Workers' Rights In The Republic Of Northern Macedonia And Legal Protection By Inspection Bodies

Abstract

Workers' rights are one of the most important universal social rights guaranteed by international conventions. Democratic and social countries have workers' rights regulated and codified by legal norms. In the Republic of Northern Macedonia, the right to work is a constitutional category and this right is specified and regulated in detail by legal acts in the field of labor. Employees' rights and the relations created between the employer and the employee are regulated on a legal basis, respectively through norms and legal acts in the field of labor. The employment relations established between the employer and the employee in the Republic of Northern Macedonia are regulated by the Law on Labor Relations, collective agreements and the employment contract itself. The rights and obligations of the employer and the employee which derive from the above-mentioned acts are not always functionalized and made operational by the same bodies who have issued them in the first place. Failure to respect the rights of workers and failure to fulfill the obligations of the employer to workers arising from the legal acts establishing the employment relationship are considered as a violation of workers' rights. The Republic of Northern Macedonia, in addition to guaranteeing the rights of workers, has established a mechanism for monitoring and protecting workers' rights through inspection bodies which, based on their legal authorizations, actively monitor legal entities in order to improve the conditions of workers and the protection of their rights. The competent institution for the protection of workers' rights is the state labor inspectorate which, on the basis of legal authorizations and authorizations, monitors legal entities in fulfilling their legal obligations to workers and periodically informs its supervisory institutions about the activities it has performed.