7/12/2015
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), on Monday, 7th of December 2015, has organized the conference on "Job Security in Civil Society Organizations: Implementation of Labour Legislation". The aim of this event was to launch the preliminary findings of the research paper focused on the treatment of civil society organizations in the framework of labor legislation and employment programs. Special attention was also to the results of the survey conducted with representatives of civil society organizations aiming to analyse the treatment in the labor legislation and employment programs in Kosovo.
This report aims to present the key findings on job security in the civil society sector in Kosovo. Law on Labour and development of civil society sector in Kosovo have been listed as priority by the EU Commission in Kosovo. The latest country report on Kosovo 2015 shows that there is a serious challenge in implementing the current legal framework tackling the labour rights in Kosovo. In spite of lack of implementation the law should also be implemented properly, and the mechanism to implement and oversee the implementation of this law should be increased. Moreover, one of the key recommendations in relation to the civil society development was “Public funding for civil society organisations has to be provided in a transparent way using clearly defined criteria”.
The correlation between the Law on Labour and the civil society development is of crucial importance as the law does regulate the public and private sector; one raises the question in which one of these falls the civil society sector? It is indeed known that this sector in Kosovo has been developed by the international community, and has been mainly promoted by international donors. Hence, this sector has been mainly regulated by the rules set up by the donors instead of the legal framework in Kosovo.
The paper is divided in two parts; the first part covering the assessment of the legal framework, with particular focus on Law on Labour and as it relates to the CSOs. The second part of this paper analyses the challenges in the implementation process of the legal framework. Furthermore, the paper takes a comparative turn, and provides a comparative analysis between the case of Kosovo and that of Slovakia, with particular focus on the CSOs treatment within their respective Laws on Labour and regulations on Maternity Leave. The second part provides challenges faced by CSOs in Kosovo by offering alternatives for getting out of this situation.
Here are the recommendations that derived from the research paper:
• Due to the fact that the number of international donors has decreased in the last years, the CSOs should begin seeking to be funded through public funds. The Kosovar CSOs should be mobilized and ask to be covered by public funds, which is a central goal of the Government Strategy for Cooperation with Civil Society. The CSOs should request to hold meetings with the council of this strategy through the CIVIKOS platform in order to prepare for maternity leave situation more rapidly.
• Funding through donations of the Kosovo citizens following the case of Slovakia in which the citizens can decide to donate to the CSOs when paying for the taxes and contributions.
• The CSOs to be treated specially within the Law on Labour, due to its unique status, there should be a middle category between the public and private sector. This will facilitate the implementation of the Law on Labour in the sector and will still keep the sector attractive for those who in a foreseeable amount of time are on paid leave.
• The CSOs to be more demanding in budget planning for inactive persons within the organizational, no matter how great the competition for grants is, they should ask for funds to cover maternity leave in order to fully comply with the legal framework in Kosovo.
This project is being implemented with the support of the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) within the Balkan Network for the Development of Civil Society (BCSDN).
