Supreme Court confirms teacher's right to increased pay for overtime during pandemic

The Supreme Court of Montenegro issued a verdict rejecting as unfounded the revision of the defendant Božidar Vuković Podgoričanin Elementary School from Podgorica and confirming the finality of the decisions of lower courts.

"This decision remains in force the judgment that adopted the claim of plaintiff MT, a teacher employed by the defendant, and that obliged the school to pay her compensation for material damages based on the lower salary, with the associated statutory default interest, as well as the costs of the proceedings," the Supreme Court announced.

It was clarified that the subject of the dispute related to the right of education employees to an increase in their salary based on hours worked above the norm during the organization of classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a combination of face-to-face and online classes, as well as additional consultations with students.

"In this regard, the Supreme Court pointed out that the organization of classes during the pandemic was based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Guidelines of the Institute for Education, which were the basis for its implementation. The Supreme Court determined that in the proceedings before the lower courts, the High Court in Podgorica and the Basic Court in Podgorica, there were no significant violations of civil procedure, nor incorrect application of substantive law. The court accepted the finding that the plaintiff, in the period from October 1, 2020 to June 15, 2021, had classes in excess of the regular norm, due to the special organization of classes during the pandemic, when classes were divided into groups and classes were shortened to 30 minutes," it was announced.

The court, it added, emphasized that the right to an increase in salary based on hours worked above the norm arises from the applicable Sectoral Collective Agreement for the field of education, and that such hours are valued as regular hours, regardless of the issue of overtime work.

"It was also assessed that the calculation and amount of the claim were correctly determined based on the findings and opinion of a financial expert, based on the relevant school documentation. The Supreme Court concluded that the audit's allegations did not cast doubt on the legality of the contested verdict, and therefore, pursuant to the Law on Civil Procedure, the defendant's audit was rejected as unfounded," it was announced.