Social state: Montenegrins should work seven hours a day

At the last Social Council of Montenegro, the shortening of working hours from eight to seven hours was the most resentful from the construction and tourism sector, which already operates seasonally and with a chronic lack of manpower. writes Deutsche Welle (DW).

"This would imply a thorough reorganization of jobs, strengthening of overtime and redistribution of working time (for which there are serious legal restrictions) and additional costs or new employment that many cannot finance. Shortening working hours for most jobs in tourism is absolutely not possible," according to the Union of Employers of Montenegro.

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From the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue, on the other hand, they say that from January 1 of this year until today, the Labor Inspectorate has not recorded the need to introduce overtime in the economic sector.

"The implementation process will be carefully planned, in cooperation with trade unions, employers, the academic community and other relevant actors. We are focused on analyzes that will show how the seven-hour working day can be implemented in practice, without jeopardizing economic performance," Minister Naida Nišić's office told DW.

An hour less for government work too

Almost 80 people work in the public sector of tiny Montenegro, which is a third of the total number of employees in the country. The overcrowded, mostly party administration is often slow and inefficient.

The private sector is therefore calling on the state to deal with the optimization of public administration, increasing its efficiency, but also suppressing the gray economy and abuse of sick leave, before reducing working hours.

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However, Minister Nišić's department sees part of the solution in reducing the number of working hours.

"Modern European trends and numerous studies confirm that shorter working hours do not mean lower efficiency - on the contrary, it leads to greater employee satisfaction, lower sick leave rates, greater motivation and greater long-term benefits for employers and society as a whole," the Ministry states.

The only one in Europe?

If the amendments to the Labor Law that provide for the introduction of seven-hour working hours receive the support of the majority in the Parliament, according to our research, Montenegro will become the first country in the region and Europe to legally define seven-hour working hours.

France is the best-known example of part-time work with a legal norm of 35 hours per week (which is an average of 7 hours per day), but this is not explicitly defined as "seven-hour working time".

The promise to introduce a seven-hour working time was first made by PES leader and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, on the occasion of the International Labor Day two years ago.

Then he announced that he would propose reducing working hours from 40 to 35 hours a week as part of the "Europe Now 2" program, on which the ruling PES based its election campaign.

After the formation of the Government, Spajić repeatedly announced the reduction of working hours, even until the end of last year, but it is still waiting for that to happen.