall be concluded by the employer or the employers’ association and the union which has the largest
number of members, on the basis of a list submitted together with the request for determination ofrepresentativeness until fulfillment of the conditions for percentage of the members and determinationof the representativeness. Such collective agreement shall be concluded upon receipt of the notification98External Assessmentof the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy to the union, that is, the employers that submit a request for
determination of representativeness of the union, that is, the employers that have the largest numberof members. If in the course of the bargaining for such agreement, consent for conclusion of a collective
agreement is not reached, the participants may establish arbitration to settle the disputable issues.
The participants in conclusion of the collective agreement shall be obliged to bargain.
2.1 Representativeness of a union
The representativeness of a union for the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, that is, for an employers’
association for the territory of the Republic of Macedonia shall be determined for the purpose ofparticipating in tripartite bodies for social partnership and tripartite delegations of the social partners.
The representativeness of a union at a public sector level shall be determined for the purpose of participatingin the collective bargaining at a public sector level.
The representativeness of a union, that is, employers’ association at a private sector level in the field of
economy shall be determined for the purpose of participating in a collective bargaining at a private sector
level in the field of economy.
The representativeness of a union, that is, employers’ association at a branch, that is, department level,
shall be determined for the purpose of participating in collective bargaining at a branch, that is, department
level.
The representativeness of a union at a level of employer shall be determined for the purpose of participating
in a collective bargaining at a level of employer.
Representative union for the territory of the Republic of Macedonia shall be a union that fulfills thefollowing conditions:
1. to be entered in the register of unions kept by the ministry responsible for issues in the field of labor;
2. to have membership of at least 10% of the total number of employees in the Republic of Macedonia
paying union membership fee;
3. to join together at least three unions at a national level from different branches, that is, departments,
which are entered in the register of unions kept by the ministry responsible for issues in the field oflabor;
4. to be active at a national level and to have members registered in at least 1/5 of the municipalities in
the Republic of Macedonia;
5. to act in accordance with its statute and its democratic principles, and
6. to have membership of unions that have signed or acceded to at least three collective agreements at
a branch, that is, department level.
Representative union at a public sector level shall be the trade union which has been entered in theregister of unions kept by the ministry responsible for issues in the filed of labor, where at least 20% of theemployees in the public sector are members and pay membership fee.
Representative union at a private sector level in the field of economy shall be the union entered in theregister kept by the ministry responsible for issues in the field of labor, where at least 20% of the employees
in the private sector in the field of economy are members and pay membership fee.
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Representative union at a branch, that is, department level shall be the union entered in the register kept
by the ministry responsible for issues in the field of labor, where at least 20% of the employees in the
branch, that is, department are members and pay membership fee.
Representative union at a level of an employer shall be the union where at least 20% of the employees atthe employer are members and pay membership fee.
2.2 Representativeness of an employer’s association
Representative employers’ association for the territory of the Republic of Macedonia shall be an associationthat fulfills the following conditions:
1) to be entered in the register of employers’ association kept by the ministry responsible for issues
in the field of labor;
2) at least 5% of the total number of employers in the private sector in the field of economy in
the Republic of Macedonia to be members of the association or the employers members of theassociation to employ at least 5% of the total number of employees in the private sector of the
Republic of Macedonia;
3) employers of at least three branches, that is, departments to be members of the association;4) to have its members in at least 1/5 of the municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia;
5) to have concluded and acceded to at least three collective agreements at a branch, that is,department level, and
6) to act in accordance with its statute and the democratic principles.
Representative employers’ association at a level of the private sector in the field of economy shall be an
association entered in the register kept by the ministry responsible for issues in the field of labor andwhere at least 10% of the total number of employers in the private sector are members or the employers
members of the association employ at least 10% of the total number of employees in the private sector.
Representative employers’ association at a branch, that is, department level shall be an association enteredin the register kept by the ministry responsible for issues in the field of labor, where at least 10% of thetotal number of employers in the branch, that is, department are members, or the employers members of
the association employ at least 10% of the total number of employees in the branch, that is, department.
c) Prohibitions on union discrimination and employer interference in their operations
Article 185 para (2) of LLR prescribes that no one can be put into any unfavorable situation because of
his/her membership or non-membership in the trade union, i.e., participation or non-participation in theactivity of the trade union.
d) Requirements that worker representatives be in place
Article 199 para (1) of LLR prescribes that the unions shall independently decide on the manner of theirrepresentation at the employer.
Unions that have members employed by a particular employer may appoint or elect one or more worker
representatives to represent them at that employer.

