PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE RIGHTS IN MODERN DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Human rights and freedoms at work are proclaimed by numerous acts at the international, regional and national level. Although the Republic of Serbia has ratified a number of international conventions and agreements on human rights that guarantee the basic rights of employees, in reality there are still significant challenges that employees in Serbia face - discrimination, abuse at work, non-payment of wages, the worst forms of child labor, labor abuse for an indefinite period of time, non-application of standards in the field of health and safety at work, etc.

The reports of all relevant organizations that deal with the state of human rights at work point to the fact that the rights of employees are in the first place according to the degree of endangerment and violation. It can rightly be said that the position of employees at work is the same as it was at the beginning of the 19th century. In this context, it can be concluded that mechanisms for implementing labor law regulations are often ineffective and reduce human rights at work to nudum ius. Given that our country is a pretender to membership of the European Union, it has harmonized and implemented a large number of regulations in order to strengthen the protection of employees. De facto, their application and, above all, protection still remains a significant challenge, as a result of which employees face significant obstacles in accessing justice and exercising and protecting their rights.

Therefore, in the paper, the authors try to examine the effectiveness of mechanisms for the implementation of labor law regulations, the impact of technological innovations on working conditions and employment security, as well as the intersection of labor rights with other areas of human rights, such as gender equality and freedom of association, as well as investigate the reasons and causes of the gap between the ideal and the reality of labor rights in Serbia. The aim of the paper is to identify strategies for strengthening legal protection and improving enforcement mechanisms to ensure that all employees enjoy their fundamental human rights and freedoms.