Annual Leave in Montenegro 2026: A Practical Guide for Employers and HR

1. Who the rules apply to

The Labour Law applies to everyone working under an employment contract (ugovor o radu) with an employer in Montenegro:

• Montenegrin citizens and foreign nationals (Art. 2 paras 1 and 3);
• employees on open-ended and fixed-term contracts — a fixed-term employee has "the same rights, obligations and responsibilities" (Art. 37 para 9);
• employees on probation — they have "all rights and obligations arising from employment" (Art. 35 para 1); the Law has no waiting period for leave;
• part-time employees (Art. 41 para 2).

It does not apply to people outside an employment relationship: sole traders working for themselves, contractors under B2B or service agreements. An employment relationship arises only from an employment contract (Art. 4), and that contract is what creates the right to leave.

Disguised employment. If a person in practice works as an employee — permanent work, your schedule, reporting to a manager — but is engaged under a B2B agreement, the relationship may be reclassified as employment. That brings claims for unused leave and other employment rights. Such arrangements are worth reviewing in advance.

2. Which rules apply to you: the Law, collective agreements, the employment contract

The Law sets the minimum; a collective agreement and an employment contract may only improve on it (Art. 6 paras 1–2). Contract terms that are worse than the Law or a collective agreement are void (Art. 6 para 4).

Collective agreements apply in a cascade (Art. 6 para 5): if the employer has no company-level agreement, the branch agreement applies directly; if there is no branch agreement, the General Collective Agreement applies. For most private companies — IT, consulting, retail, tourism without a branch agreement — that chain used to end at the GCA. Since 1 May 2026 it ends at the Law.

The practical consequence: check how leave is worded in your employment contracts. Art. 31 para 1 requires the contract to state:

• item 11 — the length of paid leave and annual leave, or, where it cannot be stated, the method of determining it;
• item 13 — the names of the collective agreements applied by the employer.

If the contract refers to the GCA. The expiry of the GCA does not automatically empty such a reference — it depends on the wording:

• "…uvećan po kriterijumima iz člana 5 Opšteg kolektivnog ugovora" (increased under the criteria of Art. 5 of the GCA) — a specific GCA rule has been incorporated as a term of the contract. It continues to bind the employer until the contract is amended by annex, whatever happens to the GCA itself.
• "…u skladu sa zakonom i Opštim kolektivnim ugovorom" (in accordance with the law and the GCA) — a blanket reference to a document "as applicable". Formally it now points nowhere, but an employee who signed while the GCA was in force may argue those terms were part of the deal; where an employment contract is unclear, courts generally read it in the employee's favour.
• Naming the GCA under item 13 ("collective agreements applied") is an informational field; by itself it neither creates nor removes rights.

The risks are asymmetric. An employer may always keep granting GCA-level terms (service days, wedding and other paid leave) — that is more than the Law requires, so it is permitted (Art. 6 para 2). Withdrawing them on the ground that "the GCA no longer applies", with vague contract wording, is contestable, and in a dispute the employer is the weaker party.

The most visible practical consequence of the GCA lapsing is paid leave under Art. 87 para 1 (marriage, serious illness of a close family member, a job-related professional exam): the Law grants the right, but refers the duration to the collective agreement and the employment contract (Art. 87 para 2). If the contract contains neither a figure nor a working reference, the duration is defined by nothing — while the employee's right still exists. The fix: put specific days into the employment contracts (by annex) or into the employer's internal act. If a new GCA is signed, your figures must be no lower than its terms — but if you carried over the previous scale, most likely nothing will need to change.

3. How many days

Leave is counted in working days according to the employee's weekly schedule (Art. 80 para 1). The standard reference week is 5 working days; it may also be 6 (Art. 80 paras 2–3).

Statutory minimum (Art. 81):

The 30 days relate not to voluntary part-time work but to reduced working hours in hazardous workplaces (Art. 63).

The minimum is increased according to criteria set in the collective agreement and the employment contract (Art. 81 para 4).

Not counted as leave days (Art. 80 para 4): non-working public holidays, paid leave and sick leave. If an employee falls ill during leave, the leave is interrupted and the remaining days are used after they return (Section 6).

Additional days under the GCA (Art. 5 GCA). Applied to all employers until 30 April 2026; now binding only if included in your contract or collective agreement:

The GCA also allowed increases based on working conditions, contribution at work and other criteria set in branch or company agreements or the employment contract.

4. Partial years and new hires: the 1/12 rule

If employment starts or ends during a calendar year, the employee is entitled to 1/12 of annual leave for each month of work started with that employer (Art. 79 para 3).

Rounding (Art. 79 para 4): half a day or more rounds up to a full day; more than half a month of work rounds up to a full month.

