Employment law in Kosovo is mainly governed by the following laws:
- Law No. 03/L-212 on Labour
- Law No. 04/L-161 on Safety and Health at Work
- Law No. 04/L-219 on Foreigners
- Law No. 03/L-200 on Strikes
- Law No. 04/L-011 for Organizing Trade Union in Kosovo
- Law No. 05/L-023 on the Protection of Breastfeeding
The Law No. 03/L-212 on Labour regulates the main employment issues including: labour contract, probation period, working hours and overtime, annual leave, maternity leave, termination of contract, protection of employee’s rights and respective procedures, fines applicable for entities that violate the law on labour, etc.
Legal working age
Annual leave & Sick leave
Employees are entitled during each calendar year to a paid annual leave for a period of at least four (4) weeks, regardless of full-time or part-time engagement.
In case of illness, employees are entitled to compensation for medical leave up to twenty (20) working days in one (1) year with one hundred percent (100%) salary compensation.
Employees are also entitled to compensation for medical leave, resulting from work injury or illness which occurs when performing duties and services for the Employer, with a compensation of seventy percent (70%) of the salary. As a result of work injury, employees are entitled to compensation for medical leave for a term of ten (10) to ninety (90) working days. Employees are required to submit a medical report to the employer.
Maternity leave
Female employees are entitled to twelve (12) months of maternity leave. During the first six (6) of maternity leave the Employer is obliged to pay seventy percent (70%). The following three (3) months of maternity leave shall be paid by the Government of Kosovo with a compensation of fifty percent (50%) of the applicable average salary, whereas the remaining three (3) months may be used without payment.
The father can obtain the rights of the mother, if the mother dies or abandons the child before the maternity leave ends.
Paid absence
The Employer is obligated to pay its employees in cases of absence from work in the following cases:
- 5 days in case of their marriage
- 5 days in case of death of a close family member of family
- 3 days for the birth of a child
- 1 day in every case of voluntary blood donation
Termination of the Employment Contract
- Death of the employee
- The company (Employer) is bankrupt or liquidated
- Death of the employer (if the work provided by the employee are of personal nature) and the contract cannot be extended to the successors of employer
- With the expiration of the employment contract
- When an employee reaches the retirement age which is 65 years old
- When there is a final court decision finding that the employee has lost his/her work abilities
- If the employee is convicted and shall serve a sentence which lasts longer than six (6) months
- If there is a court decision on termination of employment
- Other cases as may be foreseen by law
- Employee and the Employer reach a mutual agreement on termination
- Unilaterally by the Employee with a fifteen day (15) day notice on termination in case of employment contract for a fixed period; or thirty day (30) day notice on termination in case of employment contract for an indefinite period.
- Unilaterally by the Employer with a thirty (30) days’ notice on termination in case of employment contracts for a fixed period and only for causes as stipulated on the Labour Law; whereas if the employment contract is of an indefinite period, the following termination notice periods apply:
-
- from 6 months – 2 years of employment: the notice period is 30 calendar days
- from 2 years – 10 years of employment: the notice period is 45 calendar days
- over 10 years of employment: the notice period is 60 calendar days