MANDATORY APPLICATION OF INDUSTRY COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS IN FB&H TO ALL EMPLOYERS WAS INTRODUCED. NECESSARY HARMONIZATION OF LOCAL COMPANIES' LABOR RULEBOOKS AND EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS WITH INDUSTRY COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS

Based on Article 143 of the Labor Law, the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy made decisions on extending the application of certain industry collective agreements to all employers in the FB&H engaged in certain activities (Decisions on the extension of application published in the "Official Gazette of the Federation of B&H" no: 53/22 of 06/07/2022 and no. 57/22 of 20/7/2022 – the „Decision on Extension“).

The mandatory application of the following industry collective agreements for the territory of the FB&H was introduced:

• Collective agreement on the rights and obligations of employers and employees in the sector of trade in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Collective agreement for the companies in the wood and paper industry for the teritorry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Collective agreement on the rights and obligations of employers and employees in the field of road transport for the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Collective agreement on the rights and obligations of employers and employees for the construction industry in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Collective agreement for the industry of metal production and processing in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The mandatory application of these collective agreements has been extended to all employers in the FB&H who are engaged in the specified branches of activity, regardless of whether they are signatories to these collective agreements or not.

It is important to emphasize that all employers in FB&H with registered some of the above-mentioned business activities have the obligation to harmonize their internal labor rulebooks and employment contracts of its employees with the applicable collective agreement, and thus begin to apply the provisions of collective agreements within 60, 90, or 120 days from the date of adoption of the Decision on Extension (depending on which Collective Agreement applies to them).