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Article 199 para (3) of LLR provides that the worker representative(s) shall be entitled to protect andpromote the rights and interests of union members at the employer.
The worker representatives may be established only if:• the employer enables the unions and their representatives timely and efficient to exercise the rights
of protection and promotion of the rights and interest of union members at the employer and accessto data important for exercising such right;• the union notifies the employer of the appointment of the worker representative(s);• the activity of the worker representative is not limited by employer’s regulation and if is compliedwith the law and collective agreement.
• the worker representative(s) is/are protected against dismissal during the whole period of his/her/their term of office, and at least two years after expiry of his/her/their term of office;7. Principle 7 – Compliance with the law
7.1 Items to be covered by your answer• Legal requirements to constitute a labor/employment relation• Laws and regulations on employment contracts (incl. necessity for written employment contracts,
and if is not what are the grounds to consider the existence of a verbal employment agreement)• Required content for written employment contracts• Deadline for conclusion of the contract (e.g. on the date of hire or within 30 days of hire)• Requirements for various types of contracts (indefinite term, definite term, temporary workers,
probationary workers)• Requirements for termination of employment (termination with or without cause, wrongfuldismissal, notice periods required to end employment)• Options for farmers to obtain legal assistance about their obligations (e.g. government department,
local labor office, farmers association etc.)• Specific requirements for leaf growing contracts (government imposed templates, government
approval of contract, freedom to choose the terms of the contract)
7.2 Applicable laws
• LLR;• Law on Tobacco and Tobacco Products (Закон за тутун и тутунски производи) (“Official Gazetteof the Republic of Macedonia” no. 24/2006, 88/2008, 31/2010, 36/2011, 53/2011, 93/2013,99/2013, 164/2013, 151/2014, 193/2015, 213/2015 and 39/2016) – hereinafter: the “LTTP”.