Counted as time at work for leave purposes (Art. 79 para 5): sick leave, pregnancy-related leave, paid leave, maternity, paternity, parental, adoptive and foster leave, public holidays, and attendance when summoned by state authorities.

Examples (annual leave of 20 days unless stated otherwise)

5. Planning and the leave decision (rješenje)

1. Leave plan by 30 April of the current year. The employer sets the timing of leave according to business needs and after consulting the employee (Art. 83 para 1).
2. The leave decision (rješenje o korišćenju godišnjeg odmora) is issued on the basis of the plan and delivered to the employee no later than 30 days before the leave starts (Art. 83 para 2). A shorter notice is allowed only if both parties agree (para 3).
3. Rescheduling by the employer is possible where the work requires it, no later than 5 working days before the leave starts and with the employee's consent (para 4). In force majeure no consent is needed (para 5).

In practice: keep the plan, the decisions with proof of delivery (signature or e-mail), and written consents to short notice or rescheduling.

6. Splitting leave and carrying it over

• Leave is used in one or two parts (Art. 85 para 1). At the employee's request it may be split further if the work allows (para 2).
• When split, the first part must be at least 10 consecutive working days within the calendar year; the remaining parts are used by 30 June of the following year (para 3).
• Extension to 15 months. If the employee did not use or interrupted leave because of sick leave, child care or special child care, they use the leave after returning, as agreed with the employer, but no later than 15 months after the end of the year in which the right arose (para 4). After maternity, paternity, parental, adoptive or foster leave, the employer must grant the leave within 15 months of the return to work (para 5).
• If the employer has not granted leave under these rules, the labour inspector may order it to do so within 30 days of the inspector's decision (para 6).

If fewer than 10 days accrued in the year. The Law does not regulate this case separately. The safe approach is to grant those days in full within the same year; if that is impossible, record a written agreement and grant them as early as possible in the following year, within the 30 June limit.

Carry-over example (contract: 21 days a year)

• 2026: the employee takes 11 days (including a block of 10+ consecutive days) and carries over 10 days.
• 2027: the 10 carried-over days must be used by 30 June 2027. Of the new 21 days, at least 10 must be taken consecutively. In total the employee takes at least 20 days in 2027 (10 old + 10 new) and may take up to 31. Up to 11 days of the 2027 entitlement may be carried over until 30 June 2028.

7. Cash instead of leave: only on termination

• The right to leave cannot be waived and cannot be denied (Art. 79 para 6).
• Leave cannot be replaced by a cash payment, except on termination of employment (Art. 79 para 7). Paying a current employee "for unused leave" does not release the employer from the obligation to grant the leave.
• Before termination the employer must allow the employee to use any unused leave (Art. 86 para 2).
• If it does not, the employee is entitled to damages (naknada štete) (Art. 86 para 3). The amount depends on the number of unused days and is calculated on the employee's average salary with that employer for the year or part of the year in which the right arose (para 4).
• All amounts due on termination are paid before the employment ends and no later than 30 days after it (Art. 179 para 2).
• On transfer to another employer (preuzimanje), leave for the current year is used with the previous employer unless the parties agree otherwise (Art. 86 para 1).

8. The employee "doesn't want" leave: the risk still sits with the employer

The duty to ensure leave is taken lies with the employer: the employer sets the timing (Art. 83) and the employer is fined if leave is not used (Art. 209 para 1 item 25). An employee's waiver has no legal effect (Art. 79 para 6).

What to do and document:

• include the employee in the plan by 30 April;
• issue the decision and deliver it 30 days in advance, keeping proof of delivery;
• remind the employee in writing of the deadlines (10 consecutive days this year, the balance by 30 June);
• do not "compensate" leave with cash and do not allow work on days covered by a leave decision;
• keep a running balance for each employee.

9. Foreign nationals on fixed-term contracts

• The Labour Law applies to foreign nationals on the same terms as citizens (Art. 2 para 3). A fixed-term contract carries the same rights (Art. 37 para 9).
• Schedule leave within the contract term. Pro-rata days under the 1/12 rule must be used before the contract ends (Art. 86 para 2). If that does not happen, damages are paid when the contract ends (Art. 86 paras 3–4).
• Link to the residence and work permit. A foreign national's permit is, as a rule, tied to work for a specific employer for the term of the contract. It is easiest to place leave in a period when both the contract and the permit are clearly valid, and not to carry "tails" past the contract end date. Before extending or ending a contract, align the contract term, the permit term and the leave balance.

10. Other types of leave

Paid leave (plaćeno odsustvo)

Under the Law (always applies):

Close family (Art. 87 para 5): spouse, same-sex partner, children (including children born outside marriage, adopted children, stepchildren and the partner's children), brothers, sisters, parents and adoptive parents. During paid leave all rights and the job are preserved (Art. 87 paras 7–8).

