Want to participate in a pilot measure that aims to reduce informal employment and undeclared work?
In collaboration with HOTAM, the Economic and Social Affairs Platform (ESAP) 2 – funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – is piloting the measure “Making Declared Work Attractive for Employers and Employees” (MDWA).
The measure aims to generate evidence on the effectiveness of the simplification of employment procedures and lower social security contribution for short-term workers in reducing informal employment and undeclared work.
Subject of this pilot measure will be short-term employments for one, two or a few days (consecutive or non-consecutive, but no more than 9 days monthly with the same employer) in the period 1 May to 31 August 2022 in the region of Ohrid and Struga.
The following categories of businesses are eligible to participate in this pilot measure:
- Current and new members of HOTAM – Hotels, restaurants, cafes, camps and other hospitality businesses in the area of Ohrid and Struga that
- need to engage extra short-term personnel for preparation and serving weddings and other family gatherings, seminars and conferences, guests rotations during peak periods; and
- need to clean a bigger number of rooms, bellboys for carrying luggage when bigger groups are checking in/out, etc.
- Businesses which are not yet members of HOTAM can contact the HOTAM team for information regarding the process of becoming a member (contact@gmail.com).
Benefits for the businesses involved in this pilot measure:
- The contributions paid for the short-term employees engaged through the pilot measure will be reimbursed to the business by the Pilot measure.
- Assistance from the Pilot measure team to identify job-seekers registered with the HOTAM platform at hotam.mk
- Assistance from the Pilot measure in submitting the registration and de-registration of the short-term employees to the Agency for employment.
- Possibility to easily create short-term contracts with interested individuals and students who could become potential candidates for future regular employment.
Data gathered through this measure will be used to advocate for legislative change that simplifies the employment process so that every employment relation is declared through a quick and simple procedure, with paid contributions and registered pensionable service.
The process for enrolling and the flow of activities for the interested businesses:
- First, every business will need to register on the HOTAM website https://hotam.mk/stanete-del-od-hotam/. (This season the web site will be used specifically for short-term engagements through the pilot measure, and in the future it will develop into a hospitality labor market.)
- The Pilot measure office will create a pool of job-seekers for different job positions, which will also have the possibility to attend a training for kitchen, restaurant or housekeeping skills. The following categories of individuals will be able to enroll as job-seekers: unemployed individuals (one person can be engaged with one employer a maximum of 9 days per month), individuals already employed on regular bases (with a written approval of the current employer, can be engaged maximum 40 hours or 5 days per month), students of 15 years of age and older. They all have to be registered with the Employment Agency as job seekers.
- The main activities of the pilot measure, meaning the short-term employments, will start from the 1 May, 2022
- The registered businesses in the pilot measure interested in engaging short-term workers will contact 1) registered candidates already known to them, or 2) Pilot measure office for a list of job-seekers registered for the open job positions, with adequate skills for the job acquired from previous job experiences and/or training provided by this Pilot measure.
- The businesses will contact the job-seekers directly and if they agree on the employment conditions they will sign a short-term employment contract (for a day, two, five… but no more than 9 days monthly with the same employer). Businesses shall use the contract template provided by the pilot measure. It is possible for one employer to engage the same employee a few non-consecutive times during the month. In this case a new contract will be signed for each engagement.
- The employer can register the chosen job-seeker personally in the Agency for employment (in the offices or online), or it can be done with the assistance of the Pilot measure team.
- If the registration/de-registration is done by the employer, a confirmation (M1-M2 document) has to be submitted to the pilot measure team.
- If the employer decides to use the services of the Pilot measure team, they shall inform the team that they will complete the registration by 12:00 pm on the day prior to the engagement date. The signed contract with the fully completed, signed and stamped “Authorization for an authorized person with a list of individuals which are registered for employment”, as well as a Termination decision and an “Authorization for an authorized person with a list of individuals which are de-registered” will be submitted to the Pilot measure team. A representative of the team will submit the registration and the de-registration to the Agency of employment, and after the de-registration will deliver the appropriate employment documents to the employer.
- The calculation and the payment of the salary (daily wages) will be made by the employer through the MPIN form after the end of the month for all days of employment in that month. The daily wages determined by the Pilot measure shall be respected: a daily wage (for 8 working hours) of at least 1500 denars for waiters, assistant waiters, bartenders, assistant cooks, housekeepers, bellboys; and at least 3000 denars for experienced cooks – chefs.
- After the salaries have been paid, the employer will submit to the Pilot measure team the calculations for all short-term employees engaged through the Pilot measure, and the team will reimburse the contributions on the employers’ account.