Letter sent to all schools: "If strike is not organized in accordance with the law, no salaries for teachers"

In a letter that "Blic" had access to, the Ministry of Education reminds school principals of the provisions of the law on strikes and the minimum work process.

The letter reached the schools, as it states, "due to numerous and frequent addresses from teachers, educators, school principals and parents of students related to the implementation of regulations on work obligations and strikes in the education and training system".

"In accordance with the situation related to the strike of employees on the one hand, and the obligations of the employer on the other hand, we point to the following provisions of the law: The provisions of Article 14 of the Law on Strike stipulate that organizing a strike, i.e. participating in a strike under the conditions established by this law represents a violation of the work obligation, cannot be the basis for initiating the procedure for determining the disciplinary and material responsibility of the employee and cannot result in the termination of the employee's employment relationship," the letter states.

As further stated, an employee who participates in a strike realizes the basic rights from the employment relationship, except the right to earnings, and the rights from social insurance - in accordance with the regulations on social insurance. Organizers of a strike, that is, participants in a strike that is not organized in accordance with this law, will not enjoy the protection established in paragraph 1. and 2. of this article. The provisions of Art. 104 and 105 of the Labor Law, it is defined that wages consist of wages for work performed and time spent at work, so that in the event of a strike organized in accordance with the law, the employee has the right to a proportional part of the wages corresponding to the time spent at work for the period while he is on strike.

What the law says: In which case the employee is not entitled to earnings

"The provisions of Article 79 of the Law on Elementary Education and Article 92 of the Law on Secondary Education define the obligations of school employees who organize a strike, as well as the minimum work processes that employees are required to provide in accordance with the law. Minimum process work for a teacher is teaching for a duration of 30 minutes per class within the daily schedule and taking exams, and for a professional associate and teacher in an extended stay 20 hours of work per week", it is stated in the letter and adds:

"In cases where the minimum work process is not ensured and the strike is not organized in accordance with the law, employees do not have the right to wages, in accordance with Article 14 of the Law on Strikes. Article 126 of the Law on the Basics of the Education and Training System defines competences and responsibilities, so it is necessary to apply the above-mentioned legal provisions when entering data for the calculation and payment of salaries for January 2025. After entering the data into the ISKRA system for the calculation of salaries for January 2025, verification of the calculation will be carried out, which will only be loaded into the SPIRI system after that".