AmCham Montenegro organized a roundtable discussion entitled “Labor Law Reform in Montenegro – the Employers’ Perspective” at the Hotel Podgorica. The purpose of this Roundtable is to define the key issues that represent a challenge for employers with respect to labor legislation. The employers’ expectations are for these issues to be resolved by the new Labor Law. The Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Mr. Predrag Bošković, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, Mr. B. Bix Aliu, as well as the representatives of other relevant business associations: Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, Montenegro Business Alliance, Montenegrin Employers’ Federation and the Montenegrin Foreign Investors Council presented their point of view on this topic. The Roundtable resulted in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the business associations, which defines the main issues on which employers stand united in their attitude.

AmCham Montenegro’s president, Mr. Predrag Lešić, presented the activities undertaken by AmCham Montenegro through its Labor Relations Committee, conducted in the area of improving the labor legislation. “AmCham Montenegro’s initiative to gather the business community and create a unique platform that should represent the united voice of employers was created as a result of the AmCham Labor Relations Committee’s work in the previous period. This Memorandum of Understanding represents a significant step for all relevant business associations in order to stimulate intensive cooperation between the organizations. The purpose of this cooperation is to create a better business environment through drafting the new Labor Law of Montenegro.” said Mr. Lešić. This initiative is also supported by the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro.

The current Labor Law, from the employers’ perspective, is not precise in all provisions, creating serious business barriers for employers who wish to do business in Montenegro. In order to create a better business environment, employers expect the new Labor Law to bring the necessary clarification and better regulate this area. By signing the MoU, business associations agreed that the issue of monetary claims submitted by employees should have a statute of limitations. Also, the procedure for establishing violations of workplace order should be simplified and stipulated only by the Labor Law. Furthermore, the employers have reached a consensus on the issues of defining more flexible termination of employment contracts initiated by the employer, contract duration and the notice period. They believe that the issue of segmented use of annual leave should be regulated in a more liberal manner. Finally, the term “salary” should be more precisely defined.

Signatories to the Memorandum agree in their assessment that the new Labor Law should be the main legislative document that will stipulate the rights and obligations of employers and employees in Montenegro. In that sense, this Memorandum represents the support of business associations for drafting the new Labor Law of Montenegro.