Since the declaration of the pandemic in the Republic of Serbia due to the danger of spreading the infectious disease COVID-19, there are numerous questions and doubts in practice regarding the organization of work from home, and one of the questions is how the employer can organize safety and health at work when the employee is not located on the employer’s premises. When working outside the employer’s premises, the employer does not have the possibility to directly supervise the application of measures in order to enable a safe and healthy working environment.
On January 18, 2021, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans’ Affairs and Social Affairs published the Guide to Safe and Healthy Work from Home. The aim of the Guide is to make it easier for employers and employees to work in the new circumstances caused by the pandemic.
Work from home is becoming or has already become a common way of doing business where it is possible to organize it taking into account the activity of the employer. Ad hoc was introduced, during the state of emergency, but also after the state of emergency, working from home remained our reality. Given that this is now a permanent situation, it is necessary for employers to understand that working from home is a special institute established by the Labour Law and a complex type of work that requires the implementation of various measures.
The Guide points out that it is necessary for the employer to manage safety and health at work in the same way in all cases when employees perform tasks that are in the interest of the employer. Following that the employer is obliged to implement all measures and to ensure a safe and healthy work environment when the employee performs work from home, as well as at the employer’s premises, regardless of the fact that the Law on Safety and Health at Work does not prescribe provisions for working from home. Also, from the definition of injury at work and occupational disease (Law on Health Insurance and Law on Pension and Disability Insurance) it follows that an injury that occurred at home, and when performing work that is in the interest of the employer, will be considered an injury at work. However, if this really happens, the question remains as to how the employer reports the injury, especially bearing in mind that the Rulebook on the content and manner of issuing the form of a report on an injury at work and an occupational disease does not prescribe a code when the workplace of an employee is at home.
The Guide provides guidelines such as: responsibilities and obligations of the employer and employees, conditions that the work space should meet, employer’s care for the health of employees with special emphasis on mental health, risk assessment and monitoring of safety and health at work, etc.
In order to regulate the employment status of employees who work from home, the employer must conclude an annex to the employment agreement which will agree on the possibility of performing work from home for a certain period of time. It is necessary to define all obligatory elements from Article 42 of the Labour Law by the annex to the employment agreement. Analysing the guidelines of the competent Ministry, it would be good for the annex to regulate the rights and obligations of the employee in relation to safety and health at work, such as e.g. obligation of the employee to apply measures for safe and healthy work, to inform the employer without delay in case of observed deficiencies of work equipment, to report all dangers and problems in a timely manner, to perform self-assessment of risks at work from home to determine whether the workplace is safe and hello for work etc.
An integral part of the Guide is the checklist for work from home, which was taken from and modified by the European Agency for Safety & Health at Work, along with a document named an overview of work activities. The checklist contains various questions related to:
- Work environment and work equipment
- Screens and monitors
- Ergonomics of software and hardware
- Work organization
- Psycho – social issues
- Workplace safety and health management issues
- Providing information and training
The employer should provide appropriate guidelines and instructions to employees regarding safety and health at work, including regular training, organize regular meetings via electronic communication, etc.
The guideline of the Safety and Health at Work Directorate points out that this type of work can be covered by the act on risk assessment regardless of the fact that work from home is not under the control of the employer. During the risk assessment evaluation, it was pointed out that special attention should be paid to four segments:
- Work environment
- Equipment for working with the screen
- Fire risk
- Mental health of employees
Taken all the above into consideration, it can be concluded that the employer has the obligation to conclude an annex to the employment agreement to perform work from home (part of the agreed working hours or permanently). It has to specify the general act or annex to the employment agreement rights and obligations related to safety and occupational health, to introduce checklists and conduct self-assessment of risk in order to facilitate the recognition and identification of risks by working from home. Also, it is recommended to amend the act on risk assessment. In case you have any questions or need additional information, you can contact Ana Popovic, Partner and Head of Labour Law department in the office Zivkovic Samardzic by email ana.popovic@zslaw.rs, Danka Drasko by email danka.drasko@zslaw.rs, Jovana Jovanovic by email jovana.jovanovic@zslaw.rs, the other lawyers in Labour Law department in the law office Zivkovic Samardzic, or any of your regular contacts at the office.
Vodič za bezbedan i zdrav rad od kuće
Od proglašenja epidemije u Republici Srbiji zbog opasnosti širenja zarazne bolesti COVID-19 javljaju se brojna pitanja i nedoumice u praksi u vezi sa organizovanjem rada od kuće, a jedno od pitanja je i na koji način poslodavac može da organizuje bezbednost i zdravlje na radu ako se zaposleni ne nalazi u prostorijama poslodavca. Prilikom rada van prostorija poslodavca, poslodavac nema mogućnost da vrši neposredni nadzor na primenom mera u cilju omogućavanja bezbedne i zdrave radne sredine.
Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja je 18.01.2021.godine objavilo Vodič za bezbedan i zdrav rad od kuće. Cilj Vodiča je da poslodavcima i zaposlenima bude olakšan rad u novim okolnostima koji su izazvani pandemijom.
