Montenegro Work Permit Limit Worries Foreign Firms

Representatives of the tourism industry and foreign investors are worried that the new law that limits work permits for foreigners will cause serious problems for their businesses and for the coming tourist season.

They say that imposing limits on the free movement of labour will negatively affect the already problematic economy in the country.

For some years, Montenegro has set annual quotas for the employment of foreigners within which employers can hire workers of any nationality. The quota for 2015 has been set at 23,500.

But the new law in force from this week provides that regardless of the annual quota, foreign nationals may only be taken on if domestic workers with the appropriate qualifications are unavailable.

Employers may only hire a waiter or low-qualified construction worker from abroad, for example, after the national Employment Service agrees that no local workers are available or want the job.

Montenegrin companies working in tourism and the construction business are dismayed. They have relied for years on seasonal workers from the region, which is why numerous associations requested changes.

The Montenegrin tourist association said that the tourism sector will respect the law but adds that next year the tourist industry will have a lot of problems due to the hiring barriers.

The Union of Employers, the Montenegro Business Alliance, the Foreign Investors Council and the American Chamber of Commerce, AmCham, last week all urged the government to amend the law and scrap the disputed provisions.

But the government says it has a duty to protect domestic workers from being undercut after many in Montenegro complained about the number of foreigners allowed to work there.

...