Freelance Contracts in the Public Sector Face Abolition: The Law Promises Permanent Jobs, but Leaves Room for 10% New Contractors

Thousands of people in state institutions have been working every single day for years, yet on paper they are "contractors": on service contracts, copyright contracts or hired through temp agencies. They have no security about tomorrow, and some don't even get paid leave, social insurance or pension contributions. Now a bill is before parliament that promises to turn them into permanent employees.

"Today we are correcting a decade-long injustice. We are solving a problem that for years was kept quiet, postponed and passed from one institution to another," said VMRO-DPMNE MP Bojan Stojanoski, who presented the bill on transforming these contracts into regular employment.

Who's in, who's left out

The law covers state government bodies, local government units, public enterprises, funds and institutes, as well as public institutions in health care, culture, child protection and social welfare. Left out are joint-stock companies, military and civilian personnel in the Army, primary and secondary schools, pupil and student dormitories, universities and research institutions, as well as the Interior Ministry, the National Security Agency, the Intelligence Agency, the Financial Police and the Financial Intelligence Office.

The transformation isn't automatic. It will depend on the type of contract, the institution, its job classification and, in the end, on the Ministry of Finance, which must give financial approval - and can refuse it if the hire doesn't fit the institution's budget.

The deadlines: within 90 days of the law taking effect, institutions must issue the decisions or sign the contracts. In the first wave, according to the detailed explanatory note, up to half of those covered become employees immediately, and the rest no later than 31 December 2027. While the procedure is running, institutions may not terminate their engagement except for a serious breach of duties.

We've seen this film before

This isn't the first law of its kind. In February 2015 the state adopted an almost identical solution, also in phases, with a three-month deadline. Back then, future service contracts were capped at just 1% of employees, with the threat of prison for managers. Even so, eleven years later the contractors had piled up again - enough to need a new law.

The new bill is looser. From 1 January 2028, institutions will be allowed to take on contract staff up to 10% of the number of employees they had at the end of the previous year, and directors who break the cap face fines of 250 to 500 euros. If a rule backed by the threat of prison didn't stop the old contractors, what's going to stop new ones under a cap ten times higher, with a fine instead of a cell?