Motherhood is an obstacle to additional work: It is being investigated whether the Podgorica Public Health Department and the Ministry of Health discriminated against a female doctor
The Medical Doctors' Union claims that the doctor was denied this right because she used the legally guaranteed parental leave. The Health Center said that the legal regulations exist so that norms are respected and equal for everyone, while the Ministry of Health did not respond to the editorial team's questions.
The Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms is determining whether the Podgorica Health Center and the relevant ministry discriminated against a doctor on the basis of gender - a female doctor selected for that health institution when they did not allow her to work overtime, because she had previously used maternity or parental leave.
This was told to "Vijesti" by the Ombudsman institution. They specified that statements regarding this matter have been requested from the Podgorica institution and the Ministry of Health.
The Medical Doctors' Union (SDMCG) filed a complaint against such actions by the health institution and the Ministry of Health.
According to the complaint, the doctor requested permission for additional work from the management of her parent institution - the Podgorica Health Center - last year, and was told that this was not possible. The Health Center explained this by the fact that the Regulation on the detailed conditions for performing additional work, among other things, stipulates that a health worker can perform additional work under the condition that "in the period of one year prior to submitting the request for written consent, he/she has not been absent from work for more than three months". This, the health authorities interpret, also applies to parental leave. In the same way, according to the documentation that "Vijesti" has access to, this provision of the Regulation is interpreted by the Ministry of Health.
"The Medical Doctors' Union will not accept the practice in which motherhood is turned into a professional obstacle, and a legally guaranteed right into a basis for punishing women. We demand that the competent institutions immediately stop this behavior and show that women's rights are valid in real life, and not just in speeches and statements," said the president of the SDMCG. Milena Popović Samardžić in a statement to "Vijesti".
In their responses to the editorial staff, the Health Center emphasized that "legal regulations exist so that norms are respected and equal for everyone." The Ministry of Health did not respond to questions from "Vijesti".
A story about birth rate, then punishment for motherhood
The complaint emphasizes that the doctor exercised her legally guaranteed right to parental leave between December 20, 2024 and June 8, 2025.
"After returning to work and properly performing all regular work tasks, on September 18, 2025, she submitted a request for written consent to perform additional work. The employer rejected the request on September 24, 2025, explaining that the doctor does not meet the condition set out in Article 4, paragraph 1, item 6 of the Rulebook on detailed conditions for performing additional work for healthcare workers, because she was absent from work for more than three months in the period of one year prior to submitting the request," the complaint to the Ombudsman states.
It is stated that after this position of the Podgorica Health Center, SDMCG submitted a request to the Ministry of Health for interpretation of the disputed provision.
"The Ministry of Health, by act no. 25-17/25, confirmed that the condition of not being absent for more than three months includes any leave, including parental leave. This action deprived the female doctor of professional and economic opportunities solely due to the fact that she exercised the right to family protection and child care," the complaint states.
The SDMCG assesses that such a sequence of actions shows that "neither the employer nor the relevant ministry considered the proportionality of the measure, nor did they attempt to interpret the norm in the spirit of constitutional guarantees on the protection of maternity."
"Instead, a mechanical approach was applied that punishes the doctor for her biological role, ignoring her past and current contributions to the healthcare system," they stressed in the complaint.
Popović Samardžić points out that "this case completely exposes the hypocrisy of state policy."
"While the government publicly talks about birth rates, equality and the protection of parenthood, in reality it punishes women precisely for giving birth and exercising the rights guaranteed to them by law. This is not the protection of parenthood, but its punishment. This is not equality, but open discrimination against women on the basis of gender and motherhood," said Popović Samardžić.
The Podgorica Health Center should have 16 selected doctors for adults according to the job systematization, but currently there are only a single-digit number of them. Around 67.000 insured women are registered with the selected doctors for women in the largest Montenegrin Health Center.
He points out that "this is a doctor who has done her job conscientiously, responsibly and professionally for years, often putting the needs of the service ahead of herself and her rights."
"This procedure is not being conducted for her personal interest, because the damage she suffered has already been done, but for the sake of all other healthcare workers who may tomorrow be victims of the same humiliating and unacceptable interpretation by the Ministry of Health. The Medical Doctors' Union will not accept the practice in which motherhood is turned into a professional obstacle, and a legally guaranteed right into a basis for punishing women. We demand that the competent institutions immediately stop this behavior and show that women's rights are valid in real life, and not just in speeches and statements," emphasized Popović Samardžić.
DZ: Regulations are the same for everyone
The Podgorica Health Center reiterates that the provisions of the Rulebook clearly define one of the conditions for performing additional work outside the home institution - that the employee "has not been absent from work for longer than three months in the period of one year prior to submitting the request for written consent."
"Legal regulations exist so that norms are respected and equal for everyone," they said.
In the same way, according to the documentation submitted to the Ombudsman, the Regulation is interpreted by the Ministry of Health.
"This regulation, as well as the law regulating health care... and the law regulating employment relations, does not differentiate, i.e. does not treat parental leave as a work-related leave, but rather it is a leave from work, i.e. the exercise of the right to parental leave and as such does not differ from other leaves for performing additional work. In the above sense, we believe that this provision is completely clear for direct application, and a dissatisfied healthcare worker can seek legal protection from the competent court in accordance with the law," it was specified in the interpretation of the health department from December last year, signed by the minister Vojislav Šimun.
( Tina Popovic )