# What do you do if your employer does not pay your salary?

**Jelena Đivuljskij, lawyer, Novi Sad.** Phone and Viber: +381 65 2935 637, Mon–Fri, 9:00–17:00 CET. [Send an enquiry](https://advokatjelena.rs/en/contact?tema=Unpaid%20salary#upit).

- Author: [Jelena Đivuljskij](https://advokatjelena.rs/en/about), lawyer
- Area: [Employment law](https://advokatjelena.rs/en/employment-law)
- Written: 10 November 2026 (2026-11-10)

## Key information

- Salary for the previous month is paid by the end of the current month at the latest.
- Your employer must give you the salary calculation (obračun zarade) even for a month it did not pay.
- The calculation of unpaid salary is an enforceable document (izvršna isprava): you collect without a lawsuit.
- Claims arising from employment become time-barred after three years.

## In short

Ask your employer for the calculation for the month it did not pay, because that calculation is an enforceable document on which you file a motion for enforcement (predlog za izvršenje), and if there is no calculation, claim the salary with a lawsuit, within three years.

## By when must an employer pay your salary?

Salary (zarada) is paid within the periods set by the internal rules (opšti akt) and the employment contract, at least once a month, and at the latest by the end of the current month for the previous month (Article 110 of the Labour Law, Zakon o radu). Your salary for October must therefore be paid by the end of November at the latest.

> **Deadline** Salary for the previous month by the end of the current month at the latest.

When employment ends, the employer must pay all unpaid salary, salary compensation (naknada zarade) and other earnings within 30 days of the day it ended (Article 186).

## What is the calculation and why does it matter?

With every salary payment, the employer must give you a calculation (Article 121). It must also give you the calculation for a month for which it did not pay your salary, by the end of the following month at the latest.

That calculation is an enforceable document. This means you do not need a judgment for compulsory collection: on the basis of the calculation you can seek enforcement straight away.

If you have not received it, ask the employer for it in writing, by email or registered letter, and keep proof that you asked.

## How do you collect your salary on the basis of the calculation?

On the basis of the calculation, a motion for enforcement is filed with the court under the Law on Enforcement and Security (Zakon o izvršenju i obezbeđenju). The calculation of unpaid salary is attached to the motion. The court decides on the motion with an enforcement order (rešenje o izvršenju), and a public enforcement officer (javni izvršitelj) carries out the collection, most often from the employer's account.

Before the motion, you can send the employer a written demand with a short deadline for payment. The law does not require this, but sometimes it is enough.

If bankruptcy proceedings have been opened against the employer, you do not collect your salary through enforcement. You file it as a claim in the bankruptcy, within the deadline stated in the notice of the opening of bankruptcy proceedings.

## What if there is no calculation?

Without a calculation, you claim your salary with a lawsuit before the basic court (osnovni sud): for payment of salary, salary compensation and other earnings, with statutory default interest. You then have to prove how much you are owed and that you worked. The employment contract, bank statements from earlier months, records of working hours, messages and emails help.

Independently of the court, you can turn to the labour inspectorate (inspekcija rada), which supervises whether the employer complies with the Labour Law.

## How long can you claim your salary?

All monetary claims arising from employment become time-barred three years from the day the obligation arose (Article 196). For each salary, the period runs separately, from the day it should have been paid.

> **Deadline** Three years from the day the salary fell due, separately for each month.
>
> **Upit** with the calculations and bank statements for the unpaid months

## When do you not need a lawyer?

If your salary was a few days late and the employer then paid the full amount and gave you the calculation, there is no reason for proceedings. Still, keep the calculations and statements: they serve as evidence if the delay happens again.

## What to prepare

- your employment contract and all annexes
- salary calculations, especially for the months that were not paid
- statements for the account your salary is paid into
- your written request for the calculation and proof that you sent it
- records of working hours, messages or emails, if there is no calculation

## Legislation

- [Labour Law (Zakon o radu)](https://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/eli/rep/sgrs/skupstina/zakon/2005/24/1/reg): Articles 110, 121, 186 and 196
- [Law on Enforcement and Security (Zakon o izvršenju i obezbeđenju)](https://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/eli/rep/sgrs/skupstina/zakon/2015/106/1/reg): Article 41
- [Bankruptcy Law (Zakon o stečaju)](https://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/eli/rep/sgrs/skupstina/zakon/2009/104/25/reg): Article 111

This topic: [Employment law → Unpaid salary](https://advokatjelena.rs/en/employment-law#plata)

This article is for information only and is not legal advice.

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