In Montenegro, as of today, April 24, the amendments to the Labor Law have entered into force, which restore the mandatory retirement age from 66 to 67 years. This decision, which directly affects the labor market in the region, has fueled fierce debates between the government and the opposition.

“The amendment to the Labor Law, which restores the retirement age from 66 to 67 years old, enters into force. This has helped the demands of the trade unions and the needs of the labor market”, said the deputy of the Bosnian Party, Mirsad Nurkovic.

Nurkovic, at the same time Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, emphasized that the main motive for raising the retirement age was to meet the demands of the unions and the needs of the labor market.

“This motive ultimately influenced all of us who supported this in the Assembly. The Labor Law applies to companies and public institutions, except for the public administration, and I think that to some extent it responds to the unions, but also to the demands of the labor market,” he said, according to the RTCG.

He added that this decision also helps in compensation for the lack of doctors in hospitals and health centers.

On the other hand, the opposition sees this decision differently. Nikola Milović from the DPS stated that exactly what his party had warned about earlier is happening in Montenegro: the increase in wages without an increase in productivity leads to inflation and creates inequality in the functioning of the Pension and Invalidity Insurance Fund.

“When you have strained public finances, the retirement age will also increase every year. Citizens of Montenegro in the coming years, due to this economic policy, can only expect further increases in of this age”, emphasized Milovic.

He added that demography also remains a problem, as the population of Montenegro is aging.

“Due to the aging of the population, in addition to the increase in the retirement age, the expenses of the Health Fund will also increase. This will deepen the deficit in both the pension fund and the health fund, increasing costs and forcing us to work longer”, he explained.

Ines Mrdović from Action for Social Justice estimates that these changes are more political than economic.

“This sudden change, which went almost unnoticed, may be related to the intention to enable judges to retire at the age of 67. I think that the Government’s interest was greater in this direction than the need to enable other employees to retire at this age,” said Mrdović.

Day the first of the implementation of the amended Labor Law, which provides for the termination of the employment relationship at the age of 67 with at least 15 years of service, is Friday, April 24.

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Source: prizrenpost