Guide for Safe Work from Home Published on the Website of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs

The Occupational Safety and Health Directorate of the RS Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs (hereinafter: the “Directorate”), on January 18, 2021 published a guide for safe work from home (hereinafter: the “Guide”), in order to protect and make easier for employers and employees to work from home in the pandemic.

This Guide provides practical guidance related to the obligations and responsibilities of employees and employers who have enabled work from home to their employees, the conditions that workspace designated as a home workspace should meet.

According to the given guidelines of the Directorate, the employer must conclude an annex to the employment contract which will agree on the possibility of performing work from home for a certain period of time.

The Guide also provides guidelines such as: responsibilities and obligations of the employer and employees, conditions to be met by a workspace, employer’s care for the health of employees with a special emphasis on mental health, risk assessment and monitoring of safety and health at work, etc.

The Guide also provides practical guidance on employer’s care for the health of their employees, including mental health, which the employers are required to maintain when employees work from home including obligation to provide an interview with a professional if necessary, as well as risk assessment and monitoring of occupational safety and health, and reporting occupational injuries when working from home.

It should be taken into consideration that this Guide is not legally binding and only sets out basic guidelines and recommendations to employers and employees in order to fulfill legal obligations and protect occupational safety and health when working from home.

This Guide is available on the Ministry’s website
For more information regarding the interpretation and application of these guidelines, contact us at office@vuliclaw.com