In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 240 thousand unemployed people are registered, while at the same time employers warn of a shortage of labor. The delegates of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will soon have before them amendments to the Law on the Employment of Foreigners, after the proposal has already been adopted in the House of Representatives.

The aim of the amendments is to speed up procedures and facilitate the engagement of foreign workers in sectors where there is a shortage of domestic labor. The greatest shortage of workers is recorded in construction, hospitality and tourism. Over the past year, more than two and a half thousand work permits were issued for foreign workers.

Foreign workers are an alternative when the domestic market fails, and it has been difficult to function for years. Construction, tourism, hospitality are sectors with a shortage of labor. Employers claim that the bureaucracy for engaging foreign workers is slow, complicated and expensive. The process takes up to nine months, where it must be proven that there are no domestic workers and goes through a number of institutions.

The Director of the Employers’ Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mario Nenadić, pointed out that the existing system is too burdensome for employers.

“We believe that it is not the employers’ obligation to worry about these issues and that these matters should be taken over by the state, or rather the system. Employment mediation services must work better and more specifically,” said Nenadić.

Planned amendments to the law

The amendment to the Law introduces clearer deadlines for extending and issuing work permits for foreigners, so the employer will be obliged to submit them no earlier than 60 and no later than 30 days before the expiration of the valid permit, and the cantonal employment services must issue a decision within 30 days of submitting the request. One of the key innovations is the list of shortage occupations. This will enable easier hiring of workers in sectors where there is no domestic workforce.

Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy Adnan Delić (NiP) explained that the amendments to the Law introduce more precise deadlines and simpler procedures.

“Quotas and everything related to the number of foreign workers are at the state level, but the entity level of government processes employer requests in the context of work permits. We want to shorten the administration and processing of these requests. One of the novelties is the decision on shortage occupations,” said Delić.

The essential problem of the market

The list of shortage occupations is useful, but it does not solve the essence of the problem. Because the key law – the law on employment mediation and social security of the unemployed – which, among other things, regulates the records of unemployed persons – has not been adopted by the Federal Parliament. And without it, this solution for employers is only partial.

“It is obvious that it was necessary to pass the law on mediation, because we know that there are about 245,000 people on the unemployment records in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is not easy for employers to find labor. In addition, the process is burdened by labor migration trends in the region and throughout the world,” said Nenadić.

“It would be best to ask those who shot it down. This is about a fundamental reform of the labor market, separating active from inactive job seekers, which would significantly contribute to organizing the records,” Delić emphasized.

Changes to the law promise faster procedures – but without substantial reform of the labor market, the problem will only deepen and the economy will be under pressure from the vacuum between the departing domestic workforce and limited quotas on the state’s new import quota, which is the smallest in the region and has never been more necessary, Federalna writes.