Bosses Say Long Breaks Hurt Serbia Economy

The Union of Employers in Serbia says over-extended January breaks are costing companies millions of euros in lost earnings.

Serbia has only eight official days off a year, which puts it at the bottom of the European table in terms of the number of public holidays. Italians get 16, Icelanders 15 and the Spanish, 14.

But many Serbs get round this by joining up various public holidays in January, resulting in many people working barely 16 days in the month.

Some take the whole time off from the Gregorian Calendar Christmas Day on December 25 all the way through Serbian Orthodox New Year on January 14 to January 20, when many Serbs celebrate the "slava", or name day, of St John.

Nebojsa Atanackovic, president of the employers union, said the extended holidays cause delays in payments, among other matters, adding to firms' liquidity problems.

"We are not in a position to allow ourselves so many days off," he said, noting the economic crisis from which Serbia has yet to escape.

Biljana Stepanovic, from the group Business Info, said it was strange that "in such a crisis, when we should all be doing our utmost, we are celebrating on this scale".

She said that many employees would do the same between Easter and May 1, with people connecting the two public holidays into one extended break.

Serbs seem reluctant to break the habit of a lifetime, however. "January has always been a synonym for rest with friends and family and eating lots of food," said Milan Obradovic, 30. Account manager Jelena Vasiljevic, 31, said she used the extended January holiday to go skiing.