“Formalization of Employment” was the topic of discussion in the panel organized by the Tax Administration of Kosovo – TAK and the Kosovo Initiative for Stability – KIS. Part of this panel discussion were leaders of the key institutions that manage the monitoring of workers, both in terms of rights and their declaration, as well as leaders from business community organizations and civil society organizations.
This panel was continuation of the campaign that is being developed within the project of employment formalization, which is being supported by KIS, through their project “Towards equality and social justice”.
The Executive Director of TAK Mr. Ilir Murtezaj said that as of 2021 TAK, seeing the level of undeclared workers, has started with a specific plan to deal with this phenomenon. He added that awareness raising is the best form of mitigating the statistics of undeclared workers, for which TAK has worked and continues to do so.
On the other hand, the Director of the Community Development Fund (CDF), Ms. Nermin Mahmuti, said that the support within the Humanrightivism project for the employment-related component, will continue to work on raising the awareness of the workers in order for them to understand why they should seek to have an employment contract and their pension and tax contributions declared. She said that events such as the one today, are very welcome in conveying the message to the target groups.
The Chief Inspector of the Labor Inspectorate Mr. Hekuran Nikçi mentioned the activities that are being developed and at the same time the possibilities of increasing the number of formal workers. He also mentioned the difficulties faced by the institution that he leads in carrying out its duties. As an institution, he said that there will be developments, which will facilitate the activity in the field.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo, Mr. Lulzim Rafuna, said that the problem of this phenomenon includes various factors, which directly contribute in having informal workers in Kosovo. He said that as an organization we support and continue to be close in order to contribute to this campaign, using the opportunities we have in direct communication with member businesses.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of KIS Mrs. Brikena Hoxha spoke about the Report “Working conditions in Kosovo”, the situation with informality and challenges in the labor market. Among other things, she emphasized numerous findings from the research done in the field, where according to her, the part of assistance or care for children, the elderly and household maintenance are one of the segments, which have statistics that dominate informality at work.
Certainly, this panel was also open to discussions and opinions from the audience, who posed various questions about workers’ rights, as well as the legal frameworks that regulate this part.
The formalization of employment will be dealt with continuously, to the extent that the awareness of citizens-workers is at a sufficient level, where everyone will fight for their rights to be respected in the workplace.
