Mandatory insurance of employees against work injuries and professional diseases according to the Law on occupational safety and health

The Law on Occupational Safety and Health from 2005 stipulated the employer’s obligation to insure employees against occupational injuries and occupational diseases at their own expense. However, given the fact that this regulation did not provide for a penal policy in case of non-compliance with this obligation, employers generally avoided concluding this type of insurance. Therefore, the new Law on Occupational Safety and Health from 2023 sets high fines for violations. However, employers are given a period of two years (until May 2025) to comply with this, as well as numerous other changes in the new regulation. In the paper, the authors analyse the normative framework that governs this mandatory insurance, point out problematic wording and possible improvements, and compare Serbian legislation in this regard with countries in the region in order to identify the best model for the protection of employees’ rights. Also, the authors point out obvious omissions in keeping statistics on work injuries and occupational diseases in Serbia and the need to regulate the issue of collective insurance in more detail.