Serbia's 2025 labour inspection findings on foreign workers

In 247 inspections in 2025, Serbia's Labour Inspectorate found 2,131 foreign nationals at work. For 249 of them the employer had not obtained the unified permit for temporary residence and work, and 305 were working undeclared. Most breaches were about documents: the permit, the contract, insurance registration and a contract copy at the place of work.

A typical case: a building site without permits

The Labour Inspectorate annual report for 2025 describes an inspection on 28 August 2025 in Vrnjačka Banja. Inspectors found six foreign workers on a building site with no unified permit. Three measures followed: an order to the employer to apply for the permit, a ban on work at the workplace, and misdemeanour requests.

A work ban stops the job at that location, so the employer loses working days while the permit procedure runs. The report also records a recurring practice: undeclared foreign workers were often returned to their home country after an inspection and replaced by other foreign nationals.

Who was found and who employs them

Among the 2,131 foreign nationals found at work, the largest groups were from China (968), Türkiye (461), Uzbekistan (149), India (135) and Egypt (113). Nepal counted 27. Among the 249 without a unified permit the mix differs: 140 citizens of Türkiye, 34 of Kyrgyzstan, 16 of Uzbekistan and 13 of China.

The employment structure splits the findings almost evenly. A total of 1,099 (52 percent) were staff of foreign employers posted to companies registered in Serbia, and 1,032 (48 percent) worked for Serbian employers. Employers had obtained no work permit for 12 percent of the foreign nationals found, and had signed no contract or made no insurance registration for 14 percent.

Measures by area of supervision

The 135 misdemeanour requests cover three areas: employment of foreigners, labour relations, and safety and health at work. Under the Law on Employment of Foreigners alone, inspectors issued 9 decisions with 14 measures, 31 orders on 31 records and 52 misdemeanour requests. They sent 14 notices to the Directorate for Foreigners of the Ministry of Interior about workers whose employer had not obtained a permit.

In safety and health at work, inspectors issued 35 decisions with 83 measures, 26 workplace work bans, 32 misdemeanour requests and two criminal complaints. The employer's duties in that area are set out in the guide to occupational safety for foreign workers.

In labour relations, breaches concerned a contract or contract copy not kept at the place of work, payroll calculation and payment, and weekly working time schedules. For the first of these the report cites Article 276(1)(1) of the Labour Law.

Documents an inspector asks for on site

The findings translate into a list an employer can check before an inspection:

1. A unified permit for temporary residence and work for every foreign national on site.
2. The employment contract or a copy of it at the place of work (Article 276(1)(1) of the Labour Law).
3. Proof of registration for mandatory social insurance.
4. Payroll calculation and proof of salary payment.
5. The weekly working time schedule.
6. For a posted worker: proof that the foreign employer has employed the worker for at least one year with social insurance registration, and the business and technical cooperation contract between the Serbian and the foreign employer.

The Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs published the report in May 2026 on its Labour Inspectorate reports page, alongside the reports for 2016 to 2024. The posting route itself is covered in the guide to posted workers and inbound secondment. Open roles for permit holders are on the job board.