Although workers in Serbia already work more hours than workers in European Union countries, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić says that people must work even more and increase productivity, while also accusing workers of abusing sick leave on a massive scale, which he claims is causing companies to leave the country.

During a recent address, Vučić practically accused workers in Kraljevo of taking sick leave too often, saying this was why factories were leaving the city.

“Some companies have left or have been leaving Kraljevo because your sick leave rate is 22 or 23 per cent. When the summer agricultural work begins, it rises to 30 per cent. When it is time to pick cherries, apricots, or apples, suddenly everyone is ill,” Vučić said.

Recently, Danas daily recently wrote about the possible closure of the Leoni plant in Kraljevo. One worker from the factory told us that part of the production was already being transferred to other cities and that the volume of work was gradually declining. Leoni, however, responded to Danas’ questions by claiming that the factory in Kraljevo had increased productivity since the beginning of the year and was continuing to operate according to plan.

What will happen to this Leoni plant remains uncertain, but suspicions about a closure are further fuelled by the company’s shutdown of its plant in Malošište last year.

It is also unclear whether the President was referring to this particular factory when he spoke about companies leaving Kraljevo, but when the pieces are put together, that appears to be the most likely explanation.

Although precise statistics on sick leave in Serbia are difficult to obtain, last year’s Draft Law on e-Sick Leave presented an estimate, based on data from the Republic Health Insurance Fund, that the number of reports of temporary incapacity for work in Serbia ranges between 110,000 and 150,000 individual cases annually. According to the same sources, the average duration of sick leave is between 11 and 13 days per individual case. This amounts to a total of between 1.4 and 1.7 million sick leave days per year.

Nevertheless, the President’s claims were not accompanied by evidence, so it is not entirely clear on what basis he reached these conclusions. However, his earlier statements that people in Serbia do not work enough and should work more rather than less are well known.

Vučić has strongly opposed reducing the number of working days or hours, as well as banning Sunday work, and this was also emphasised in one of the five points of his plan for a “new phase of Serbia”.

“We will have to work more, not less. I regret having to say this because I know how unpopular it is, but someone has to tell people the truth. For months there has been a dialogue about reducing working days and hours, about greater motivation if working hours are shortened, about travelling and living much more comfortably than today. That will not happen. We will work more. I will start with myself and show that it is possible, and I will demand the same from everyone else. Germany, as the engine of Europe, in order to withstand industrial and technological competition with China and America, will increase working hours and days. Serbia must not and cannot accept irresponsible ideas about shortening working hours,” the President said in his plan.

However, according to data from Eurostat, the average working week in the European Union in 2024 was 36 hours. By contrast, the same data showed that people in Serbia work, on average, five hours more than workers in EU countries, namely 41.3 hours per week.

Specifically, among EU countries, the highest number of working hours was recorded in Greece at 39.8 hours, which is still significantly below the Serbian average. On the other hand, Germany was one of the countries with the fewest working hours during the week, at around 34.

The president of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions, Ranka Savić, told Danas that President Vučić’s statements had for some time been provoking “anger and outrage”.

“That is also the case with this statement. It confirms that workers, human beings, and citizens are not the concern either of the President or of the Government of Serbia. We are all disposable goods, and nobody asks how we are, what working conditions are like, or whether there is stress at work. They especially do not ask what kind of employers they have brought here,” she said.

She asks whether the profits of foreign investors are more important than the citizens of Serbia.

“Was the economic policy you pursued actually the right one? It is easiest to shift all your failures, poor policies, and bad decisions onto citizens and employees and simply call them lazy. And all this without a single piece of evidence,” Savić said.

According to her, sick leave in Serbia is not widespread at all.

“According to Eurostat data, Serbia is near the bottom of the European ranking in terms of the frequency of sick leave and is fifth from the bottom. Only Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Poland rank lower than us. The highest rates of sick leave are in France, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany,” she explained.

