Implementation of Provisions on Paying for Overtime Work to Employees in the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

The phenomenon of ill implementation of legal provision pertaining the rights of civil servants is a frequent practice in North Macedonia. Our research is focusing on investigating the allegations for a large-scale breaching of the existing regulation on paying the employees of the Ministry of Interior Affairs i.e., the Police, for the overtime work. We have singled out a total number of 1257 lawsuits filed against the Ministry in the last seven years and performed an in-depth analysis of 41 cases filed against the Ministry by their employees from the Skopje Police Department. We’ve carried out interviews with representatives of the Police Syndicate, representatives from the Ministry and the judiciary. The results revealed that a systematic breaching and nonpaying for the overtime work were in place, exacerbated by retributive actions against those employees who would dare to seek justice in court. The Police Syndicate is encouraging and providing legal counsel to those who decide to take legal actions, and the justice system is showing consistency in ruling against the Ministry in cases where the Ministry failed to remunerate its employees for the overtime work, but the court trials are taking much longer than the legally envisaged framework of 6 months. The outcomes from the legal actions against the Ministry resulted in significant financial loses, and yet no one bore any political or legal responsibility thus far. Based on our findings we will urge the Oversight Committee in the Parliament of North Macedonia to take actions in direction of stopping the practice of not paying to the employees for the overtime work. We will bring to attention to the Ministry of Interior that we and other colleagues from the scientific community are willing to assist in designing instruments and conducting trainings for the commanding officers in order to help them manage the working time of the employees under their command efficiently and within the legally envisaged time frame for work. The research is confluent to the conference topic from the aspect of promoting the adherence to respecting the labor related rights of employees of the public administration as one of the preconditions toward stability and security of the state governing apparatus.   Received: 05 May 2022 / Accepted: 12 June 2023 / Published: 23 July 2023