Bill on conversion to regular employment covers about 6,000 people, with a deadline of December 31, 2027

MP Bojan Stojanoski of the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group and the “Your Macedonia” coalition on October 27 presented the bill on conversion to regular employment, which, according to him, corrects an injustice of many decades. Prime Minister Mickoski said on October 28 that about 6,000 people in almost all sectors work under contracts for work, temporary employment and similar forms of engagement. The law has not yet been adopted, and the topic was carried by several outlets, among them Nova Makedonija, Nezavisen, Libertas, Radio Lider, Makfax and Netpress.

Who is covered? According to the bill, the law applies to state authority bodies, certain public institutions in health, culture and social and child protection, local self-government units, public enterprises, institutes, funds and other institutions defined by the law.

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Who is excluded? The law excludes joint-stock companies, military and civilian personnel in the Army, primary and secondary schools, pupil and student dormitories, higher education and scientific institutions, as well as several security institutions: the Ministry of Interior, the National Security Agency, the Intelligence Agency, the Public Security Bureau, the Directorate for Security of Classified Information, the Financial Police Administration and the Financial Intelligence Administration.

Who is eligible? People with a valid contract on the day the law enters into force are eligible, and the contract must still be valid at the moment of conversion.

What are the deadlines? Institutions have 90 days from the law’s entry into force to sign contracts or issue employment decisions. The process is phased: up to 50 percent of those covered receive contracts or decisions that take effect right after signing, and the remaining conversions must be completed by December 31, 2027 at the latest. That is slightly more than 14 months from today.

What safeguards and limits are foreseen? The bill contains deadlines for the transition, protection of affected workers during the procedure, a limit on future contract-based engagements and financial oversight.

What is not stated? The published reports have no cost estimate and no information on where the funds will come from. The figure of 6,000 was given by the prime minister and does not follow from the text of the bill, so it is not clear how many people will be in each institution. It is also not announced when parliament will vote on the law.

Our calculation for the phases. If the figure of 6,000 is correct and if up to 50 percent are resolved immediately, that is at most about 3,000 people in the first phase and the remaining 3,000 or so by December 31, 2027. This is a calculation based on the prime minister’s figure, not data from the law, and the real schedule will depend on the specific institutions.

What a contract for work is. Under the general rule, a contract for work is a contract to perform a specific task, not regular employment, so people engaged this way usually do not have the same rights as employees, for example annual leave. That is why such a conversion matters for the workers themselves, although the exact consequences depend on the final text of the law.

What does it mean? For people who have worked on contracts for work for years, the law would mean a stable employment relationship, but for the state it also means calculating costs in the budget. The real effect will depend on the final text, on the number of people who meet the conditions and on how institutions meet the deadline.

MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 29, 2026