Expanding into
Kosovo

Employment contracts must be in writing and should be in one of Kosovo’s official languages: Albanian or Serbian. The contract must be signed and dated by both the employer and the employee and must state:The identities of the employer and the employeeThe employee’s job title and job descriptionThe workplaceThe date employment will commenceThe term of the contract if it is not indefiniteProbation periodSalary details and information about any other allowances or incomeWorking hoursProvisions for vacationProvisions for terminating the employment relationshipAny other informationEmployment contracts may be for an indefinite period, a fixed-term or for the completion of specific tasks. A fixed-term must be specified in the contract and may not be longer than 10 years. A contract for specific tasks may not have a term longer than 120 days in a year.

The workweek in Kosovo is capped at 40 hours and is normally five days. People under the age of 18 may not work more than 30 hours per week and may only work in jobs that are not dangerous to either their health or their morals, and which do not interfere with the employee attending school.Overtime is permitted only when there is an urgent need for the employees to work beyond normal hours and is capped at eight hours per week. An employee who works a shift beyond their usual hours is paid 120% of their standard rate for the extra hours. The rate for hours beyond 40 hours per week and for night work is 130% of the employee’s standard hourly rate. Employees receive 150% of their standard rate for work on weekends and national holidays.

Employees in Kosovo receive 20 days of paid sick leave per year at full salary, paid by the employer. The employee may take additional, unpaid sick leave if the employer agrees. The employee must notify the employer of their intent to take sick leave as soon as possible, and the employer may require a medical certificate if the employee misses more than three days of work.

Female employees are entitled to up to 12 months of maternity leave. During the maternity leave, her employer pays 70% of her salary for the first six months. The remaining six months of maternity leave are optional. During the seventh, eighth and ninth months, if the mother takes them, she receives a payment from the government equaling 50% of the average salary in Kosovo. The final three months of maternity leave, if the mother chooses to take them, are unpaid. The mother may also transfer her right to maternity leave after the first six months to the father.A father is entitled to three days of paid leave for the birth or adoption of his child and two weeks of unpaid leave, which he is entitled to take at any time before the child turns three years old.If a child requires special care, one parent may work part-time after the end of maternity leave until the child is two years old in order to provide the additional care the child needs.

Employees are entitled to a monthly minimum wage. The wage differs depending on if workers are under or above 35 years of age. Employees can earn bonuses in Kosovo. They are sometimes paid on a yearly basis.

Employees receive four weeks of paid leave annually and accumulate one additional day for every five years of service with one employer. The employer schedules leave but is required to take the employees’ preferences into account. The employee requests leave a minimum of 15 days in advance and the employer provides a decision no later than five days before the first day of the requested leave.

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Although medical care is available in Kosovo, the country is still in the process of putting a modern health care system in place. Some hospitals in the majority Serbian areas of the country are funded by the government of Serbia, and there are private providers and hospitals. Private health insurance is available, but very few residents of Kosovo have it.

An employee may terminate a fixed-term contract with 15 days of written notice and an indefinite contract with 30 days of written notice. In most circumstances, an employer may terminate a contract only when the termination is justified for economic, technical or organizational reasons, or if the employee is no longer able to perform their job and there is no practical way to transfer the employee to another job or retrain them for a different job. The termination must be in writing and state the reason the employee is being terminated.An employer may terminate a fixed-term contract within 30 days of written notice, and must also provide 30 days of written notice of intent not to renew a fixed-term contract. For indefinite contracts, the notice the employer must provide depends on the length of the employee’s service that range from 30 days to 60 days.An employee may terminate an employment contract with no notice if the employer seriously breaches a contractual obligation. An employer must observe the required notice period even in cases of poor performance or breach of obligations.Severance is only required in the case of collective dismissals in which a minimum of 20 employees, constituting 10% or more of all employees, are being terminated in more than six months. In this situation, the required severance pay ranges between one and seven months of salary depending on length of service.