101External Assessment• Law on Conducting Agricultural Activity (Закон за вршење земјоделска дејност)(“Official
Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia” no. 11/2002; 89/2008; 116/2010; 53/2011 and 39/2016)• Law on Civil Obligations (Закон за облигационите односи) (“Official Gazette of the Republicof Macedonia” no.18/2001, 78/2001, 4/2002, 59/2002, 5/2003, 84/2008, 81/2009, 161/2009,
123/2013);
7.3 Your answera) Legal requirements to constitute an employment relationship:
LLR in Article 5 para (1) item 1) defines “employment relationship” as any contractual relationship between
the employee and the employer where the employee takes part in the employer’s organized working
process voluntarily, for salary and other remunerations, personally and continuously carries out the work
per the instructions and under the supervision of the employer.
Under Article 13 para (1) of LLR, the employment relationship between the employee and employer shallbe established by signing an employment contract.
Article 15 of LLR expressly provides that the employment contract shall be concluded in a written formand shall be kept in the business premises of the headquarters of the employer. Copy of the concluded
employment contract shall be handed over to the employee on the day of signing the employment contract.
Where a contractual relationship has been established that meets the criteria described in the statutory
definition for “employment relationship”, but no written contract has been signed between the contracting
parties, the employer becomes liable for a misdemeanor under LLR punishable with a fine in amount of EUR
7,000 (in MKD equivalent) for the legal entity – employer, and 30% of such fine for the responsible personin the legal entity – employer, or a fine in amount from EUR 700 to EUR 1,050 (in MKD equivalent) for theindividual – employer.
Employment contract vs. contract for work. Important to note is that, under Macedonian law, workers could
be hired not only based on employment contract, but also on so called “contract for work”. This institute isregulated by both LLR as labor law institute, and Law on Civil Obligations, as a civil law institute. However,since LLR allows entering into contract for work only for services which are outside the scope of corebusiness of the employer, this definition would not be applicable to situations where farmer engages ahired worker for tobacco growing activities. On the other hand, definition of this institute in the Law on
Civil Obligations does not prevent the farmer and hired worker, to enter into an oral, civil agreement, toregulate terms and conditions of services in tobacco farming which will be provided for an agreed fee. In
this case, contract for work should not be regarded as labor law contract but as a civil law contract.
The definition of the contract for work is provided in Law on Civil Obligations Article 619 and reads:“Under a contract for work, the contractor undertakes to carry out certain work, such as make or repair athing, physical or intellectual work etc., in exchange for a price that the ordering party undertakes to pay.”
Non-applicability of labor law institutes to contract of work. All terms and conditions governing contract
for work need to be agreed between the parties, as there are no subsidiary norms which would apply tothis civil law arrangement. This means that although in practice, maximum work hours per day and week
and minimum wage from labor law corpus of regulation are used as a reference when negotiating the termsof contract for work, they are not obligatory. In other words, for relationship based on contract for work,
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there are no legal provisions regulation maximum work hours, minimum wage, overtime allowance, annual
leave, maternity leave, etc, as these institutes from labor law, formally do not apply to provision of services
under contract of work, as a civil contract.
Four types of farmers under Macedonian legislation. According to Law on Conducting Agricultural Activity,
Articles 7 and 8, agricultural activity can be conducted by four types of farmers: individual farmer, sole
proprietor, legal entity and agricultural cooperative.
Article 7:1) An agricultural activity can be conducted by an individual whose operations do not exceed theagricultural activity of small scale and who is registered in the registry of individual farmers(hereinafter: “individual farmer”).
2) Agricultural activity can also be conducted by an individual in the capacity of a sole proprietor
and a legal entity: a trade company set up as a joint-stock company or a limited liability company(hereinafter: “merchant”), registered in the trade registry.
3) Agricultural activity can be conducted by an agricultural cooperative registered in the relevant
registry.
Article 8:1) An agricultural activity of a small scale shall denote, within the meaning of this law, the conductingof an agricultural activity personally by the farmer and at most ten employees including family
members as well as at most five seasonal workers.
2) The individual farmer whose operations exceed that of an agricultural activity of a small scale isrequired to register as a merchant.
Registration of farmers. Registration of sole proprietor, legal entity and agricultural cooperatives in traderegistries, should not be confused with registration of each types of farmers organization (including
individual farmer) in special registers of agricultural households kept by the Ministry of agriculture,
forestry and water management.
Determining which agreements exist in practice. There are no direct and explicit provisions which would
regulate how each of these forms of farmers should hire workers for conducting tobacco farming. However,by interpreting the provisions and spirit of the laws, it could be concluded that individual farmer could
freely choose to hire workers based on employment agreement or contract for work, while sole proprietor
and legal entities, would probably be expected to enter into employment contracts with the workers theyhire.
In order to assess which of the two types of contracts are actually used in practice between the farmers andworkers, the following should be assessed:• Whether the written contract exists• How was hiring conducted – bilaterally or through employment intermediation service• What was the actual intention of the parties
While existence of written contract would clear any dilemma as based on the title and content it could
be clearly determined what type of contract it actually is, given that employment agreement must be in103

