Contributed by: Irena Milatovic and Vanja Mikulic, Montenegro National VAW Monitors

The Chief of Gender Equality Office of the Government of Montenegro Nada Drobnjak issued a press release on 1 December 2004, on the occasion of the amendment of the Law on Labor.

In November 2004, the Gender Equality Office of the Government of Montenegro submitted the proposal to the Ministry of Labor and Social Care in order to recognize the prohibition of discrimination and sexual harassment in the Law on Labor. 

The right to protection of personal integrity is found in the Law on Labor of the Republic of Montenegro, but it provides insufficient protection from discrimination and sexual harassment. The Gender Equality Office recommends that the prohibition of discrimination and sexual harassment be recognized in the Law on Labor because it seeks to promote the human rights of workers and is in conformity with many international documents and standards from this field. Thus, it is recommended that some of the current resolutions be amended and new provisions aimed at implementing mechanisms for the protection of human rights of workers be incorporated. Other recommendations include direct and indirect discrimination of employees, in addition to the recognition of harassment and sexual harassment as forms of discrimination. The basis for this suggestion is found in the Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro, the Constitutional Charter of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and in the Charter on Human and Minority Rights and Civil Freedoms (Official gazette of the Serbia and Montenegro number 6/03) (according to Ms. Drobnjak).

Source: Gender Equality Office of the Government of Montenegro