14 employees of the Center for Social Work for the municipalities of Bar and Ulcinj submitted a request for the dismissal of the director to the Management Board of that institution. Biljane Pajović, because of mobbing. In the complaint, they claim that she mistreats, insults and discriminates against them, while the authorities are silent, and they have initiated legal proceedings against her.
They sent the first report of mobbing to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MRSS) in August 2023. At that time, he was the head of the ministry Admir Adrović, and after that, as the minister took over Naida Nišić, they repeatedly approached her with a request for admission and a request for protection.
This was confirmed to "Vijesti" by lawyers Marko Milosevic i Stefan Žižić, who represent ten workers, and one of the workers from the Center for Social Work for the municipalities of Bar and Ulcinj (CSR), who claim that the employees' labor rights have been grossly violated and that they do not receive any protection from the competent institutions.
They said that after numerous applications and requests, in September 2023, a meeting was held between the employees of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare with the representatives of the employees, and that at the end of the same month, a meeting was held in the premises of the CSR Bar between the employees, director Biljana Pajović, representatives Ministry and president of the branch union for social work.
At the meeting, as explained by the legal representatives of the workers, they presented their experiences of mobbing directed at them by Director Pajović.
"After the meeting, the employees addressed the Board of Directors, and only one day after the application, the president of the Board of Directors submitted her resignation. For about two and a half months, the employees waited for the appointment of the new president of the Board of Directors. In the meantime, they continued to inform the Ministry about the mobbing carried out by director Pajović, where they constantly ask for protection", said Milošević and Žižić.
As they state, after the election of the new president of the Board of Directors (BoD), the employees submitted a request to the MRSS for her dismissal, as well as to the president of the BoD.
The employees say that for now they only encounter silence from the competent authorities, despite the fact that two regular sessions of the Management Board were held after the request was submitted, at which there was no mention of mobbing and the request for the director's dismissal.
Milošević and Žižić emphasized that Pajović was also mobbing an employee who was diagnosed with a disability of 80 percent, and claimed that this employee turned to the competent ministry asking for protection, but did not receive an answer.
"There are several individual labor disputes that employees have initiated before the Basic Court in Bar, and the procedure for protection against mobbing is ongoing," said the lawyers.
As they continue to say, from the moment the employees' application was submitted to the Ministry, Director Pajović stopped all communication with the employees who signed the application and did not hold service collegiums.
"The director focuses every possible communication on insults and threats, which makes it difficult and impairs the quality of the work of the institution as well as the very difficult work that the employees of the Center perform, while with the group of newly hired employees she tends to challenge the work of all the old employees, that is, the signatories of the application, which the Ministry has been talking about since the beginning known," they claim.
They are especially surprised that the director did not let any of the employees see the Rulebook on the internal organization and systematization of jobs, so that they could see how and in what way she filled the jobs in this institution. Long-term employees of the Center carry heavy objects on their shoulders, according to them, and fight against various forms of violence both in society and in the family and family community.
"By the silence of the competent authorities, they get the message that violence is supported, that violence is okay and that it is normal to suffer it in the workplace, because no one believes them, like all victims of violence! Considering the silence of the competent authorities, the employees will seek justice in court", they are determined.
In the meantime, Milošević and Žižić said, two employees from the Center were forced to leave the institution due to the situation at work.
Some of the workers who raised their voices against the director's treatment of them told "Vijesta" that she insults them, mentions their families and discriminates on several grounds.
The documents that "Vijesti" had access to (requests for dismissal, notification of relevant ministries and notification of the Board of Directors) show that the manager of the Ulcinj regional unit Mirsada Ceković she did not sign the first request sent to the ministry and the Board of Directors.
The then minister Adrović sent that document to Pajović for a statement, and in her reply, which "Vijesti had access to, she expressly praised Ceković as a valuable employee, citing her work experience and skills.
Ceković, however, is a signatory to the second request for dismissal that was sent to the Supervisory Board in February of this year. After that, "Vijesti" learned from a source close to the managers from Ulcinj, Pajović initiated a procedure for her dismissal, which Ceković did not sign because she was on sick leave, but she was informed about it.
Sources of "Vijesti" from CSW claim that Ceković decided to sign the second request after she was convinced of the director's attitude towards the employees and opposed it, which damaged their relationship.
Ceković, as confirmed by official material sources, addressed the Ministry of Social Affairs and had a meeting with Minister Nišić. After that, communication between the two stopped.
The same sources confirm that at that meeting Nišić was completely on the side of the workers, agreed that it was not a healthy environment for work and offered her help in solving the problem.
Labor inspection found irregularities
The Administration for Inspection Affairs (UIP) also dealt with the work of the authorities in the CRS. Labor inspection, or inspector Dušanka Rakočević, in October 2023, she performed an inspection at the Center for Social Work for the municipalities of Bar and Ulcinj, at the initiative of a certain number of employees.
As they told "Vijesta" from the UIP, the inspection found irregularities regarding non-compliance with the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Abuse at Work. Namely, the employer did not familiarize the employees with the rights, obligations and responsibilities related to mobbing in writing before starting work.
"Given that the initiators of the initiative established a working relationship before the appointment of the then director Biljana Pajović, and the acting inspector did not consider the appointed director responsible for a misdemeanor, but indicated that the irregularity should be removed within the appropriate period," said the UIP.
After the expiration of the legal term, the inspector performed a control inspection and determined that the instructions were followed and that the irregularities were corrected.
However, the inspector found that at the time of the inspection, more than 30 employees were employed by the employer, and the employer did not appoint a single person to mediate between the parties in the case of mobbing.
This, as explained by the UIP, is contrary to Article 9 paragraph 1 of the Law on the Prohibition of Abuse at Work, because of the offense committed, the legal and "responsible person was issued a misdemeanor order and instructed to eliminate the irregularity in the process of appointing an intermediary".
Pajović claims that he does not tolerate idleness, drinking coffee and socializing at work
President of the CRS Board of Directors for Bar and Ulcinj Valdet Adžemović he did not respond to the calls of "Vijesti" to talk about the initiative, although he reviewed the messages in which he was sent an inquiry. Even after ten days, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare did not respond to questions about this case. Biljana Pajović, the director of this institution, also did not respond to calls and messages.
In the answer she sent to the former minister Adrović, it is written that the former workers turned against her because she created order in that institution and forbade drinking coffee and socializing during working hours.
Among other things, she cites the fact that she does not tolerate idleness, and also mentions the former director, a signatory of the initiative, who allegedly cannot say goodbye to her former position that belonged to her. She also mentions that the workers, since she took office, have to work full time, and that she has assigned the porter to take care of this, and the workers must sign in with him upon arrival and departure.
Bonus video:
