Minister Says Gov't Will Propose that Most Sundays be Non-Working Days
ZAGREB, September 21, 2020 - Labour, Pension System, Family Affairs and Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Monday that government officials would propose at a meeting to be held with trade unions later in the day that most Sundays be non-working Sundays while some would be working days.
The meeting to be held with trade unions is aimed at determining unions' expectations, the minister said.
"Our general view is that Sunday should be a non-working day but aside from that worldview... parameter, we must also take account of economic parameters and be aware of the situation we are in and try to make a compromise," Aladrovic said after the signing of an agreement on the establishment of a national council for pensioners and elderly persons.
The minister noted that if the government and unions managed to bring their views closer, he expected "a reasonable solution to be reached by the end of the year."
He said it was possible to find a solution also in the context of previous Constitutional Court rulings which abolished bans on Sunday trading.
Asked about doctors and nurses who have not been paid for overtime work, he said that the matter was not within his remit and therefore he could not comment on it but that "considering the government's latest decisions, there should be no problems with payment".
Asked about the problem of Brodotrogir dock workers who have not received their wages for two months, he said that the matter was being dealt with by the Economy Ministry and that he expected a more concrete solution to be found.
"There is the Agency for the Settlement of Workers' Claims, and we will turn to it if necessary," he said.
He described as tendentious President Zoran Milanovic's statement that it was not clear to him why JANAF oil pipeline operator CEO Dragan Kovacevic and businessman Kreso Petek had not been arrested at the moment when Petek gave a HRK 1.96 million bribe to Kovacevic, when police had recordings of the event.
"That's probably his own position. We believe in state institutions and believe they know what they are doing and that what they did made sense," Aladrovic said.
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Daily Says 5,000 To Be Laid Off Because Of Non-Working Sundays
ZAGREB, May 25, 2020 - Five thousand people will be laid off because of non-working Sundays, Jutarnji List daily said on Monday, adding that the figure was confirmed even by those advocating the ban
Although Economy Minister Darko Horvat is saying he has reached "a high consensus phase" on a Sunday work ban with the government's social partners, this is not the case with employers, the paper said.
Employers are divided on the matter, as conceded by Martin Evacic, president of the Croatian Employers Association's retail division, "but there are a few more of those who are for regulating the matter, based on the revenue they make and the number of workers they employ, than retailers who are against it."
No one has seen yet a bill of amendments with 14 working Sundays a year nor any study on which the minister should base his decision.
His bill might soon become public because Jutarnji List learned from the COVID-19 crisis management team, the next Sunday will probably be the last non-working Sunday imposed because of epidemiological restrictions, after which, as Horvat has announced, the bill will be put to public consultation.
Evacic says "everyone has their own story" concerning Sunday work, depending on the type, size, and location of their shop as well as the number of workers per square meter. Horvat's decision will affect shopping malls more than grocery stores.
Evacic says he is for regulating Sunday work because of the business results of his NTL and not his world view. He also cites "strong resistance to Sunday work among unions and workers themselves."
Jutarnji List said the Konzum, Tommy, KTC, NTL, Ultra and Lonia retail chains were for regulating Sunday work, and that Spar, Lidl, Kaufland, and Plodine were against.
