Physiotherapists in public health institutions have again not received an increase in their salary coefficients, despite the fact that the Ombudsman previously found that they were discriminated against in relation to their colleagues from the "Dr Simo Milošević" Institute and non-medical staff.
A new sectoral collective agreement for the healthcare sector was signed on December 30th of last year, but, despite the recommendation of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms and the appeal of some medical workers, physiotherapists with a university degree did not receive higher salaries.
"Our request was (and still is) to comply with the Ombudsman's recommendation and to be in the new GKU for health care in a group together with social workers, speech therapists, and psychologists. We learned that the working group had scheduled a meeting for December 30, 2025, at which our request would be considered. That meeting did not take place, but union representatives met with the Minister of Health Vojislav Šimun "signed the GKU for healthcare activities, which leads us to the conclusion that the negotiations that took place in the working group were just a formality," the physiotherapists pointed out in a letter to the editorial office.
"Vijesti" reported in December that physiotherapists, according to the draft GKU for healthcare, will continue to receive lower salaries than lawyers or economists employed in healthcare institutions.
The Ministry of Health did not respond to "Vijesti" about how they plan to correct the long-standing injustice towards physiotherapists.
The Protector previously determined that the right that was violated by potential differential treatment falls under the right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, which is guaranteed by the Labor Law, the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees at the level of principles, and further by collective agreements.
Two unions working with the Ministry of Health on the new GKU editorial board unofficially stated that "negotiations are not yet complete" and that coefficients for physiotherapists, but not only them, have not yet been agreed upon, and that in addition to them, there are other categories and injustices from the previous period that must be corrected.
Last year, the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms recommended that the Ministry of Health amend the GKU by determining the complexity coefficients for physiotherapists in public health in a manner based on the principle of equality and non-discrimination.
Physiotherapists employed in public healthcare complained to the Ombudsman institution, claiming that they were discriminated against in terms of their salaries compared to non-medical staff and colleagues from the "Dr Simo Milošević" Institute.
They explained that in 2022, the Sectoral Collective Agreement for the Health Sector was signed and that at that time, the coefficients for colleagues belonging to non-medical staff in public health were increased based on educational qualifications - for a bachelor's degree with 180 ECTS credits, the coefficient was increased from 8,35 to 9,37, while for colleagues with 240 ECTS credits, the coefficient was increased from 9,37 to 11,91. They also stated that they were denied an increase in coefficients even though they have the same level of educational qualifications as their colleagues belonging to non-medical staff in public health.
The complainants believe that they are discriminated against in relation to their colleagues employed at the "Dr Simo Milošević" Institute who receive salaries according to the new increased coefficient, and given the fact that they have the same employer - the state of Montenegro.
The Ombudsman asked the Ministries of Health and Finance, as well as the trade unions, to specify why the coefficients of physiotherapists in public healthcare were not increased in line with the coefficients of non-medical staff and colleagues at the Institute in Igalo.
"Since this request, apart from the statement of the Ministry of Finance, was not responded to, nor were the reasons for not acting or possibly not being able to respond stated, the Protector, by act dated March 25, 2025, sent a renewed request (urgency) for the submission of a statement, without further delay. By the date of drafting this opinion, the requested statements from the Ministry of Health and Trade Unions have not been submitted," the Protector's opinion states.
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