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written form, non-existence of contract would strongly suggest that the parties did not want to enter
into the employment agreement, but rather wanted to regulate their relationship through an oral civil
arrangement.
According to LLR (Article 22), all need for workforce needs is to be met by public announcement of vacancies
or through employment intermediation agency. If hiring workers was conducted by bilateral negotiations
between the farmers and the hired workers, without involvement of employment intermediation agency, italso implies that the parties intended to enter into contract of work.
When assessing which type of contract parties have actually entered, one must try to understand what was
their will and understanding of the outcome of their mutual consensus – whether their intention was toestablish a more organized relationship from which worker is entitled to salary and other remunerations,or merely a relationship of providing services consisting of physical work for which certain fixed amountof compensation would be paid.
To the best of our knowledge, there have been no challenges by the authorities, primarily labour inspection
or agricultural inspection, of the practice that farmers hire workers based on oral contracts.
b) Required content for written employment contracts:
Under Article 28 of LLR, the written employment contract must contain the following: (i) data for thecontractual parties, their residence or registered office; (ii) date of entering into employment; (iii) working
position with short description of the work; (iv) provision for the obligation of the employer to inform theemployee for the risky working positions and necessary qualifications, knowledge or medical examination;(v) place of work; (vi) duration of the employment; (vii) provision stating whether the employment is fixedterm or of an indefinite duration; (viii) provision for the daily and the weekly working time and scheduling of
the working hours; (ix) provision for the amount of the basic salary; (x) provision for the other entitlements
to which the employee is entitled in accordance with law and collective agreement; and (xi) provision forannual leave, i.e. the manner of scheduling of the annual leave and stating the general acts of the employer
in which are determined the working conditions.
The employment contract may contain other rights and obligations determined by law and collective
agreement.
c) Deadline for conclusion of the employment contract:
Article 13 of LLR regulates in detail the procedure to be followed by the employer regarding theestablishment of an employment relationship, as follows:
1) The labor relation between the employee and employer shall be established by signing an
employment contract.
2) The rights, obligations and responsibilities arising from carrying out the work under theemployment and the inclusion in the mandatory social insurance based on the employment,
agreed upon in the employment contract, shall begin to be exercised as of the day the employee
begins working.
3) The employer shall be obliged to file a registration/deregistration form (electronic M1/M2 form
printed out from the system of the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia) tothe mandatory social insurance (pension and disability insurance, health insurance and insurance
against unemployment) for the employee, in accordance with the special regulations, to the104External Assessment

Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia, by electronic means or directly in
the Agency, by attaching the PPR form, the authorization for the authorized person along witha list of persons to be registered/deregistered, where the name, surname and PIN are included,
as well as the number of the employment contract and the date of conclusion of the employment
contract, one day before the employee begins to work, and one hour before the employee begins
to work in case of urgent and unpostponable matters. Certified copy of the registration form ora copy from a computer entry from the Agency’s information system shall be handed over to theemployee within three days, as of the day of beginning of the employment.
4) The Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia, the Pension and Disability
Insurance Fund of Macedonia and the Health Insurance Fund of the Republic of Macedonia shallbe obliged to maintain and permanently keep the records of the registration and deregistration in
the social insurance, and at request of the person, to provide data on the status and the changes
related to the social insurance of the employee.
5) The Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia, the Pension and Disability
Insurance Fund of Macedonia and the Health Insurance Fund of the Republic of Macedonia shallexchange data related to the social insurance.
6) If the date of beginning of the work is not determined in the employment contract, the day
following the day of signing the employment contract shall be considered the date of beginning of
the work, and the employee shall be registered in the Employment Service Agency of the Republicof Macedonia on the day of signing the employment contract.
7) The employee cannot begin work prior to the conclusion of the employment contract and prior
to the registration in the mandatory social insurance by the employer.
8) The rights, obligations and responsibilities arising from carrying out work under employment andinclusion in the mandatory social insurance based on the employment shall start to be exercised
as of the day of beginning of the work even if the employee does not begin to work on that day
due to justified reasons.
9) In terms of this Law, justified reasons due to which the employee does not begin to work on the
day determined under the employment contract shall be the cases when the employee is absent
for justified reasons defined by law, collective agreement and employment contract.
10) If the employee does not begin to work the first day determined as a day to start working inaccordance with para (6) of this Article without any justifiable reason, it shall be considered thathe/she is not employed.
11) If the employer, upon termination of the employment, within a period of eight days as of the dayof termination of the employment, does not deregister the employee from the mandatory social
insurance, the employee may be deregistered based on previously submitted minutes from thelabor inspector to the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia on request of
the employee.
d) Requirements for various types of employment contracts:
Note: All types of employment contracts listed below must be concluded in writing.
As elaborated above, contract for work, as type of agreement for engaging workforce, can be oral, i.e. does
not need to be in writing.

