What is increased earnings?
The increased salary should be distinguished from the basic salary, which is agreed upon by the employee and the employer in the employment contract, which is paid in the same amount every month, until its change is agreed upon. Increased earnings exist only if there are one or more grounds for its payment.
What are the grounds for paying the increased salary and how much is it?
The basis for payment of increased wages are:
– work on a holiday that is a non-working day – at least 110% of the base
– night work, if such work is not valued when determining the basic salary – at least 26% of the basic salary
– overtime – at least 26% of the base
– time spent at work for each full year of work achieved in employment with the employer (past work) – at least 0.4% of the base.
What if at the same time there are several grounds for increasing earnings?
If the conditions for several grounds have been met at the same time, the percentage of the increased salary cannot be lower than the sum of the percentages for each of the grounds for the increase.
Must increased earnings be contracted to produce an effect?
The answer is: no. An employee has the right to an increased salary if there is one of the above grounds, regardless of whether the increase is contractual or not. Therefore, it exists according to the law itself. The law prescribes minimum percentages of increase, and higher percentages are applied if they are contracted. It is also possible to contract other grounds for the increase, such as, for example, shift work.
How do I prove that I worked overtime, at night or on holidays?
The advice is to keep correspondence with the employer (e-mail, viber or sms correspondence) that shows that you worked overtime, at night or on holidays, as well as salary calculations. Also, this fact can be determined through a witness, usually one of the colleagues.
Danilo Babić- lawyer in Novi Sad
