Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Montenegro (Ratification: 2006)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Implementation of a national policy for the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes with interest a number of initiatives taken by the Government during the reporting period to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in access to vocational rehabilitation services and to employment for persons with disabilities. These include the adoption on 26 June 2015 of the Act on Prohibition of Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities by the Parliament of Montenegro, as well as the adoption in December 2016 of Montenegro’s Strategy for the protection of persons with disabilities from discrimination and promotion of equality 2017–2021. The Strategy includes among its objectives the provision of inclusive education at all levels for all students with disabilities, including for adults with disabilities, and ensuring equal access for persons with disabilities to vocational rehabilitation, labour and employment. The Strategy contemplates, among other measures, reducing barriers and stereotypes towards persons with disabilities and increasing employers’ awareness about the benefits of employing persons with disabilities. The implementation of the Strategy is coordinated and monitored by a commission composed of representatives of relevant ministries, as well as representatives of civil society. The Government indicates that the number of applications submitted by employers to the Fund for Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities for wage subsidies to employ persons with disabilities increased from 71 employers hiring 89 persons with disabilities in 2014 to 421 employers hiring 660 persons with disabilities in 2018. The Committee further notes the statistical information, disaggregated by age, sex, educational level and degree of disability, provided by the Government concerning persons with disabilities registered with the Montenegrin Employment Office. The Government reports that the number of persons with disabilities registered with the Employment Office increased from 1,953 in 2015 (35 per cent women) to 8,222 in 2018, (54.45 per cent women), respectively. The Committee nevertheless notes that, in its concluding observations of 22 September 2017, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) expressed concern at the lack of information regarding the effective protection of workers with disabilities from dismissal. It also expressed concern that unemployment particularly affects persons with disabilities in Montenegro. The CRPD also observed that use of the medical model of disability to assess people’s capacity for work persisted (document CRPD/C/MNE/CO/1, paragraph 48). In this regard, the Committee recalls that the focus on the medical model under which persons are defined by their disabilities has been superseded by the recognition that persons are disabled not only due to functional difficulties, but also to external factors, in particular arising out of historically negative perceptions and attitudes of disability held by many policymakers, educators, employers and employment and vocational training services, among others (2020 General Survey on Promoting employment and decent work in a changing landscape, paragraph 650). The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted with a view to modifying the methods used to assess capacity for work in order to ensure that these are not only based on a medical mode of disability, as well as measures taken or envisaged to address historically negative attitudes toward disability. The Committee further requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature and impact of the measures taken to promote employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the open labour market in both the public and private sectors, including those adopted in the framework of the Strategy for the protection of persons with disabilities from discrimination and promotion of equality 2017–21. The Government is also requested to continue to provide information on the practical application of the Convention including: statistics and relevant data (disaggregated by age, sex and nature of the disability); extracts from reports, studies and inquiries concerning the matters covered by the Convention, including information on compliance with the quota system for the employment of persons with disabilities in both the private and public sectors.

Article 4. Effective equality of opportunities and treatment between men and women workers with disabilities, and between workers with disabilities and other workers. The Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 22 September 2017, the CRPD expressed concern that certain anti-discrimination provisions on disability in force in Montenegro are themselves discriminatory, as they cover discrimination based only on certain types of impairments. In particular, the CRPD expressed concern regarding, inter alia, the lack of effective equal protection of persons with disabilities who may be subjected to intersectional discrimination, such as persons with disabilities who are members of different ethnic groups, including Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons; (document CRPD/C/MNE/CO/1, paragraph 10). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information, including statistical data disaggregated by sex, age and economic sector, on the nature and impact of measures adopted or envisaged to ensure effective equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation between women and men with disabilities, and between workers in general and workers with disabilities. It also requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to protect persons with disabilities from intersectional discrimination in employment and occupation. It further requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the effective application of legislation prohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation on the basis of disability, including copies of judicial decisions.

Article 5. Consultation with representative organizations of employers and workers, and organizations of and for persons with disabilities. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government once again refers to the establishment and composition of the Council of the Fund for the Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of persons with disabilities under the 2011 Act amending the Act on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. The Government does not provide information on the consultations held with the social partners and organizations of and for persons with disabilities, or on initiatives taken to promote cooperation and coordination between the public and private bodies engaged in vocational rehabilitation activities. The Committee therefore reiterates its request that the Government provide updated detailed information on the content and outcome of consultations held with the social partners and with organizations representing persons with disabilities, as required by Article 5 of the Convention. It also reiterates its request that the Government provide information on initiatives taken to promote cooperation and coordination between the public and private bodies engaged in vocational rehabilitation activities.

Articles 7 and 8. Services accessible to persons with disabilities, including in rural and remote areas. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government reiterates that professional rehabilitation measures are carried out by licensed professional rehabilitation agents selected by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. The Government adds that these measures are carried out in all regional units of the Employment Agency. Pursuant to the Act on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, as amended, the professional rehabilitation agent manages and evaluates, according to prescribed standards, the quality of implementation of the rehabilitation activities in which a person with disabilities participated. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government with regard to the number of opinions issued from 2015 to 2018 by the Commission for Professional Rehabilitation in relation to the need to include persons with disabilities in professional rehabilitation measures and activities during the reporting period. The Government reiterates that the professional rehabilitation agents submit their evaluation reports to the Employment Agency. The Committee notes, nonetheless, that no information is provided on the specific content or results of these reports. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the content of the evaluation reports and their impact on the vocational guidance and training measures adopted to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment. The Committee further requests the Government to provide detailed information on the nature and impact of measures adopted to ensure that persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities have access to effective vocational rehabilitation and employment services.

Article 9. Training of suitably qualified staff. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that there are three professional rehabilitation agents in Montenegro: the Multidisciplinary Educational Center “Pamark” in Podgorica, the Center for Education and Training (ZOPT) and the Center for Professional Rehabilitation, a public institution that was established in Podgorica in 2017. It provides professional rehabilitation services and training for staff responsible for the professional rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The Government adds that the new center has developed and implemented new methods and forms of professional rehabilitation, including the introduction of new technologies. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed and updated information on the nature and impact of measures taken with a view to ensuring the training and availability of suitably qualified advisers specialized in rehabilitation and of other qualified staff responsible for ensuring the provision of vocational guidance and training, as well as for the placement and employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market.

COVID-19. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee recalls the broad guidance provided by international labour standards. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), which provides guidance for the development and implementation of measures in areas such as education, vocational training and retraining, and employment, that effectively respond to the profound socioeconomic effects of the pandemic. Moreover, paragraph 7(h) of Recommendation No. 205, provides that, in taking measures on employment and decent work in response to crisis situations, member States should pay special attention to population groups and individuals who have been made particularly vulnerable by the crisis, including, but not limited to, persons with disabilities. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report updated information on the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of vocational rehabilitation and employment policies and programmes for women and men with disabilities.