Rad od kuće postaje ili je već postao uobičajeni način obavljanja poslova tamo gde je moguće organizovati uzimajući u obzir delatnost poslodavca. Uveden je ad hoc, tokom trajanja vanrednog stanja, ali i nakon vanrednog stanja, rad od kuće je ostao naša realnost. S obzirom na to da je sada već u pitanju trajno stanje, neophodno je da poslodavci shvate da je rad od kuće poseban institut utvrđen Zakonom o radu i složena vrsta rada za koju se zahteva sprovođenje raznih mera.
U Vodiču je istaknuto da je potrebno da poslodavac upravlja bezbednošću i zdravljem na radu na isti način u svim slučajevima kada zaposleni obavljaju poslove koji su u interesu poslodavca. Iz navedenog proizlazi da je poslodavac dužan da sprovede sve mere i da omogući bezbednu i zdravu radnu okolinu i kada zaposleni obavlja poslove od kuće, kao i u prostorijama poslodavca, bez obzira što Zakonom o bezbednosti i zdravlju na radu nisu propisane odredbe koje se odnose na rad od kuće. Takođe, iz definicije povrede na radu i profesionalnog oboljenja (Zakon o zdravstvenom osiguranju i Zakon o penzijskom i invalidskom osiguranju) proizlazi da će se i povreda koja je nastala kod kuće, a prilikom obavljanja poslova koji su u interesu poslodavca smatrati povredom na radom. Međutim, ukoliko do toga zaista i dođe, postavlja se i dalje pitanje na koji način poslodavac prijavljuje tu povredu, a pogotovo imajući u vidu da Pravilnikom o sadržaju i načinu izdavanja obrasca izveštaja o povredi na radu i profesionalnom oboljenju nije propisana šifra za radno mesto rad od kuće.
Vodić pruža smernice kao što su: odgovornosti i obaveze poslodavca i zaposlenih, uslovi koje radni prostor treba da ispunjava, briga poslodavca o zdravlju zaposlenih sa posebnim akcentom na mentalno zdravlje, procena rizika i praćenje bezbednosti i zdravlja na radu i sl.
Kako bi se regulisao radno pravni status zaposlenih koji obavljaju rad od kuće, poslodavac mora da zaključi aneks ugovora o radu kojim će se ugovoriti mogućnost obavljanja rada od kuće za određeni vremenski period. Aneksom ugovora o radu je potrebno definisati sve obavezne elemente iz člana 42 Zakona o radu. Analizirajući smernice nadležnog Ministarstva, bilo bi dobro da aneksom budu regulisana i prava i obaveze zaposlenog u vezi sa bezbednošću i zdravlja na radu, kao što je npr. obaveza zaposlenog da primenjuje mere za bezbedan i zdrav rad, da u slučaju uočenih nedostataka opreme za rad bez odlaganja obavesti poslodavca, da blagovremeno prijavi sve opasnosti i probleme, da vrši samoprocenu rizika na radu od kuće kako bi utvrdili da li je radno mesto bezbedno i zdravo za rad itd.
Sastavni deo Vodiča je i kontrolna lista za rad od kuće koja je preuzeta i modifikovana od strane Evropske agencije za bezbednost i zdravlje na radu, kao i dokument po nazivom pregled radnih aktivnosti.
Kontrolna lista sadrži niz pitanja koja se odnose na:
- Radnu okolinu i opremu za rad
- Ekrane i monitore
- Ergonomija softvera i hardvera
- Organizaciju rada
- Psiho – socijalna pitanja
- Pitanja upravljanja bezbednošću i zdravljem na radu
- Informisanje i obuku
Poslodavac je taj koji treba da pruži odgovarajuće smernice i uputstva zaposlenima za bezbednost i zdravlje na radu, da obezbedi redovnu obuku, organizuje redovne sastanke putem sredstava elektoronske komunikacije i sl.
Smernica Uprave za bezbednost i zdravlje na radu je da bez obzira što rad od kuće nije pod kontrolom poslodavca, ovakva vrsta rada može biti obuhvaćena aktom o proceni rizika. Prilikom procene rizika istaknuto je da posebnu pažnju treba obratiti na četiri segmenta:
- Radnu okolinu
- Opremu za rad sa ekranom
- Rizik od požara
- Mentalno zdravlje zaposlenih
S obzirom na sve navedeno može se zaključiti da poslodavac ima obavezu da zaključi aneks ugovora o radu za obavljanje poslova od kuće (deo ugovorenog radnog vremena ili stalno), da se opštim aktom ili aneksom ugovora o radu preciziraju prava i obaveze u vezi sa bezbednošću i zdravlju na radu, da se uvedu kontrolne liste i sprovođenje samoprocene rizika kako bi se olakšalo prepoznavanje i utvrđivanje rizika na radu od kuće i da je preporuka da se izmeni i akt o proceni rizika.
Ukoliko imate bilo kakvih pitanja ili su Vam potrebne dodatne informacije možete se obratiti Ani Popović, Partneru i rukovodiocu odeljenja za radno pravo u kancelariji Živković Samardžić na email ana.popovic@zslaw.rs, Danki Draško na email danka.drasko@zslaw.rs, Jovani Jovanović na email jovana.jovanovic@zslaw.rs, advokatima u odeljenju za radno pravo u advokatskoj kancelariji Živković Samardžić ili bilo kom Vašem redovnom kontaktu u kancelariji.