State employees’ union asks the ministry: let people work until 67

The Union of State Employees and Office Workers of Montenegro has called on the Ministry of Public Administration (MJU) to urgently start harmonizing the Law on State Employees and Office Workers with the Labor Law, as the newspaper Dan reports, in order to avoid different treatment of employees when it comes to retirement.

The union has also appealed for the positions of the MJU and the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue to be harmonized, so that employees do not depend on different interpretations by individual bodies and do not face further legal uncertainty.

The union’s president, Tamara Goliš, in a letter addressed to Minister Maraš Dukaj, pointed out, according to Dan’s reporting, that the two laws provide different conditions for old-age retirement: 67 years under the Labor Law, against 66 years under the Law on State Employees and Office Workers.

She recalled that during the amendments to the law in 2025, the united administration union submitted an amendment initiative, which requested that the age limit for termination of employment by force of law be returned to 67 years. That request was also based on the unanimous decision of the Social Council, supported by representatives of the government, the representative unions and employers.

“We call on the competent bodies to secure for employees who wish it the right to work and to enable them to continue working until 67, to review, through the procedures provided by law, the decisions taken and to accept a peaceful settlement of the existing disputes,” Goliš was quoted as saying. She warned that court proceedings, which according to her will end in favor of employees discriminated against because of ununified practice and a violation of Article 6 of the Labor Law, could create obligations for compensation of wages, contributions, interest and court costs — so lawful and unified action is the best way to protect public budgets at the same time.