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1. Fixed-term employment contract
A fixed-term employment contract may be concluded for a period of up to five years for carrying out thesame activities, with or without interruption.
A fixed-term employment contract concluded for a substitute for a temporarily absent employee may beconcluded till the return of such absent employee.
It shall be deemed that a fixed-term employment contract has been transformed into an employment
contract of an indefinite duration if the employee continues to work after the expiry of the period of five
years, under the conditions and in the manner defined by law.
By exception, a fixed-term employment contract shall be deemed to be transformed into an employment
contract of an indefinite duration even prior to the expiration of the five-year period if the employee works
for more than two years at the position which has become vacant on pension grounds or other grounds andfor which funds are provided, provided that the employer determines that there is a permanent need forthe employee, under the conditions and in the manner determined by law.
2. Fixed-term employment contract for seasonal work
This type of contract is concluded for performance of seasonal work, i.e. work which due to the climate or
natural conditions is not carried out during the whole year, but in particular periods – seasons. Seasonal
work cannot last more than eight months in a period of 12 consecutive months.
A fixed-term employment contract for seasonal work cannot be transformed into an employment contractof an indefinite duration by the employee continuing to work after the term of the contract.
3. Employment contract with a probationary work period
At the time of conclusion of the employment contract, the employee and the employer may agree on
probationary work. The employment contract with a probationary work period determines all the rights
and obligations arising from employment, the amount of the salary and the duration of the probationarywork.
The probationary work may not last more than 6 months. However, the probationary work may be extended
in case of justifiable absence from work (illness and the like).
By exception, probationary work for seasonal work may last three working days.
4. Part-time employment contract
An employment contract may also be concluded for working hours that are shorter than the full-timeworking hours (part-time working hours).
The employee who has concluded a part-time employment contract shall have the same contractual andother rights and obligations arising from employment as the full-time employee, and shall exercise theserights and obligations proportionally to the time for which he has concluded the employment contract,
except for those that are otherwise defined by law.
The employee shall be entitled to annual leave with minimum duration of ten working days.

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The employer must not order the part-time employee to work longer than the agreed working hours, except
in the cases referred to the additional working in events of natural or other type of accidents.
The employer shall be obliged, in the part-time employment contract, to determine the beginning and theend of the part-time daily working hours of the employee and to keep separate records of the part-time
employees, and the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of Macedonia shall inform the State Labor
Inspectorate about the concluded part-time contracts once a month.
Furthermore, the employee may conclude an employment contract for a part-time work with several
employers and thus to achieve the working hours for full-time work defined by LLR.
The employee shall be obliged to agree with the employers upon the working hours, the manner of using
the annual leave and the other absences from work. Such obligations of the employer and the employee
shall be an integral part of the employment contract for part-time work.

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Appendix IV – Communication materials
1. ALP Leaflet

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2. Oriental Tobacco production manual109External Assessment

3. Farmers Contract110

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Appendix V – Prompt Action Reporting and Verification forms

1. Prompt Action Reporting Software

2. Digital Monitoring form

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Appendix VI – Glossary
ALP Code Principle

Short statements that set expectations of how the farmer should
manage labor on his/her farm in seven focus areas

ALP Code

PMI’s Agricultural Labor Practices Code

ALP Program

Agricultural Labor Practices Program

ALP

Agricultural Labor Practices

CPA

Crop Protection Agents

CU

Control Union

GAP

Good Agricultural Practices

GTS

Green Tobacco Sickness

Hired worker

Agricultural contractor

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

Leaf tobacco supplierCompany that has a contract with PMI to supply tobacco but is not a
farmerMCIC

Macedonia Center for International Cooperation

MKD

Macedonian Denar, Macedonian legal currency

Measurable Standard

A Measurable Standard defines a good labor practice on a tobacco farmand helps determining to what extent the labor conditions and practices
on a tobacco farm are in line with the ALP Code Principles

Migrant labor

Labor coming from outside the farm’s immediate geographic areaNGO

Non-Governmental Organization

PAV

Prompt Action Verification Report

Piece rate

Payment at a fixed rate per unit of production/work

PMI

Philip Morris International, Inc. or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries

PPE

Personal Protection Equipment

Prompt Action

A situation in which workers’ physical or mental well-being might be atrisk, where children or a vulnerable group – pregnant women, the elderly are in danger, or where workers might not be free to leave their job

ULT

Universal Leaf Tobacco

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