The decision by which the Government determined the amount of transportation costs to and from work for employed beneficiaries of the Budget of the Republic of Montenegro in 1995 is not and cannot be the basis for reimbursement of transportation costs for civil servants and employees, for the reason that this act of lower legal force determines the amount of compensation , not right.
That is the opinion of the Protector of Property and Legal Interests Bojan Ćirović, and in connection with a large number of proposals from employees in the administration and the judiciary for damages due to unpaid transportation costs from 2008 to 2015.
"It follows that the claim for compensation in the name of transportation costs to and from work of civil servants and state employees and employees to whom the provisions of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees are to be applied is unfounded," writes the protector's reply.
The employees' proposals for compensation before the Agency for Peaceful Dispute Resolution or the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution came about because the Labor Law stipulates that labor claims arising from August 23, 2008 to 2020 expire on January 7, 2024.
"The right to compensation for transportation costs to and from work in the specific and disputed period is not prescribed by any law, considering the Law on Labor Relations ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro", No. 010/97 of 02.04.1997, 060/01 from 18.12.2001) onwards. On the other hand, the General Collective Agreement from 1995 in the provision of Article 29 paragraph 2 stipulated: a special, i.e. individual collective agreement or employment contract shall determine the method and amount of compensation for transportation costs to and from work, up to the amount of costs that do not exceed the price of the public means of transport, however, the later General Collective Agreements do not prescribe this right, nor do the branch collective agreements for the administration and judiciary address this fee", Ćirović writes in the answer.
She also said that it follows from court practice that with the entry into force of the Law on Salaries of Civil Servants and Employees ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro", No. 027/04 of 28 April 4, Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro, No. 2004 /017 of 07 December 31, 12/2007 of 027 April 08) the Law on Wages in the Non-Economic Area ceased to be valid, in the part related to wages and other issues of civil servants, but also other regulations regulating the issues of salaries, allowances and other incomes of civil servants, as it follows from the provisions of Article 26.
"However, the right to compensation for transportation costs to and from work is not prescribed by any regulation after the entry into force of this law, neither the General Collective Agreement nor the Branch Agreement for the Administration and Judiciary, therefore I consider the claim of civil servants and employees for compensation unfounded transportation costs to and from work for the requested period. The same is found by the Constitutional Court of Montenegro in its decisions", claims Ćirović.
She also pointed to the legal position of the Supreme Court, which found that in this particular case there was a Decision on the Approval of the Director of the Clinical Center (KC) from 2008, which was the basis for reimbursement of transportation costs to and from work, made with reference to the provisions of the Law on health care, which "according to the opinion of the Supreme Court of Montenegro should have been applied to that specific case".
"However, in the end, that court states that in the disputed period, the employee's right to compensation for transportation costs was not expressly treated by the Law on Wages of Civil Servants and State Employees, the Labor Law, the General Collective Agreement and the Branch Collective Agreement for Health and Social Services." But it also states the following "..., while this decision deals only with the amount and method of payment of the recognized compensation."
"Vijesti" recently announced that the Education Union will initiate a collective dispute before the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Disputes due to unpaid transportation in the period from 2008 to 2015.
The educators protested for non-payment of transportation
The "Educational Travelers" association protested in front of the Ministry of Health yesterday, demanding that the ministry pay for transportation for educators.
They said that Article 16 of the Branch Collective Agreement, repealed in 2005, stipulated that the employer, that is, the ministry, pays for the transportation of educators.
Professor Mitar Magovčević said that around 600 educators travel and assessed that education is not a priority for the new government.
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