Acting director of Budva's "Waterworks and Sewerage" Milan Perović today, by order of the Labor Inspectorate, annulled the dismissal decisions for 25 workers, which he handed out in early December.
"Based on the minutes of the inspection conducted on December 17, a decision is made to invalidate the notice of termination of employment. The employee continues his employment with the employer under the same conditions that applied before the notice of termination of employment was issued," reads the decision, which Vijesti had access to and which is signed by Perović.
As a reminder, Perović, one of the key figures in the ruling political group "Budva our city", referring to the findings of the inspection of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue, which determined that workers were hired two years ago without a public competition and contrary to the law, handed over work books to 25 workers on December 1, for whom irregularities were found.
We are talking about the hiring that took place in early April 2022, when the company was headed by the then director Jasna Dokić.
"Upon reviewing the personal documentation of the employees, it was concluded that there is no document on the basis of which it could be determined that they established an employment relationship through a public advertisement, as prescribed by law. The employer did not report a vacant position to the Employment Agency, nor did it, in accordance with Article 24 of the Labor Law, establish an employment relationship with the registered persons, and it was obliged to do so, given that the founder of the company is the Municipality of Budva, which is in accordance with the statute of the controlled Budva Water Supply and Sewerage Company," the inspection report states.
After a series of dismissals, former acting director Jasna Dokić also spoke out, accusing Perović of deliberately not completing the procedure with the Labor Inspectorate in order to hand over the dismissals, and then blackmailing them politically in order to rehire them.
She said she had legally employed the worker.
A new extraordinary inspection of that municipal company followed.
Pićan: The Ministry prevented the arrogant actions of Jovanović and Perović
The Inspectorate's decision was welcomed by Bojana Pićan, a member of parliament and member of the New Serbian Democracy in the Budva parliament.
"The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue has shown that the law in Montenegro has power, standing up for the protection of workers of the company 'Vodovod i kanalizacija' doo Budva, who were victims of open and conscious violation of the law. I would like to thank Minister Naida Nišić and Acting Secretary Ivana Đođić, who seriously and responsibly dealt with the case in 'Vodovod i kanalizacija' and prevented the illegal and arrogant actions of Nikola Jovanović and Director Milan Perović, whose goal was a political and personal showdown with employees, and not the lawful management of the company. The Ministry's quick reaction revealed the truth - over 20 workers were illegally dismissed and will be reinstated. And those who gave themselves the right to play with human destinies should be held accountable. Leaving a pregnant woman without a job is a cruel violation of the law and basic human rights. Let them be honored for giving themselves the right to endanger the existence of any person, expose them to stress before the holidays and bring them into uncertainty," Pićan said in a statement.
As she pointed out, the fact that the labor inspector was misled is particularly concerning, which indicates serious suspicions of deliberate deception of state authorities.
"Such conduct cannot and must not remain without criminal liability. I expect the competent authorities to urgently initiate criminal proceedings against all responsible persons who knowingly violated the law and abused their authority in order to deal with workers who perform their jobs honorably and responsibly, just before the New Year holidays," concluded Pićan.
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