Making Seasonal Work Fairer Through Digital Innovation in North Macedonia
Seasonal and occasional work plays an important role in North Macedonia’s economy, particularly in agriculture, tourism, hospitality and household services. Yet much of this work has traditionally taken place outside formal employment arrangements, leaving workers with limited protection and employers facing administrative challenges.
Seasonal and occasional work plays an important role in North Macedonia’s economy, particularly in agriculture, tourism, hospitality and household services. Yet much of this work has traditionally taken place outside formal employment arrangements, leaving workers with limited protection and employers facing administrative challenges.
A new digital solution, integrated into the Employment Service Agency’s existing system, aims to make the registration of temporary and seasonal work simpler, more transparent and accessible. By enabling employers to register and deregister workers electronically, the system supports the formalisation of short-term work and helps ensure that workers receive the protection and contributions provided for under the law.
Through its cooperation with national institutions, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has supported the development and implementation of this digital solution as part of broader efforts to modernise public services, strengthen the formal economy and improve working conditions in North Macedonia.
We spoke with Aleksandra Karaevska-Dimovska, GIZ Advisor, about how the new platform works, what it means for workers and employers, and how digitalisation can contribute to fairer and more transparent employment practices.
Meet Aleksandra.
1. Seasonal and occasional work is essential to many sectors of the economy, but it has often taken place informally. Why was it important to introduce a new system for registering these types of work engagements in North Macedonia?
- Germany, through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, is implementing the project "Better Conditions of Employment for Seasonal Workers in the SEE Region" in order to support and facilitate the reform of the system for hiring seasonal workers. This directly contributes to the formalization of labor and increases the employment opportunities of these individuals. GIZ's efforts focus on sharing best practices from the region, based on the experience of EU countries. From Croatia (voucher system in agriculture) as well as from Hungary (electronic system for simplified employment in multiple sectors) which has proven to be more applicable given the degree of digitalization and e-services.
At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Germany, through GIZ, decided to support the reform process to formalize the informal economy in the country, in line with its strategic commitments – new legislation and the development of supportive information systems. Drawing on the experience of the Republic of Serbia, the Law on Employment of Persons was drafted and adopted on May 20, 2025. The law sets out a formal framework for the recognition and protection of thousands of persons engaged in seasonal, temporary or temporary work, who have long existed outside the legal system. Persons involved in the sectors of agriculture, hospitality, tourism and domestic services traditionally face precarious working conditions with little or no social security. Public institutions will also analyze the profiles of these individuals and work with them through the Employment Agency to increase the chances of providing better employment opportunities. These changes provide a legal basis for work that is traditionally irregular or short-term, ensuring fair treatment and access to benefits for the parties involved.
2. You have been involved in supporting the development of this solution. What are the main changes it introduces, and how does the new platform make the registration process easier for employers and workers?
- Simplifying the procedure was one of the key objectives in drafting the law. The employer registers the work engagement quickly, easily, and legally through the upgraded electronic system of the Employment Agency, available at the e-rabota.av.gov.mk platform. In practice, a procedure that previously required publishing a job advertisement, submitting a form stating the need for a worker, and completing other administrative steps has now been replaced by a simple electronic registration that can be completed in just a few minutes. All that is now required is the personal identification number of the engaged worker, their bank account number, and a telephone number to confirm the engagement. The engagement ends on the specified date, with no need to deregister the worker. This significantly reduces the administrative burden, costs, and time required to hire workers. In addition to greater flexibility in human resource management, another incentive for companies is the reduced cost of each work engagement. Specifically, a flat-rate social security contribution is now paid for each work engagement. This saves time and makes the process significantly simpler and more accessible to all users.
3. One of the main objectives is to bring more workers into the formal economy. What concrete benefits does formal registration provide to seasonal and occasional workers, particularly in terms of social protection, pension contributions and their existing rights?
- One of the main objectives of the law was to ensure that occasional work would not mean fewer rights. Workers engaged on an occasional basis have the right to be informed about working conditions and potential risks, to receive appropriate financial compensation, and to be protected in the event of a workplace injury. The most important benefit is that they will no longer have to choose between working and maintaining their social security. The law enables students, pensioners, unemployed people, social assistance beneficiaries, and other categories of citizens to earn additional income legally without automatically losing the benefits they already receive, subject to the conditions stipulated by law. The law also guarantees protection against discrimination, harassment, and workplace bullying (mobbing).
This establishes a balance: the law provides flexibility while also guaranteeing basic workers’ rights. The law enables employers to easily engage people for seasonal and occasional work, while the seasonal workers gain their working rights, social protection, and greater security
4. The platform is integrated into the Employment Service Agency’s existing information system and connects with other relevant national systems. Why is this institutional cooperation important, and what role does digitalisation play in making public services more efficient and transparent?
- The law provides for the development of an information system (software solution) for the purposes of registration and registration of persons, which is hosted by the Employment Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia (AVRM); and upgrading of the existing system of the Public Revenue Administration (UJP), and accordingly modifications in the existing software of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIOM). Employment under a simplified procedure will be carried out by registering the person through the e-registration platform of the AVRM, while the collection of taxes and contributions will be done through the system of collection of taxes and contributions of the AVP. The platform is active as of January 1, 2026, and can be used for registration, check-out of seasonal and temporary workers and payment of taxes and contributions for their recruitment.
5. Introducing a digital solution is only one part of the process. What are the main challenges in ensuring that employers and workers understand the new system and actually use it, particularly in rural areas and among small businesses?
- Work engagement is not a substitute for a regular employment relationship, but is intended exclusively for temporary, occasional and seasonal work. The law precisely defines the conditions under which this opportunity can be used, as well as the maximum duration of the engagement. Thus, an employer, for example, a company cannot hire a person who has been in an employment relationship for a period of 12 months. The purpose of this mechanism is to prevent the transformation of a regular employment relationship into a work engagement. In addition, each engagement is compulsorily recorded in the electronic system of the AVRSM, which allows institutions to have full insight and easier to exercise control. In this way, the possibility of working engagement being used as a means of concealing a classic working relationship is significantly reduced. The aim is not to reduce workers' rights, but to formalize a part of the labour market that has so far largely functioned outside the legal framework. It is in this direction, to educate and inform the end users of the activities covered by the legal solution, within the framework of the project, we have carried out an information campaign entitled "Fair Engagement". The campaign included direct communication with employers and workers from agriculture, hospitality, tourism and household services, as well as informing the public through the national public service. All this we expect to contribute to better information about the rights and obligations of both parties to reduce the grey economy and social protection of the persons involved.
6. The new legal framework initially covers agriculture, hospitality, tourism, and household services. What impact do you expect the system to have on these sectors, and what would success look like in the coming years?
- We expect several positive outcomes:
• Formalization of informal work: The law provides legal status and protection for employees who are currently unregistered.
• Increased public revenues: Increased tax contributions will strengthen the national budget and reduce the "grey economy".
• Improved business environment: Promotes healthy competitiveness by providing a uniform legal framework for all business sectors.
Our goal is for the Law to become a practical tool that facilitates the day-to-day operations of the defined sectors and creates fairer conditions for all parties involved in the process. This will also contribute to improved labour market data, which is important for the development of future public policies.