An employee in Montenegro is entitled to at least 20 working days of paid annual leave, or 24 days if they work six days a week and 30 days if they work reduced hours. Full-time work is 40 hours a week, and with overtime it may not exceed 48 hours a week on average over four months, or 50 hours in any single week. Night work is work between 10 pm and 6 am. The percentages for overtime, night work and holiday work are set by collective agreement, and the General Collective Agreement of 2022 applied until 30 April 2026.
The rules are set by the Labour Law (Official Gazette 74/2019), including the 51/2026 amendments that gave employees the right to refuse overtime beyond the legal limits and introduced new paid and unpaid leave. This guide explains annual leave, overtime and night work, breaks and rest, leave of absence and pay supplements.
How long is annual leave?
| Situation | Annual leave |
| Full-time, five-day week | At least 20 working days |
| Six-day working week | 24 working days |
| Reduced hours in a post with a harmful effect on health | At least 30 working days |
| Starting or leaving a job during the year | 1/12 of the leave for each started month of work |
- Public holidays that are days off, paid leave and sick leave do not count as days of annual leave.
- Collective agreements and employment contracts increase leave beyond the legal minimum, for example by length of service.
- You cannot waive annual leave, it cannot be denied to you, and it can be replaced by money only when employment ends.
How is annual leave used?
- The employer adopts a leave plan by 30 April and delivers the leave decision at least 30 days before the leave starts, unless you agree on a shorter period.
- The employer can change the dates at the latest five working days before the leave starts, with your consent, and without it only in case of force majeure.
- Leave is taken in one or two parts, and at your request in more parts; the first part lasts at least ten consecutive working days in that year, and the rest is used by 30 June of the following year at the latest.
- If you could not use your leave because of sick leave or childcare, you use it at the latest 15 months after the end of the year in which you earned it, and after maternity, paternity or parental leave within 15 months of returning to work.
What are the rules on overtime?
- Overtime is introduced only for a sudden increase in workload, force majeure or other exceptional cases, by a written decision before the work starts; in an emergency the decision is handed over at the latest three working days later.
- The employer notifies the labour inspector of overtime within three days.
- Working time including overtime may not exceed 48 hours a week on average over four months, or 50 hours in any single week, and a collective agreement may allow at most 250 hours of overtime a year.
- Since 2026 an employee can refuse overtime beyond those limits and may not suffer any adverse consequences for it; this does not apply to the army, police, security services and protection and rescue services.
- Redistribution of working time is not overtime; working time may then not exceed 48 hours a week, or with a collective agreement and your written consent at most 54 hours, or 60 hours in seasonal work.
What applies to night work, breaks and rest?
| Right | Legal minimum |
| Break when working at least six hours | 30 minutes, counted as working time |
| Break when working four to six hours | 15 minutes |
| Break when working at least ten hours | 45 minutes |
| Daily rest between two working days | 12 consecutive hours |
| Weekly rest | 24 hours plus daily rest, as a rule on Sunday |
| Night work | 10 pm to 6 am; on average at most eight hours in 24 over four months |
| Night shift | At most one working week in a row |
- Night work is prohibited for a pregnant employee, an employee who has recently given birth and an employee who is breastfeeding.
- A pregnant employee and a woman with a child under three do not work overtime or at night.
- A parent of a child with a developmental disability and a single parent of a child under seven work overtime or at night only with written consent.
What leave of absence do you have?
- Paid leave of seven working days on the death of a close family member and of one working day for an urgent family reason caused by illness or an accident.
- Paid leave for marriage, serious illness of a close family member and a professional exam, for the length set by the collective agreement and employment contract.
- Unpaid leave of up to five working days a year to care for a family or household member with a serious illness; during that time the employer may not deregister you from social insurance.
How much are pay supplements?
The Labour Law requires the basic salary to be increased for length of service, night work, work on a public holiday and overtime, but the percentages are set by the collective agreement and employment contract. The General Collective Agreement of 2022 set the following minimum supplements; it applied until 30 April 2026, and by 22 September 2026 no new general collective agreement or further extension had been published in the Official Gazette.
| Basis | Supplement under the 2022 General Collective Agreement |
| Night work | 40% per hour |
| Overtime | 40% per hour |
| Work on a public or religious holiday | 150% per hour |
| Sunday work | 80% per hour, except for shift-rotation work, hotels and public passenger transport |
| Split shift | 10% per hour |
| Length of service | 0.5% for each year up to 10 years, 0.75% from 10 to 20 and 1% above 20 years |
- The same agreement added one day of annual leave for 5 to 15 years of service, two days for 15 to 25, three days for 25 to 35 and five days above 35 years.
- Under that agreement supplements were added together and did not count towards the minimum wage.
- Check which supplements apply to you now in your sector collective agreement, your employer's collective agreement and your employment contract.
Days off are explained in our article on public holidays, the minimum wage in our article on the minimum wage, and dismissal and notice in our article on termination of employment.
If you are a foreigner who still needs a work permit in Montenegro, RoNa Legal explains the procedure.
Frequently asked questions
How many days of annual leave does the law give in Montenegro? At least 20 working days, 24 days with a six-day working week and at least 30 days with reduced hours.
How much annual leave do I get if I started work during the year? 1/12 of the annual leave for each started month of work with the employer in that year.
By when can I use the rest of my annual leave? You use the first part of at least ten working days in that year, and the rest by 30 June of the following year at the latest.
How much overtime is allowed? Working time with overtime may not exceed 48 hours a week on average over four months, or 50 hours in a single week; a collective agreement may allow at most 250 hours a year.
How much are overtime and night work paid? According to the collective agreement and employment contract. The 2022 General Collective Agreement, which applied until 30 April 2026, set 40% for both.
Can I refuse overtime? Yes, if your working time would exceed the legal limits, and you may not suffer any adverse consequences for refusing.
Sources
Annual leave, working time, overtime and night work, rest and leave of absence are set by the Labour Law (Articles 61 to 88, 98 and 125), as amended by 51/2026 (refusing overtime, paid and unpaid leave). Pay and leave supplements were set by the General Collective Agreement (Official Gazette 150/2022, Articles 5, 14 and 15), and its extension until 30 April 2026 was published in Official Gazette 45/2026. The information was checked on 25 September 2026. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; this article is not legal advice.