Human Rights Action supports the appeal of the Parents Association to abandon the proposal from Article 49 of Government Draft Law on Social and Child Protection, which provides that compensation during maternity or parental leave is refunded to the employer only up to the amount of the average salary in the state.

We also protest because the Draft Law omits the guarantee that exists in applicable law, that the amount of compensation during maternity or parental leave cannot be lower than minimum salary.

Additionally, we protest against the complete denial and limitation of compensation to women who enter into a labour relation one year prior to the commencement of maternity or parental leave.

We consider the proposal discriminatory, contrary to the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, Law on Gender Equality, Labour Law, the Constitution of Montenegro and the international standards of prohibition of discrimination.

Adoption of the proposed solution would represent a punishment, particularly of highly educated women (who earn more than the average salary in the state), because of their decision to have children and go to rightfully earned maternity leave. These solutions are discriminatory, and would especially have far-reaching consequences in terms of incitement to discrimination of women in employment.

Proposals mentioned above are directly contrary to the provisions of the Labour Law (Official Gazette of Montenegro. 49/2008, 26/2009 and 59/2011), that expressly provide that during the maternity leave, a female employee is entitled to a compensation of salary in the amount that she would earn if she was not on maternity leave, in accordance with the law and the employment contract (Art. 82 para. 1, Art. 111b para. 1), and has the right to special protection during pregnancy and childbirth (Art. 11, para. 2).

We assume that the goal of Government’s proposals is to prevent abuse in the form of fictitious employment of pregnant women. However, abuse in individual cases must be prevented and punished otherwise, with activities of inspection service and other public bodies, and not by violating human rights of the immense of citizens. Inefficiency of inspection services should not be concealed with violations of human rights.

We urge the Government to withdraw these proposals, and all the MPs to act on their amendment.

Human Rights Action Team

Details and legal analysis are available in Montenegrin, upon request.