A new attempt for the director of the Labor Fund: The previous elections were followed by irregularities

The Human Resources Administration will test seven candidates who have met the conditions of the competition for the director of the Labor Fund.

Among them are the current acting women Jelisaveta Zorić Jović, acting during the 42nd Government Ana Mrdovic, a former adviser in the SNP parliamentary club, and a candidate for president of that party in 2017. Goran Dašić, former secretary of the Ministry of Justice in the mandate Suzana Pribilović, Vesna Ćalović.

According to the information from the website of the Administration, the requirements are also met by a lawyer Milica Parađin, employed in the Labor Fund Vjera Mićović, Ivica Matovic i Vladan Božanović.

According to "Vijesti" information, the Directorate for Human Resources will, in the middle of the week, check the competences, knowledge and abilities of the candidates for filling the position before determining the final list.

Verification of the candidate's competence, knowledge and abilities entails the preparation of a written paper, which contains an overview of priorities and proposals for improving the work process, i.e. the state of affairs in the field of work for which the candidate is appointed or appointed. A candidate who has achieved more than 50 percent of the points in the written test can participate in a structured interview.

Voting outside the law and the Statute

The labor fund has not had a full-term director for more than a year, and the previous elections were followed by irregularities.

The administrative inspection determined that the Fund's Board of Directors voted secretly on the director of that institution in April of last year, in violation of the law and the statute.

At the disputed meeting, according to the minutes, all eight members of the Supervisory Board agreed to vote secretly on the proposal for the appointment of the director of the Labor Fund.

The document states that all eight present members voted, and that the then candidates Mrdović and Zoran Ratković received two votes each, while four ballots were submitted blank, so the Board of Directors did not make a decision on the election of directors.

The Administrative Inspection emphasized that the Rules of Procedure of the Fund stipulate that secret voting is carried out by ballots by circling "for or against", but does not know the possibility of handing in blank ballots... It also stated that the Decision not to elect a director was made contrary to the Law on State officials and employees and the Labor Fund Act...

Then Mrdović was elected acting director.

ASK is investigating the election of Zorić Jović

In November of last year, the Management Board of the Labor Fund elected Zorić Jović as acting director. She was previously employed in the banking sector.

She was elected at the session itself on the proposal of one of the members of the Supervisory Board.

At the beginning of that session, and by order of the Administrative Inspection, the vote for director of that institution was repeated between the candidates Mrdović and Ratković. Mrdović received four votes out of five required for election, while Ratković withdrew his candidacy and voted for Mrdović.

Against Mrdović were representatives of trade unions, the Union of Employers and one representative of the Government, while three representatives of the government and one of the employees voted for Mrdović.

Part of the representatives of the Management Board representing the interests of employers, then led the campaign for the candidacy of Vesna Ćalović for the director of the Fund.

The November election of Zorić Jović is, as "Vijesta" confirmed, the subject of interest of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, due to the suspicion that the public interest is at risk.

"On January 13, 01, a report was submitted to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption about endangering the public interest, which points to the existence of corruption, related to the appointment of the acting director of that institution, Jelisaveta Zorić Jović," according to the letter from the Agency, which is from the Fund of work requested complete documentation in connection with that choice.

Zorić Jović told "Vijesta" that she was appointed in accordance with Article 61 of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, which prescribes how the acting director is elected. She said that the KAS submitted a response, that is, a statement, and that she believes that it was a mistake, considering that no competition and tests are planned for the appointment of the acting director.

"The Law and the Statute of the Labor Fund define the responsibilities of the Management Board for the appointment of acting directors and directors. In the attachment, we are sending the Appointment Decision of 10.11.2022/10.11.2022/XNUMX, the Appointment Decision of XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX. and the Statute of the Labor Fund", stated Zorić Jović in the response of the ASK.

She told "Vijesta" that at the meeting of the Board of Directors on November 10, 11, she was proposed for acting director as an expert from the private sector who should "focus on problems, set a strategic goal and implement activities to achieve it."

"The strategic goal is to turn the Fund into an institution that will focus on the interests of citizens, speed, efficiency, full transparency in work, fully informing workers about their rights in bankruptcy and that will constantly work on improving its processes. Meaningless anonymous reports will not sway me from realizing the goal. The fund will be a professional service for citizens, an institution that will strengthen their trust and provide a high level of service quality. The interests of individuals or groups are in the past," Zorić Jović stated in her answer.

Failure to announce the competition

A few days after Zorić Jović was appointed, on November 16 of last year, the Government by its conclusion demanded the announcement of a competition for the selection of a full-term director, but the Human Resources Administration.

At the time, the Administration replied to "Vijesta" that it was Zorić Jović who requested the suspension of the proceedings.

The Administration also said that on September 16 of this year, the Labor Fund submitted a decision to initiate the procedure for filling the position of the director of the Labor Fund.

"As the Personnel Plan of the Labor Fund for the year 2022 does not contain the information that the post of director needs to be filled, the Human Resources Administration informed the Labor Fund in a letter dated September 16, 9 that it is unable to act on the Decision on the initiation of the procedure to fill the position and announce a public competition", the Administration stated.

On November 18, the Labor Fund again addressed the Administration with a request for the publication of a public competition, along with which they submit the Government's conclusion giving consent to the initiation of the procedure for filling the position of the Director of the Labor Fund.

"The Human Resources Administration, acting on the aforementioned conclusion, submitted the E-1 form to the Employment Agency of Montenegro for certification, as well as prepared the text of the public competition for publication in the daily print media and on its website. However, on the same day, the Acting Director of the Labor Fund, Zorić Jović, sent a letter to the Human Resources Administration stating that the procedure for announcing the public competition in question was suspended, due to the fact that the conditions had not been met. Bearing in mind the above, the Human Resources Administration did not announce a public competition for the position of director of the Labor Fund", the Administration stated.

The Management Board of the Fund, which elects the director of the institution after the procedure in the Human Resources Administration, has nine members: four are representatives of the Government, two are from representative trade union organizations, two are from the Union of Employers and one is a representative of employees from the Labor Fund.

The fund pays out money to victims of the transition, i.e. to workers who lost their jobs in state-owned enterprises and did not receive severance pay. The severance pay is 1.926 euros per worker. The fund was established in 2010.