State Audit Office: labour disputes cost the state €64.4 million (2020–2025)

The State Audit Office (DZR) found that a lack of systematic and effective handling of labour disputes cost the state more than €64 million between 2020 and 2025.

Auditors recorded a sharp rise in the number of active labour cases, from 9,361 in 2021 to 24,556 in 2025. The report highlights that the biggest jump occurred in 2022 (an increase of 66.16% compared with 2021), followed by growth of 22.49% in 2023 versus 2022, 18.75% in 2024 versus 2023 and 8.52% in 2025 versus 2024 — a pattern of continued increase with a slowing pace.

Data collected from 69 state institutions represented by the State Attorney's Office show that, in total, more than 3.9 billion denars — about €64.4 million — were paid out over the five-year period. Of the paid amounts, the principal liability totals €33,219,570, while €31,149,460 relates to interest, litigation costs and enforcement expenses. The audit notes that 95.36% of payments were collected by enforcement orders and only 4.64% were paid voluntarily.

Systemic gaps and weak preventive work

The audit says the absence of a unified, functioning system for managing labour disputes has produced differing interpretations and uneven application of rules, and prevents systematic analysis of why disputes are started and the initiation of legislative changes.

"The existing legislation and subordinate regulations do not provide a fully harmonized and functional system for managing labour disputes. The identified ambiguities and inconsistencies create different interpretations and unequal application of the regulations, and there are no systemic mechanisms for analysing the reasons for initiating labour disputes and for proposing appropriate amendments to the legal framework," the report states.

Auditors also point to shortcomings in prevention and case management. Most institutions do not track or analyse the reasons behind disputes, alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms are barely used, and the State Attorney's Office mostly acts reactively rather than providing preventive advice.

The report stresses that staffing shortages are a key constraint. Although government decisions increased the number of authorised state attorneys from 56 in 2020 to 72 in 2025, the number of appointed state attorneys did not follow: in 2025 only 57 were appointed. "In conditions of increased workload — especially due to the rise in labour-related cases in 2024 and 2025, expropriation cases connected to infrastructure corridors 8 and 10, and new responsibilities set by new laws, the existing staffing capacities face limitations in timely undertaking procedural actions," the report adds.

The State Audit Office recommends urgent legal reform, stronger preventive measures, and establishing a functioning analytical system to monitor and manage the financial risks from labour disputes.

Photo: press material from the event