The media center announced today that it submitted a complaint to the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information, due to what they said was the management's silence because the Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG) did not submit information about decisions within the time limit stipulated in Article 16 paragraph 1 of the Law on Free Access to Information. on the basis of which employees are paid wages (incentives/variables).
The announcement adds that at the end of August RTCG was submitted a request for free access to information requesting:
- Decisions of the general director of RTCG for the period January 2021 - August 1, 2022, which determine the amount of available funds for incentives based on Article 12 of the Rulebook on the part of earnings based on the achieved work results in JP RTCG;
- Decision proposals of the head of the organizational unit for the payment of part of the employee's salary based on the achieved work results (incentive), based on Article 13 of the Rulebook on the part of the salary based on the achieved work results in JP RTCG, for the period January 2021 - August 1, 2022.
- Decisions of the general director on the final amount and payment of the part of the salary based on the achieved results in the work of the employee, based on Article 13 of the Rulebook on the part of the salary based on the achieved work results in JP RTCG, for the period January 2021 - August 1, 2022
"The RTCG refuses to provide data and provide insight into the legality of the procedure that was carried out illegally in the previous period. In October 2021, the Media Center requested data on the payment of salary benefits to the RTCG for the period June-October 2021. At that time, RTCG submitted a response that clearly states that there are no proposals for decisions by the heads of organizational units with an explanation of the allocated incentives for employees' salaries. The official response (decision) of the legal department of RTCG was then signed by General Director Boris Raonić," reads the press release of the Media Center, which signed by Goran Đurović, director.
From that non-governmental organization (NGO), they said that Article 13 of the Rulebook on the part of wages based on the results achieved in the work of JP RTCG prescribes that the general director of RTCG cannot make decisions determining the final amounts of funds for incentives on employees' wages without a decision proposal from managers of organizational units, who had to explain who and on the basis of which norms, determined by this Rulebook, meets the conditions for receiving incentives/variables.
"In order for incentives to be paid to employees, it is necessary for the heads of organizational units to prepare and submit a proposal for a decision to pay a part of the employees' salary based on the achieved work results (incentive). The proposal for a decision should contain a proposal for the monetary amount of the incentive and an explanation for the payment of the incentive by with all the bases and criteria from the Rulebook. The decision on the final amount and payment of part of the salary based on the achieved results in the work of the employee is made by the director general of RTCG. Given that in the period June-October 2021 there were no decisions by the heads of organizational units, all the decisions of the general director on the awarding of salary allowances were illegal. The consequence of this action is the illegal payment of around 30.000 euros per month for salary allowances (only for the period June-October 2021, around 150.000 euros were paid without grounds). At that time, the general director Raonic violated the legal norms, just like his predecessor Šundić. Unfortunately, the RTCG Council did not respond to the Media Center's warnings about the violation of regulations," the statement reads.
The media center states that since the RTCG will not provide data on the current practice in the payment of salary benefits, they do not know whether the illegal spending of funds in the RTCG has stopped and whether it is still being paid monthly, without a clear basis and in violation of the legal procedures, spends about 30.000 euros.
"The Media Center expects the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information to make a decision as soon as possible, which will ensure the publication of data on the basis of which insight into the operations of the national public media service is gained. We hope that the transparency of work will be increased in the coming period RTCG and that data will not be hidden from the public. The State Audit Institution (DRI) in its report on the financial report and operations of RTCG for the year 2021 included the application of the Rulebook on the payment of salary incentives and endorsed the findings of the Media Center. Unfortunately, the DRI she did not state in her report how much money was spent in a legally invalid way, as she does in her other reports. It would be good if the SAI explained the reasons for this deviation," concludes the Media Center statement.
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