The Institute of Alternatives supports the initiative of the civil sector and the efforts of the opposition to amend the provisions of the Draft Law on Social and Child Protection, which, among other things, regulate the amount of funds that are reimbursed to the employer.
They believe that by limiting the amount of funds for reimbursement to the employer to an amount that cannot be higher than the amount of the average salary in the country in the previous year, the planned effects of savings in the state budget will not be achieved if one takes into account the number of citizens in Montenegro who earn a salary in an amount higher from average earnings.
"Instead of savings in the state budget, the state will actually encourage discrimination and increase the unemployment of women who earn more and who are planning a family," writes the statement of the Institute of Alternatives.
"By adopting such provisions of the Law, the state leaves the social care of maternity and parents to employers who will try to either change collective agreements and reduce earnings of maternity or parental leave beneficiaries or to fire them. Women who have a fixed-term contract or who have less than they work for the employer for three months, because in that case the wage compensation is not refunded. It is unrealistic to expect that the employers will be able to bear this burden."
"Instead of stimulating childbirth and providing support to women and parents, the position of women and parents is further endangered"
They believe that numerous abuses of the right to reimbursement of wages for maternity or parental leave are failures in the work of the competent inspection bodies.
"The debt to the state that arose as a result of abuses must not be paid with the money of those who earn above-average wages. It should be noted that the amount of funds for refunding is paid from the Health Insurance Fund, and that it is money that is taken from the salaries of the citizens of Montenegro every month is set aside for this purpose as well," the announcement reads.
Instead of stimulating childbirth and providing support to women and parents, the position of women and parents is further threatened by the adoption of such provisions of the Law, according to the Institute of Alternatives.
"Previous scandals and abuses remind us that the labor inspectorate did not do its job, or at least did not do it properly. The state should not punish mothers and children, but rather improve the work of inspection authorities in order to prevent future abuses of the right to reimbursement of wages for maternity leave, i.e. parental leave", they conclude.
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