Employment Contracts under Macedonian Labour Law: What Must Be in Writing

Employment in North Macedonia is governed primarily by the Law on Labour Relations (Закон за работните односи). It is a protective statute: many of its rules apply regardless of what the contract says, and a contract that tries to waive them will simply not be enforced on those points. That makes the employment contract less about invention and more about getting the mandatory framework right — and then using the space the law actually leaves you.

The contract must be written — before work starts

An employment relationship is established by a written employment contract, concluded before the employee starts working, and the employee must be registered for mandatory social insurance. Letting someone "start on Monday and we'll sort the paperwork later" is not a technicality — undeclared work exposes the employer to inspection measures and fines, and leaves both sides without a clear record of what was agreed.

What the contract has to contain

The law prescribes the minimum content of every employment contract. In practice that includes, among other elements:

• the parties and the date work begins;
• the job title and a description of the work;
• the place of work;
• duration (indefinite or fixed-term);
• working hours and their schedule;
• the amount of the base salary and payment intervals;
• annual leave entitlement and notice provisions.

Indefinite duration is the legal default: if duration is not validly specified, the relationship is treated as concluded for indefinite time.

Fixed-term contracts have a ceiling

Fixed-term employment is allowed, but not forever. The law caps consecutive fixed-term engagements for the same work at a cumulative maximum of five years; beyond that, the relationship converts into employment for indefinite time. Employers who roll over short contracts as a habit should track this ceiling carefully — conversion happens by operation of law, not by anyone's signature.

Probation, working time and leave

A probationary period may be agreed within the statutory maximum, during which the relationship can be ended under simplified conditions if the employee does not meet the requirements of the job.

Full working time is 40 hours per week, with statutory rules on daily and weekly rest and overtime limits and pay. Every employee acquires the right to paid annual leave, with a statutory minimum measured in working days that the contract can improve but never reduce. Waivers of annual leave are void.

Ending the relationship

This is where most disputes are born. An employer cannot terminate at will: dismissal requires a lawful ground — reasons related to the employee's conduct or capacity, or business reasons (redundancy) — expressed in a written decision with reasoning, following the procedure the law prescribes for that ground. Notice periods apply, and in redundancy cases severance pay is owed under the statute.

Terminations fail in court far more often on procedure than on substance: a genuinely justified dismissal can still be overturned because a warning was skipped, reasoning was thin, or deadlines were missed. For employees, the same rules are the checklist for testing whether a dismissal was lawful — and the deadlines for challenging one are short.

Practical advice for both sides

Employers: keep your employment contracts and internal acts consistent with each other, document performance issues while they are happening, and treat every termination as if a judge will read the file — one day, one might. Employees: read the contract before starting, keep copies of everything you sign, and take advice quickly when a dismissal or an unpaid salary is on the table, because the limitation periods do not wait.