Under the GCA (Art. 6 GCA). Binding on all employers until 30 April 2026; now applies only if included in the contract or a collective agreement. Overall cap of 7 working days per calendar year, but some grounds do not count towards the cap:

Two GCA provisions were repealed by the Labour Law (Art. 219c): "birth of a child — 3 days" in Art. 6 (replaced by paternity leave of 10 working days, Art. 126a) and unpaid leave to care for a sick family member in Art. 7 (replaced by Art. 88 para 1 of the Law, see below). Paid leave is requested with supporting documents and taken when the event occurs (Art. 6 GCA).

Unpaid leave (neplaćeno odsustvo)

• Under the Law: up to 5 working days per calendar year to care for or support a close family or household member with a serious illness, with supporting documents (Art. 88 para 1). During this time the employee may not be deregistered from mandatory social insurance (para 5); contributions are calculated on the gross salary for the month of leave (Art. 88a).
• In other cases, unpaid leave is granted under the collective agreement or employment contract (Art. 88 para 4). Health insurance is kept; other rights and obligations are suspended (Art. 88a).
• Under the GCA (Art. 7), if it applies in your company: up to 30 days a year for medical treatment at the employee's own expense, participation in events of national importance, by agreement of the parties, and in other cases set in a collective agreement or employment contract. At the employee's request, and if it does not disrupt work, longer leave is possible.

Maternity, paternity and parental leave (in brief)

• Maternity leave (porodiljsko): a mandatory 98 days, of which 28 before the expected date of birth and 70 after (Art. 126). Extended in the case of premature birth.
• Paternity leave (očinsko): 10 working days from the date of birth (Art. 126a).
• Parental leave (roditeljsko): after maternity leave, up to 365 days from the date of birth, shared equally between both parents; it may be transferred to the other parent 30 days after it starts (Art. 127). The new model — 14 months, with 60 non-transferable days per parent (Art. 127a) — applies from the date of Montenegro's accession to the EU (Art. 218f).
• These rights do not depend on length of service with the employer (Art. 128a). A fixed-term contract is extended to the end of such leave (Art. 123 para 5). Annual leave not used because of these types of leave is granted within 15 months of the return to work (Art. 85 para 5).

11. Fines

In addition to a fine, the inspector may order leave to be granted within 30 days (Art. 85 para 6), and on termination the employee may claim damages (Art. 86).

12. Employer checklist

• ✓Employment contracts state the length of annual leave and paid leave, or the method of determining it (Art. 31 para 1 item 11), and name the collective agreements applied (item 13).
• ✓References to the GCA in contracts and internal acts have been reviewed and replaced with specific figures (by annex). Cutting terms back to the statutory minimum on the sole ground that the GCA has expired — without an annex and without assessing the wording — is risky (Section 2).
• ✓You have checked which collective agreement applies to you (company-level, branch) and the current status of the GCA.
• ✓The leave plan is approved by 30 April.
• ✓Decisions are delivered 30 days in advance and proof of delivery is kept.
• ✓Rescheduling: no later than 5 working days before, with the employee's written consent.
• ✓Every employee has a block of 10+ consecutive working days in the current year.
• ✓Last year's balance is used by 30 June; exceptions (sick leave, maternity) are tracked separately.
• ✓Leave for new hires and leavers is calculated at 1/12 per month started.
• ✓For fixed-term employees (especially foreign nationals) leave is scheduled within the contract term.
• ✓Cash in lieu of leave is paid only on termination, within 30 days.
• ✓Paid and unpaid leave is recorded by ground.

13. Short answers to frequent questions

Sources (current as of October 2026)

• Labour Law (Zakon o radu), Official Gazette of Montenegro 74/19, 8/21, 59/21, 68/21, 145/21, 77/24, 84/24, 86/24, 122/25, 165/25, 51/26, 103/26. Official texts: Službeni list CG. Unofficial consolidated text: cbcg.me.
• General Collective Agreement (Opšti kolektivni ugovor), Official Gazette 150/22: sluzbenilist.me/propisi/334447. Consent to extend application until 30 April 2026, Official Gazette 45/26: sluzbenilist.me/propisi/392653. Unofficial consolidated text: zzzcg.me. Repealed items were removed from it without renumbering the cross-references, so the "outside the cap" item numbers in Art. 6 should be checked against the official version.
• GCA status: Monitor, 25 April 2026, Aktuelno.me, 6 October 2026, Portal Analitika, 18 October 2026.

Consolidated texts are unofficial. Only texts published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro (Službeni list Crne Gore) have legal force.