So far, 600 employees have received a salary for December that was less than the minimum wage of 16.621 euros, while 30.896 workers have received the exact amount of the minimum wage. 140 workers, or 74 percent, receive a salary below the average of one thousand euros, according to data obtained by "Vijesti" from the Tax Administration.
The data also indicates that every fourth employee, 47,6 thousand, works for a minimum or lower net salary than that amount of 600 euros, because the December salary was calculated and paid for 5 employees by February 191.639, according to the report on calculated and paid taxes and contributions (IOPPD form) submitted by that date.
In Montenegro, it is possible for an employer and an employee to conclude a part-time employment contract, which can be for half or a quarter of the working time, with the employee then being able to receive half or a quarter of the minimum wage.
The Union of Free Trade Unions previously warned that this possibility, without better controls, could be a source of injustice and the shadow economy, because an employee can work a quarter of the working time (10 hours a week) and receive 150 euros for it, while working much more and receiving the difference "in cash" without calculating the duties. However, due to the significant reduction in taxes and contributions on wages, the question is to what extent employers are using this possibility to reduce their duties or whether these are really employees and jobs that do not require full-time employment.
Below average 74 percent of workers
Based on questions from "Vijesti", the Tax Administration responded that 600 employees receive net earnings of 800 to 58.917 euros, and another 800 employees receive net earnings of 34.460 to one thousand euros.
This means that 141 thousand employees out of a total of 191 thousand employees for whom it has been calculated so far received their December salary of up to one thousand euros. Since the minimum wage, according to official data from Monstat, was approximately that amount in that month - 1.012 euros, it follows that 74 percent of employees receive a salary that is lower than the average in the country.
Only one in four employees (26 percent) receives salaries above average. According to this data from the Tax Administration, 1.000 employees received December salaries in the net amount of between 1.500 and 34.865 euros, and another 15.880 workers received salaries in the amount of over one thousand and a half euros.
4% of employees have a salary above the consumer basket
Monstat stopped publishing data on the minimum consumer basket at the end of 2023, because Eurostat and the statistical offices of the EU member states do not have an official methodology for the consumer basket, but also because Monstat's previous methodology included the costs of consuming the minimum calories needed for survival, which was not accepted by the public as relevant data for the real needs of an average family of four. The last Monstat consumer basket from December 2023 amounted to 824 euros, which was ten euros more than the average salary in that month.
After that, the Center for Education, Information and Trade Union Research of the Union of Free Trade Unions began calculating the trade union consumer basket based on the optimal needs of a family of four for a normal life. According to this data, the trade union consumer basket for the last quarter of last year (October, November, December) amounted to 1.970 euros.
That's why "Vijesti" asked the Tax Administration how many employees received wages of two thousand euros or more in December.
"The number of employees in Montenegro who received an income above 2024 euros in December 2.000 is 7.860," the Tax Administration said.
This means that only four percent of employees, compared to the total number of workers who have received their December salaries so far, have earnings that exceed the amount of the union consumer basket.
The consumer basket includes costs for food (595 euros), housing - rent (390 euros), household maintenance (110 euros), utilities and utilities (240 euros), clothing and footwear (100 euros), personal hygiene and health care products (135 euros), transportation (100 euros), education and culture (105 euros), sports and recreation (70 euros), one twelfth of an annual family vacation (125 euros).
66 thousand more employees in Monstat data
On January 31, Monstat announced that 257.778 employees worked in Montenegro in December, however, data from the Tax Administration on officially submitted IOPPD forms by February 5 show that 66 fewer workers had received their salaries for that month by then.
This large difference indicates that a significant number of workers receive their salaries with a delay of several months, but also that there is a difference in the methodologies of these two institutions. This difference between the data of Monstat and the Tax Administration has existed for years. Monstat receives its data from a survey of employers, while the Tax Administration bases its figures on submitted IOPPD forms on actually calculated and paid salaries. Also, Monstat, according to the official methodology, does not use data obtained from employers with fewer than ten employees to calculate the average net salary, which raises doubts that this data is not entirely accurate. The Statistical Office has been announcing for years a transition to the so-called administrative calculation of average salaries, which would mean that the average is arrived at based on the Tax Administration data from submitted reports on actually calculated and paid salaries.
Bonus video:
