Temporary and Occasional Work

A temporary and occasional work contract is one of the legally recognized forms of work performed outside an employment relationship. It may be concluded only for work that, by its nature, lasts no more than 120 working days within a single calendar year.

Since this type of engagement does not constitute employment, individuals working under such a contract are not entitled to the same rights as employees. They are not entitled to annual paid leave, the statutory minimum wage, paid sick leave, meal allowances, holiday bonuses, seniority-based salary increases, or other employment-related benefits. Likewise, they are not covered by the special legal protections against termination that apply during pregnancy, maternity leave, or childcare leave.

Who may be engaged?

A temporary and occasional work contract may be concluded with:

• an unemployed person;

• an employee working part-time for another employer, up to full-time working hours;

• a recipient of an old-age or early retirement pension;

• a member of a youth or student cooperative who is under 30 years of age.

Such a contract cannot be concluded with persons who do not have unemployed status under Serbian employment regulations. This includes, among others, sole proprietors, founders working in their own companies, self-employed artists, farmers subject to mandatory social insurance, and persons already engaged under a temporary and occasional work contract. If an unemployed person receiving unemployment benefits enters into such a contract, the payment of those benefits is suspended for the duration of the engagement.

Key Characteristics

A temporary and occasional work contract does not automatically become an employment relationship. However, if the individual continues performing the same permanent and systematized duties after the statutory limit of 120 working days has expired, it may be deemed that an indefinite-term employment relationship has been established.

This type of contract is generally intended for temporary work that is not included in the employer’s job classification system. Nevertheless, it may also be used for classified positions when replacing a temporarily absent employee or responding to a temporary increase in workload.

Once the statutory time limit has expired, neither the same person nor another individual may be repeatedly engaged to perform the same temporary work under this type of contract, as this would contradict its temporary nature.

The legal limitation applies to the duration of work on a specific assignment rather than to the total number of days worked during the year. Consequently, the same individual may work for more than 120 calendar days in a year, provided they perform different temporary or occasional jobs.