Sick pay in Montenegro (pay during temporary incapacity for work) is at least 70% of the average basic salary of the last 12 months, and 100% for a workplace injury, an occupational disease, maintaining a pregnancy, donating blood, tissue or organs and serious illnesses such as cancer. The employer pays it; after 60 days the Health Insurance Fund refunds the employer 70% of the base, up to one average salary in Montenegro. Since August 2026 women diagnosed with secondary dysmenorrhoea are entitled to menstrual leave of up to two days a month, paid at 100%.
The right is governed by the Law on Compulsory Health Insurance (Official Gazette 145/2021, amended by 48/2024, 98/2026 and 114/2026), and the employee's duties and protection from dismissal by the Labour Law. This guide explains the amount, who pays, who certifies sick leave, menstrual leave and when sick pay is lost.
How much is sick pay?
| Situation | Sick pay |
| Illness or injury outside work | At least 70% of the base; a collective agreement may set more |
| Workplace injury or occupational disease | 100% |
| Maintaining a pregnancy (treating a threatened miscarriage) | 100% |
| Voluntary donation of blood, tissue and organs | 100% |
| Treatment of cancer, haemophilia, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, paraplegia and quadriplegia, systemic autoimmune diseases, dialysis, HIV, quarantine diseases and psychoses, and caring for a child with cancer | 100% |
| People with a congenital limb deficiency, blind and deaf-mute people, people with multiple sclerosis and women with secondary dysmenorrhoea | 100%, whatever the reason for sick leave |
- The base is the average basic salary, or salary compensation, of the 12 months before the month in which the sick leave started.
- Sick pay is due from the first day and for the whole sick leave, but only for the days you would have worked, and it falls due on the last day of the month.
- For sole traders the base is the contribution base of the three months before the sick leave.
- Insured persons who already receive a pension are not entitled to sick pay.
Who pays sick pay?
- The employer calculates and pays sick pay for the whole sick leave.
- For the first 60 days sick pay is at the employer's expense; after 60 days the Fund refunds the employer 70% of the base, up to one average salary in Montenegro of the previous year.
- For sick leave to maintain a pregnancy the Fund refunds from the first day, up to two average salaries.
- The Fund does not refund state and municipal budget users.
- At the latest after ten months of continuous sick leave, or ten months with breaks within 12 months, the Fund refers the employee for an assessment of working capacity; that procedure takes up to 60 days, after which the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund provides the payment.
Who certifies sick leave?
- Sick leave of up to 30 days is certified by your chosen doctor or team, and longer than 30 days by the competent medical board.
- The doctor certifies sick leave in your presence, unless your health does not allow you to come.
- Sick leave is also granted for caring for a sick close family member, for accompanying a patient to treatment, for quarantine or isolation and for donating blood, organs, tissue and cells.
- The employer or the Fund can ask for sick leave to be checked; if you fail to answer the board's summons without a valid reason, the payment is suspended. A check is not possible while you are in hospital, except in a day hospital, and the employer pays for a check it requests.
What is menstrual leave?
- Since August 2026 a woman diagnosed by a specialist with secondary dysmenorrhoea is entitled to menstrual leave of up to two days a month, as a special form of sick leave.
- Pay for those days is 100% of the base.
- The medical certificate is renewed by 31 December of the current year and delivered to the employer by 30 January of the following year.
What are the employee's duties?
- Deliver the doctor's certificate to your employer within three days of it being issued, and the report on temporary incapacity within five days, in person or through someone else.
- If you do not, or if you work for another employer during sick leave, the employer can dismiss you for abuse of sick leave.
- Sick leave, a workplace injury or an occupational disease as such are not a valid reason for dismissal.
- Sick pay is not due if you caused the incapacity yourself, carry on another activity during sick leave, obstruct your recovery, refuse treatment or fail to see the doctor or board without a valid reason, or change your place of stay other than for treatment.
When a dismissal is not allowed and how to challenge it is explained in our article on termination of employment, maternity leave in our article on child benefit, and insurance for foreigners in our article on health insurance.
Frequently asked questions
How much is sick pay in Montenegro? At least 70% of the average basic salary of the last 12 months, and 100% for a workplace injury, an occupational disease, maintaining a pregnancy, donating blood and organs and serious illnesses such as cancer.
Who pays sick leave longer than 60 days? The employer still pays it, and the Health Insurance Fund refunds 70% of the base, up to one average salary in Montenegro.
How much is pregnancy sick leave paid? Sick leave to maintain a pregnancy is paid at 100%, and the Fund refunds the employer from the first day, up to two average salaries.
Who certifies sick leave longer than 30 days? Sick leave of up to 30 days is certified by your chosen doctor, and longer than 30 days by the competent medical board.
What is menstrual leave and how long is it? It is sick leave of up to two days a month for women diagnosed with secondary dysmenorrhoea, paid at 100% and in force since August 2026.
Can I be dismissed while on sick leave? Sick leave is not a valid reason for dismissal, but you must deliver the doctor's certificate to your employer within three days.
Sources
The amount of sick pay, refunds and the procedure are set by the Law on Compulsory Health Insurance (Articles 36 to 46), as amended by 48/2024, 98/2026 and 114/2026 (menstrual leave, Article 36a). The employee's duties and protection from dismissal are set by the Labour Law (Articles 172 and 173). The information was checked on 25 September 2026. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; this article is not legal or medical advice.