They decided they were the best and took the most for themselves

BANJA LUKA – The Employment Bureau of the Republika Srpska, which has been granting employment subsidies for several years, regularly puts itself in the payment queue, which, according to many to whom we pointed out this phenomenon, is a classic example of conflict of interest and misuse of public funds. that they approve and allocate money to themselves.

First on the list

This is best seen in the program of employment of trainees with higher education, where in the last two years they were among those who received the most money on this basis.

According to the last competition alone, they awarded themselves almost 200,000 marks (197,761) for the employment of 30 trainees, which, in addition to mediating employment, which is their primary function, also participated directly in reducing the unemployment rate.

This is not the first year that they have been guided by this practice. In 2017 in the same way they hired five trainees, and in 2016. seven.

Employment program for trainees with a university degree without work experience 2018. was realized through two components.

The first co-financed the employment of children of fallen soldiers, where 796.02 KM per month or 9,552.24 KM per employee per year was allocated for his gross salary.

The second component included other trainees with a university degree without work experience, for whom 500 KM were allocated on a monthly basis or 6,000 KM on an annual basis for net salary, while the rest of the obligations were paid by the employer.

No, but …

On the other hand, the Bureau justifies that they did not approve the money themselves, but that they redirected it in order to hire trainees because, as they claim, “employers find it harder to accept staff without work experience”.

“The institute is a public institution that has material, technical and human resources which, along with a quality selection of mentors, enable young people to gain experience, raise competencies and train for independent work in the profession, as well as take the internship exam,” they said.

However, what they did not have a clear answer to is the way of scoring, forming a ranking list and selecting the beneficiaries of subsidies, where they refer to the Rulebook on conditions, criteria and manner of implementing active employment policy measures, which stipulates that the commission appointed by the director .

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, which is part of the anti-corruption network “Account”, says that the rulebook nowhere states the possibility and right that the Employment Bureau of Republika Srpska can allocate these funds to itself.

Also, they add, the definition of precise criteria for who can and who does not participate in the Employment Subsidy Program has been skillfully omitted.

Due to all that, according to Mirjana Ćuskić from the Committee, there is room for manipulation during the allocation of subsidies and misuse of public money.

“It is inadmissible for the Employment Service, as an institution whose basic functions are to mediate in employment, to be an actor who distributes money for a certain employment program, and at the same time a beneficiary. It is clear that this is a conflict of interest due to inadequate definition of laws and bylaws. , as well as the non-existence of sanctions for such actions “, says Ćuskić.

Rulebook

Otherwise, strict adherence to this rulebook would mean that companies that have problems in their business could not be users of funds, which is what happened.

Although the rulebook says that the one who is applying must fulfill his obligations on the basis of taxes and contributions, “Banja Dvorovi” from Bijeljina has been approved to hire trainees even though they operate on the edge of liquidity. This is also shown by the data of the RS Tax Administration, according to which they owe 666,433 KM in taxes as of August.

Due to the debt for salaries and contributions, the workers of this health institution are in October 2017. They went on strike, and the “head above the water” is currently being held by the RS Government, which held a session in September 2018. approved 200,000 marks of aid.

“The management in the institution is facing big problems and delays in settling obligations, and the balance sheets in the institution are burdened with significant amounts of legal default interest and loss-making business,” the RS government said in a statement.

How they managed to apply in this public institution at all, considering that they had to submit proof of paid tax obligations during the application, remained unclear, considering that they did not answer our questions sent by e-mail.

Get in the way

In general, most of the money intended for incentives for the employment of trainees is distributed to state-owned companies, institutions, local communities and joint stock companies in which RS is the majority owner.

Thus, in total, out of 1,218 trainees who will be employed through this project, 730 of them will end up in state nurseries. If that turns into money of eight million marks, which is approved for employment support, 4.7 million will be left by the state for itself and its companies and institutions.

Leading the way are large systems such as “Elektroprivreda RS”, “Šuma RS”, the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund of RS, which collectively employed over a hundred young trainees. However, small local communities with their companies and institutions, which will also open their doors to hundreds of young and educated people, did not run away from these funds.

The municipality of Han Pijesak was approved to employ as many as 16 trainees, Rogatica 10, Vlasenica and Bratunac nine each, Trnovo five. Only in the Municipal Assembly of Vukosavlje, six trainees will be admitted (or are already working).

It should also be said that the Program for hiring trainees with a university degree was the only one of several employment programs in which there was no moratorium on the participation of the state and its institutions.

Auditor’s warning

The auditors themselves point out numerous irregularities in the distribution of funds, which are in the last report, published in mid-August for 2017. year, and dedicated to the operations of the Institute, sent numerous comments and along the way expressed a qualified opinion.

Thus, they say, according to the Project for Employment of Trainees with Higher Education, people are employed who were not at the labor office or had the title of Higher Education at that time, and the funds are approved to employers who do not fulfill obligations for taxes and contributions.

“The rules on the basis of which funds are approved for employment projects do not establish precise and measurable criteria, and the approval of funds in certain cases was not done in accordance with the set conditions and criteria from the rulebook,” the report said.

Before the eyes of employers

Although they have a representative on the Institute’s Board of Directors, RS real sector employers have failed to do anything to end this long-standing practice.

In the Union of Employers’ Associations of RS, they say that for many years they have been emphasizing the need for more efficient spending of public funds used to stimulate new employment and that funds be predominantly directed towards the economy, ie that incentives be used for jobs where new value is created.

“Through the development of planning acts and employment programs, we sought equal treatment for all employers and workers and insisted on more efficient use of public funds. Labor market reform necessarily refers to changing the way the Employment Bureau operates. mediation in employment, but also consistent implementation of strategies and action plans that recognize the negative trends and characteristics of our labor market. Social partners and institutions must approach the problems of the labor market much more responsibly because this issue has a great impact on economic and social stability Sasa Acic, the director of the Union.