Employment mediation licence in Serbia: verifying a recruitment agency in 2026

Posredovanje pri zapošljavanju (employment mediation) in Serbia is licensed by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs (Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja). The licence is required of any legal entity placing workers, including foreign workers, with a Serbian employer. The register is public, the verification process is straightforward, and the cost of skipping it is high. An employer who contracts with an unlicensed agency carries joint liability under the Foreign Employment Act and ZOSP 2022 (Serbia's Law on Single Permits for Foreigners' Residence and Work, effective February 2024 reform), with fines reaching RSD 2,000,000 per worker plus a hiring ban that blocks every future single permit application tied to the legal entity.

This guide covers the legal basis for the licence, where the public register sits, what an authentic licence document contains, and the seven verification points an employer should run before every new agency relationship.

The legal basis for the licence

The mediation licence is governed by the Act on Employment and Unemployment Insurance (Zakon o zapošljavanju i osiguranju za slučaj nezaposlenosti) and the Foreign Employment Act (Zakon o zapošljavanju stranaca). Article 22 of the former and Articles 4 and 6 of the latter set the obligation: any legal entity engaged in employment mediation must hold a Ministry of Labour licence (dozvola za obavljanje poslova posredovanja u zapošljavanju) and be entered on the register.

The licence covers two activities:

Mediation (posredovanje). The agency identifies a worker, prepares them for placement, and matches them with a Serbian employer. The employment contract is then signed between the worker and the Serbian employer directly. The agency does not become the employer.

Foreign-worker placement. A subset of mediation regulated additionally under the Foreign Employment Act. Agencies running foreign-worker corridors need both general mediation authority and the specific authority to place third-country nationals.

A separate licence track exists for agencije za privremeno zapošljavanje (temporary work agencies), where the agency is the employer and the worker is assigned to a user enterprise. The temporary-work licence is regulated under the Labour Act and carries additional capital and bond requirements. Most foreign-worker agencies operate under the mediation track, not the temporary-work track.

Where the register sits

The Ministry of Labour publishes the licensed-agency register at the Ministry's website (minrzs.gov.rs). The register is searchable and includes:

• Legal name of the agency.
• Matični broj (the Serbian company registration number) and PIB (tax identification number).
• Address of the registered seat.
• Date of licence issuance.
• Type of authority (general mediation, foreign-worker placement, or both).
• Name of the responsible person.
• Status (active, suspended, deleted).

The register is the authoritative source. A claim of licensing that does not match the register is invalid, regardless of how convincing the agency's paperwork or website looks.

How to verify an agency in seven points

Werklist's standard pre-contract diligence on a Serbian counterparty covers seven verification points. Any employer can run the same check before signing.

1. Match the legal name and PIB to the register. Search the Ministry register by PIB. The entry must be active. A "registration pending" or "in process" status does not authorise current operations.

2. Check the licence date and licence type. A licence that covers general mediation but not foreign-worker placement is not enough for a third-country corridor. Confirm both lines.

3. Read the responsible person's name and cross-check. The responsible person named in the register should match the signatory on the agency's contracts and the principal in commercial correspondence.

4. Verify the PIB through APR (Agencija za privredne registre). The APR record returns the agency's full legal history, ownership, current capital and any bankruptcy or restructuring procedure. An agency under bankruptcy proceedings cannot enter new contracts in good faith.

5. Confirm tax and contribution clearance. A licensed agency in arrears with Poreska uprava (the Serbian Tax Administration) or the PIO Fund faces revocation. Ask for a current uvjerenje (no-debt certificate). A real agency provides it within one working day.

6. Ask for a recent placement reference number. A licensed agency runs case-by-case authorisations through NSZ and MUP. Each placement carries a reference number. Ask for one recent reference, redacted appropriately for the prior client's name.

7. Cross-check against the Ministry's published sanctions register. The Ministry maintains a public list of sanctioned agencies. An agency that appears on the list as a recently sanctioned party carries higher risk and should not be the first choice for a new corridor.

The seven points take 15 to 30 minutes. The cost of skipping them is measured in fines and project delays.

What an authentic licence document contains

The licence is a Ministry decision (rešenje) issued under the Act. It carries:

• Ministry letterhead.
• Reference number (broj predmeta).
• Date of issuance.
• Legal name and PIB of the agency.
• Authority granted (mediation, foreign-worker placement, or both).
• Conditions and limitations, where applicable.
• Signature and stamp of the authorising official.

A real licensed agency keeps the original on file and produces a copy on first request. Hesitation to share, watermarked digital images, or licences that do not match the format above are red flags.

Why employer exposure is direct

A Serbian employer who places workers through an unlicensed agency is jointly liable for the breaches the agency commits. The mechanism sits in the Foreign Employment Act and the Aliens Act. If the agency arranged a single permit with falsified documents, the employer who received the worker is on the file as the requesting party. The full fine schedule under ZOSP 2022 reaches RSD 2,000,000 per worker for hiring without a valid permit, with parallel liability for the responsible person.

Detail on the inspection regime and fine schedule sits in Serbian Labour Inspectorate and foreign workers.

A two-year ban on hiring foreign workers compounds the exposure. The ban is recorded at NSZ and automatically blocks every new single permit application tied to the legal entity. For an employer building a multi-year corridor, the ban is structurally disruptive.

Three common misreadings of the licence

"Our partner abroad is licensed, that covers our side." A licence in the country of origin (a DMW recruitment authority in the Philippines, a DOFE permit in Nepal, an e-Migrate registration in India) authorises the source-country agency to deploy workers from that country. It does not authorise the Serbian-side counterparty to place those workers with a Serbian employer. Both licences are required, simultaneously.

"We are using the agency for one placement only, the licence does not matter." Volume is not the test. A single placement through an unlicensed agency is a breach. The employer's liability is identical whether the agency runs 1 or 200 placements per year.

"The licence was current when we signed last year." Licences can be suspended or revoked at any time, including mid-contract. The register reflects the current status. Verification at the start of each new placement is the standard discipline.

What an inspection asks about the agency

When the Labour Inspectorate visits a foreign-worker site, the inspector's questions go beyond the employer's file. The inspector asks:

• Through which agency did the workers arrive?
• What is the agency's licence number?
• Where is the placement reference number for this group?
• Is the agency on the current register?

An employer who cannot answer these questions on the spot signals that the diligence was not run. The inspector deepens the review accordingly.

Next step

The Ministry register is the single source of truth on agency status in Serbia. Use it before every new placement, not only before the first one. The five-minute query protects the project and the standing of the legal entity.

• Serbia's single residence-and-work permit, complete employer guide
• Serbian Labour Inspectorate and foreign workers
• NSZ Serbia, foreign worker procedure 2026

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