In the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia, No. 104/2025, on 26.05.2025 The Law on work engagement of persons was published.
The subject of regulation by this law are the conditions for the work engagement of persons for performing work of a temporary or seasonal nature, the rights and obligations of the engaged persons and the employer, the procedure for registering the engaged persons, as well as the payment and calculation of personal income tax, pension and disability insurance contributions, additional contributions for mandatory health insurance in case of work injury and occupational disease.
The Law on work engagement of persons entered into force on the eighth day as of the day of its publication in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia” and will be applied from 1 January 2026.
Work engagement of a person within the meaning of this law does not constitute an employment relationship in accordance with the Law on Labor Relations.
Аn employer, under the conditions determined by this law, can be a natural person as well as a legal entity and the work engagement of a person may be carried out directly by the employer or through the mediation of the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia, from the records of unemployed persons.
Work engagement of a person to perform certain types of work of a temporary or seasonal nature is permitted only in precisely defined activities, from the National Classification of Activities, namely:
• A/A – Agriculture, forestry, fishing,
• I/Z- Accommodation facilities and food service activities and
• T/P – Household activities as an employer.
The law also explicitly defines the persons who may be work engaged, namely: a person who is not in an employment relationship, an employee, a self-employed person, persons under 18 years of age who, in accordance with the general regulations on labor relations, meet the conditions for establishing an employment relationship, a student, a beneficiary of a family and old-age pension, with the exception of beneficiaries of a family pension on the basis of incapacity for work and independent living, and a foreign person who has a regulated residence in accordance with the law.
A person who is work engaged may work a maximum of 12 hours a day, or a maximum of 48 hours a week, with the right to breaks, daily and weekly rest, in accordance with the general regulations on labor relations, and has right to a monetary compensation on which the employer is obliged to pay personal income tax, pension and disability insurance contributions, and an additional contribution for mandatory health insurance in case of injury at work and occupational disease in accordance with the special laws in the field of tax and social insurance.
Among other obligations, the employer is obliged to acquaint the work engaged person with the work conditions and to register him in the records of applications and deregistration’s of the work engaged persons of the Employment Service Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia.