New Labour Law will additionally protect employees in terms of their working hours

Podgorica, Montenegro (16 August 2017) – Regarding the misinterpretation of certain solutions from the new Labour Law, we point out that Article 66 of the Draft Law regulates the institution for the redistribution of working time, which is applied in those activities whose nature requires a different model of work than usual. The new solution is in the part of the public, and somewhat in the business community, misinterpreted, or even identified with overtime, although it is about different institutions.

Redistribution of working time implies that the employee works longer for a period of one year, and shorter for another period of a year, meaning that the total working hours on average cannot be longer than full-time. The specified solution is also present in the current law, but it is inaccurate, and does not define the maximum duration of working hours, which left room for overruns in terms of duration of work.

By passing the Draft Labour Law, the Government has applied the standards contained in Directive 2003/88, which refers to models of working hours, and limited the duration of working hours to the benefit of the employee, so that the total working hours during the month can last up to 54 hours per week, and 60 hours a week when it comes to seasonal jobs.

In this way, in case of redistribution of working hours, the employee is entitled to all anticipated breaks in accordance with the law, which was also not sufficiently ensured by the applicable Law. The obligations imposed on the employers by a new decision eliminate the space for possible abuse and facilitate the laxity of inspection control, and high fines are imposed for those who violate the established obligations.

Redistribution of working time significantly improved the position of employees, which is confirmed by the fact that this solution was found at the approval of the trade unions, and the agreement has been reached on the level of the work group among the social partners.

Therefore, there is no talk of a worse solution for workers, nor did the law change to the detriment of employees, but will eliminate the existing unfavourable practices through the future application of the relevant Directive, and with respect to the provisions of the international law.

MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE / PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO