Forms and means of fulfilling the obligation for insurance of employees by the employer in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

In the first part of this paper, the author is presenting two acts of Serbian positive legislation of which one allows the employer to insure their employees as a form of additional social care and the other is obligating them to insure the employees from injuries and diseases that can arise out of and in the course of their employment by the employer.
In the second part, Law on Safety and Health at Work, as the law that obligates them on insurance, is analised, and the good solutions (the definition of the obligation) and shortcomings (absence of minimum sum insured) of the Law are presented. In addition, it is appointed that the obligation that is established, does not have the sanction for non-fulfilment of the obligation.
The third section of this paper outlines Worker’s compensation insurance and Employer’s liability insurance, as the types of insurance through which the employer can fulfil their obligation. Furthermore, the conditions of both types of insurance, of some Serbian and foreign insurers were analyzed and it was concluded that the conditions of Serbian insurers are not providing the necessary coverage.
In the penultimate section, tax treatment of these two types of insurance in Serbia is shown and bearing in mind that one of them is excluded from tax on insurance premium and the other one is not, the equalization of their tax treatment is suggested.
In the last part of the paper it is concluded that in Serbia, the structural changes in both legislation and conditions of insurance in this domain are necessary. It is suggested that the legislation needs to prescribe the minimum sum insured and the sanction for non-fulfilment of the obligation and on the other side the National bank of Serbia should point out to the insurers on the neccesary changes in their insurance conditions.