The program Moja Prva Plata will be continued in 2021

Great response of the employers and young candidates, as well as positive results of the program Moja prva plata (engl. tr. My First Salary) introduced in 2020 inspired Serbian Government to decide on continuance of this program in 2021 also. Consequently, in accordance with Serbian Government’s decision, 10.000 young candidates will have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge through this program, as well as to gain experience for jobs withing acquired education.

Based on information available at Moja prva plata website, the following time-line is regulated for the realization of this program:

• 20.08.-20.09.2021. – Employer’s application and position advertising;
• 01.10.-31.10.2021. – Candidate’s application for the advertised positions;
• 01.11.-15.11.2021. – Connecting candidates with the employers from private sector (sending and accepting offer for realization of the program);
• 16.11.-15.12.2021. – Connecting candidates with the employers from public sector (sending and accepting offer for realization of the program), publication of the final list of employers from private sector and conclusion of the contract between the employer, candidate and National Employment Service;
•  01.12.-31.12.2021. – Publication of the final list of employers from public sector and conclusion of the contract between the employer, candidate and National Employment Service.

® How to apply:

As in previous year, both employers and candidates access the Moja prva plata system through the portal eUprava at which they must previously register. In this process, both parties can use the manuals for application published by the IT and e-government office on Moja prva plata website. Within these manuals, both parties can find in steps and pictures presentation of the whole procedure for registration, application, candidates’ selection, sending and accepting the offer for program realization.

Unlike employers who apply first time for this program, the employers who registered in Moja prva plata system in previous year and who have the accounts on the portal Moja prva plata do not need to register again since they can access directly to their account and after arrangement of their profiles, advertise the positions.

® Conditions for program participation and differences in comparison to the previous year

Conditions for program participation are described in detail in Public call for realization of the program for encouraging the employment of the youth “Moja prva plata” published by the National Employment Service. The public call can be found on Moja prva plata website as well as on National Employment Service website.

Among the conditions prescribed for the employers, we especially emphasize that it is required that the employer fulfilled all obligations regarding taxes and social contributions within law defined deadlines, as well as that it is required that the employer has employed mentor in charge of the training, whereby unlike in previous year, one mentor can be in charge of training of maximum 5 persons. In addition, public call contains other conditions which must be fulfilled by the employer.

On the other hand, the conditions prescribed for candidate’s participation have been largely modified then in the previous year. In addition to the conditions that the candidate must be registered in the register of unemployed persons, that he has less than 30 years and at least high school degree, the condition that the candidate cannot have previous experience is defined more strictly, so unlike in previous year, it is required that the candidate has less than 6 months of experience at jobs within the level of education with which he applies to the program. Also, it is necessary that the candidate was not a user of the program Moja prva plata before.

® Program duration, number of the unemployed persons at training and the amount of the compensation secured for the candidates:

The program will last 9 months, whereby during the program the candidate is not in employment relationship with the employer, nor there is an obligation for the employer to establish the employment relationship with the candidate after the termination of the program.

Number of the unemployed persons which the employer can include in program depends on the number of employees at that employer. Consequently:

• the employer who has up to 5 employees can include one unemployed person in program;
• the employer who has 6-14 employees can include 2 unemployed persons in program;
• the employer who has 15 and more employees can include in program the unemployed persons whose number cannot be higher than 20% of the total number of employees.

During program, National Employment Service pays together with the accompanying contributions for mandatory social insurance the compensation to the engaged persons in the amount of:

• 22.000,00 RSD – for persons with high school degree;
• 26.000,00 RSD – for persons with higher education.

In this year also, the employer is not obliged to secure to the candidate the additional compensation to the compensation described above, i.e., that is his discretional right.

® Conclusions:

In the current conditions on the labor market in which young people often have limited access to jobs, all due to the fact that most employers set a requirement for previous work experience as a condition for performing jobs, we evaluate the program Moja prva plata as a particularly successful measure to stimulate the engagement of the unexperienced persons. At the same time, programs of this type also help employers who are still in the process of financial recovery and adjusting to the effects that the COVID-19 epidemic has had on business.

Convinced that there is always space for improvement of regulations and established measures, at this place we also must point out the fact that in addition to a numerous positive aspect of this program, in 2021, the practical problem that arises in a situation where there is an interruption of candidate training before expiration of the program is not solved. Namely, in such case there is a problem in finding replacement for that person, since there is a restriction in such a way that the employer can replace candidate only with the person who has applied for a position at that employer through the portal, although a far more efficient solution would be to create opportunities for replacement with any other candidate who meets the requirements for the position and is not undergoing training with another employer. Also, unless it is planned that the program Moja prva plata will be implemented on a semi-annual basis, we believe that tightening the conditions related to the candidate’s previous experience, in the form of shortening the allowed previous experience from 9 to 6 months, may prevent a large number of young people’s participation in this program.