The RS government is illegally making lists of workers who “voluntarily” give up their personal income

Lists of workers who allegedly voluntarily give up personal income in favor of the Solidarity Fund for the Reconstruction of the Republika Srpska are made without any legal basis and can serve as a means of pressure and discrimination against those who did not agree.

Banja Luka, 4. April 2020 – Lists of workers who allegedly voluntarily give up personal income in favor of the Solidarity Fund for the Reconstruction of the Republika Srpska are made without any legal basis and can serve as a means of pressure and discrimination against those who did not agree. Therefore, Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) filed a complaint with the BiH Personal Data Protection Agency against the Republika Srpska Ministry of Education and Culture, which sent a letter to all schools to compile lists of employees who voluntarily agreed to a salary reduction.

This way of implementing the order of the Ministry violates the proclaimed principle of voluntariness, but also the basic principle of the Law on Personal Data Protection, which says that personal data in this case can be used only to the extent necessary to fulfill the purpose. In this case, the Ministry has acted contrary to the principles of the law, because there is no legal basis for compiling lists, and their creation creates a reasonable assumption that they could be used for illegal and illegal purposes, such as discrimination based on someone’s refusal to reduce salary. .

TI BiH expects the Agency to act in accordance with the law, control and order the cessation of such illegal processing of personal data of employees in the education system of the Republika Srpska. We point out that there have been claims in the public that directors are forcing employees to give up part of their income, which was also announced by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Republika Srpska.

TI BiH monitors all actions of the authorities during the state of emergency, as well as potential cases of abuse and rights of citizens. For example, due to media reports and footage from the BEMA Footwear Factory that appeared in public, TI BiH sent a report to the competent inspection authorities requesting urgent inspection due to non-compliance with health regulations during the epidemic.

Press rls – 4.4.2020.