The “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 73 of 14 August 2026, published the Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on the Criteria, Manner and Other Matters Relevant to the Implementation of Active Employment Policy Measures.
The amendments provide more detailed rules on the conditions under which employers may obtain various forms of state aid, with particular importance attached to amendments concerning employee training, employment of persons with disabilities, and the application of state aid rules.
Financing employee training
The amendments provide more detailed rules on eligible training costs, including lecturers’ fees, travel and accommodation expenses, training materials, equipment depreciation, consultancy services and certain indirect costs.
The basic aid intensity for training amounts to up to 50% of eligible costs, and may be increased to 70%, depending on the category of employees and the size of the employer.
Employment of persons with disabilities
The conditions for obtaining wage subsidies for the employment of persons with disabilities without work experience, as well as reimbursement of workplace adaptation costs and professional support costs, have been amended.
For certain measures, particular attention should be paid to the 30-day deadline for submitting an application, calculated from the date of commencement of employment.
At the same time, the possibility of reimbursing the wage costs of a person providing professional support to a newly employed person with a disability has been regulated in greater detail. Such support may include counselling, training, workplace assistance and on-the-job monitoring, for a period of up to 12 months.
De minimis aid – new framework
The amendments specify which measures are implemented under the de minimis aid regime. These include subsidies for the employment of persons from particularly hard-to-employ categories, self-employment subsidies, internships, acquisition of practical knowledge and employer-requested training.
For a single undertaking, de minimis aid may be granted up to EUR 300,000 over a period of three consecutive fiscal years.
Horizontal state aid – significant amounts
For measures implemented under the rules on horizontal state aid, significantly higher limits are provided: wage subsidies for the employment of persons with disabilities without work experience may amount to up to 75% of eligible costs, reimbursement of additional costs for employing persons with disabilities may amount to up to 100% of eligible additional costs, while participation in financing training programmes for the employer’s needs may amount to up to EUR 2,000,000 per project.
The amendments are important not only because of the new or more clearly defined financing opportunities, but also because employers must, before submitting an application, verify which state aid regime applies, whether they meet the substantive eligibility requirements, what the permitted aid intensity is, and whether any restrictions apply in relation to previously received aid.
Undertakings that are considered undertakings in difficulty under the applicable state aid rules, as well as beneficiaries with outstanding obligations to repay previously received state or de minimis aid, may not exercise these rights until such obligations have been settled.
For employers planning new recruitment, employment of persons with disabilities or investment in employee training, it is therefore important to assess eligibility for the relevant measure before taking the steps preceding the submission of an application, particularly in view of the applicable deadlines and state aid rules.
For additional information or consultations, the Tasić & Partners team is at your disposal.