MEF: The seven-hour working day should be nurtured and affirmed not as an obligation but as an option

The Union of Employers of Montenegro (UPCG) announced today that the seven-hour working day should be nurtured and affirmed not as an obligation but as an option.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said earlier today that, after extensive consideration of how to find a model that would satisfy both unions and employers, they are close to a solution regarding the introduction of a seven-hour working day.

The MEF said that although the idea of ​​introducing a seven-hour workday may seem like a step towards improving the quality of working conditions, they call on the general public, and especially decision-makers, "to look at the broader economic and social picture when discussing this and similar issues."

"The Montenegrin economy is already facing a chronic shortage of labor, low productivity levels and numerous structural problems that limit its development. In such a context, a unilateral and isolated measure such as reducing the number of working hours, without parallel activities aimed at increasing productivity, efficiency and technological modernization of business processes, will have the opposite effects to those sought to be achieved - a decline in economic activity, an additional financial burden on employers as well as public finances," the statement said.

The MEF added that they do not dispute the need for improved working conditions and greater flexibility, but point to "the necessity of realistically assessing the capacities of our economy, objective obstacles to its further development, and the existence of space for additional burdens on businesspeople."

"We note that the working conditions in Montenegro, which are prescribed by the Labor Law and other regulations, often exceed those in force in far more developed countries and economies, and in the context of the topic of working hours, it should be noted that, unlike ours, very often in comparable labor legislations of EU countries, the daily break is not paid. Therefore, instead of administrative measures aimed at shortening working hours, we propose that the focus be directed towards areas in which the delay in reforms is extremely pronounced, such as the optimization of public administration and its efficiency or activities aimed at increasing overall productivity, such as improving education and lifelong learning, combating the gray economy and abuse of sick leave, and many others," the statement reads.

The MEF said that it is important to note that actual work shorter than 40 hours per week, or eight per day, is not unknown for the labor market in Montenegro, and that it, like working from home, is increasingly the result of an agreement between employees and employers when it is assessed that such a regime can function and produce the desired results.

"Therefore, we believe that this trend should be nurtured and affirmed, but not as an obligation, but as an option that, along with a number of others, is available to employees and employers," said the MEF.