This, she added, does not mean that Serbia is a healthy nation, but rather that Serbian workers go to work even when they are ill. “They fear losing their jobs and having their wages reduced. It would be good if our President knew these figures and praised Serbian workers instead, while directing sharp criticism primarily at the Health Minister because Serbia is a leading country in terms of cancer and cardiovascular disease rates,” Savić underlined.

She also noted that factories are not leaving Serbia because workers take sick leave.

“They are moving to other countries for the same profit they made here while subsidies lasted. The time comes when you can no longer buy success, but must rely on knowledge and expertise and pursue a long-term economic policy,” she said.

Such statements provoke revolt and anger, Savić said, especially among those suffering from serious illnesses. “They are perceived as bullying by those who possess the power to belittle people who are less powerful. In our President’s statements, there is no empathy, no feeling, and no genuine concern for employees’ position. There is only: it is not my fault, someone else is to blame,” she said.

She also underlined that the productivity the President speaks about is increased through good economic policy, greater investment in technology, and above all education, not by insisting that people work as long as possible. “According to Eurostat, Serbian workers already work the longest hours compared with EU countries. According to the Labour Law, Serbia has a five-day working week, but in practice, our workers work six days a week,” Savić pointed out.

In order to increase productivity, she argued, Serbia must change its economic policy.

“We need high-tech investments, greater investment in domestic industry, especially agriculture and the food industry. The destruction of the education system, which is key to the country’s development, must be stopped. Massive corruption, which is eating away at the substance of this society, must be halted. Until expertise, knowledge, and dedication to work become the only criteria for advancement and leadership – rather than party membership cards – neither this country nor the people living in it will be better off,” Savić concluded.

On the other hand, Veljko Mijušković from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade told Danas that abuses of sick leave are a real problem and that the state has in recent years been pointing more openly to this challenge.

“Of course, the overwhelming majority of people use sick leave legitimately, but when in some areas the absence rate reaches 20 or 30 per cent during seasonal periods, this certainly sends a bad message to investors and seriously complicates production organisation. It is particularly problematic when companies operate under systems of strict deadlines and international supply chains,” he said.

Still, Mijušković added that it is unrealistic to say factories are leaving solely because of sick leave. “Investors look at a much broader picture – energy costs, infrastructure, labour availability, tax conditions, and the stability of the business environment. However, labour discipline and workforce reliability are important competitiveness factors, and the state clearly wants to send a message that such phenomena must be monitored more seriously,” he believes.

When it comes to productivity, he stressed that Serbia must, in the long term, invest more in technology, automation, and education.

“But at the same time, no economy can progress without a high level of work discipline and responsibility. So the issue is not simply ‘more work’, but more efficient work, a better attitude towards obligations, and greater organisation,” Mijušković explained. He also said it is true that employees in Serbia work a large number of hours annually compared with some EU countries, but that differences in technological development and capital productivity must also be taken into account.

“Developed countries have far more modern equipment, automated processes, and higher added value products. Therefore, Serbia must simultaneously modernise its economy while also strengthening work habits and productivity,” he added.

Mijušković does not believe that insisting on greater productivity automatically means a crisis in the previous development model, but rather a transition into a new phase. “In recent years Serbia has succeeded in attracting a large number of investments precisely because of the combination of stability, competitive costs, and an available workforce. The goal now is to upgrade that model with a higher level of knowledge, technological development, and more sophisticated production,” he pointed out.

In his view, the state is clearly trying to send the message that Serbia must remain a reliable and predictable market for investors. “In conditions of global competition for capital, every country must pay attention not only to subsidies and infrastructure, but also to overall business culture and labour market efficiency,” Mijušković stressed.

At the same time, he added, it is important to emphasise that productivity cannot be increased solely by putting pressure on employees. “In the long term, sustainable growth comes from better technologies, higher-quality management, greater investment, and better organisation of work. The world’s most successful economies are not necessarily those in which people work the longest hours, but those in which they work most efficiently,” Mijušković concluded.

(Danas, 12.05.2026)

https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/radnici-bolovanje-radni-uslovi-produktivnost-fabrike/