Hire and pay employees in
Montenegro, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Montenegro. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in Montenegro is 7 days with Deel.

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Currency

Euro

Capital

Podgorica

Official Language

Montenegrin

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Onboard, pay and manage employees in Montenegro with Deel.

Usually, to hire in Montenegro, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Deel lets you hire employees in Montenegro quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.

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All the necessary benefits for Montenegro
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in Montenegro within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Pension Insurance
  • Public Health Insurance
  • Unemployment Insurance

Our quickstart guide to hiring in Montenegro

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in Montenegro

Pay & Tax Leave Policy Termination Statutory time off Onboarding Additional info

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage for employees in Montenegro is  €800 per month for employees with educational qualification level VI or higher, and €600 per month for employees with educational qualification level V or lower.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges up to 15%. Income tax is calculated based on the income of the person.

  • Up to EUR 700 per month - 0%
  • From EUR 701 to EUR 1.000 per month - 9%
  • Over EUR 1.001 - 15%
The local surtax is an additional tax imposed alongside the personal income tax (PIT) and is required to be paid to the municipality where the taxpayer resides. A surtax rate of 13% is applicable in all municipalities, except for Podgorica and Cetinje, where the rate is set at 15%.

Payroll Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 2.97% of the employee salary.

  • Unemployment Insurance - 0.50% 
  • Labour Fund 0.20%
  • Chamber of Commerce 0.27%
  • Municipality Surtax 15%*

*The municipality surtax is an employer cost that must be paid based on employee’s taxes. Since it is a surtax, it will be a percentage of the tax, not from the total of the gross salary.

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard work week is from Monday to Friday.

Overtime payment is mandatory. Employees can work a maximum of 250 hours of overtime a year. For additional hours, employees are paid:

  • 140% of the hourly rate on standard working hours.
  • 180% of the hourly rate on weekends.
  • 180% of the hourly rate on public holidays.

Maternity Leave

Employees are entitled to 98 days of paid leave. 28 days must be taken before the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of their salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this payment. However, the employer is able to claim the equivalent of two average national salaries.

Paternity Leave

Currently, there is no legal requirement for paternity leave. Instead, employees have the option to utilize parental leave.

Parental Leave

Parental leave begins after the end of maternity leave and lasts until the expiry of 365 days after childbirth. Parental leave may be used by both parents in equal parts, but not simultaneously. If one parent has started using parental leave, the other parent may continue to use it after the expiry of 30 days from the commencement of the leave. 

Sick Leave

Employees have the entitlement to paid sick leave for a period of up to 365 days. The rates and payers for this leave vary depending on its duration:

  • Up to the 60th day, the employee will receive 70% of the salary paid by the employer.
  • From the 60th day up to 360 days, the employee will receive 70% of the salary paid by Social Security.

Termination Requirements

Terminating employments in Montenegro can be a complex process. The termination documentation must be notarized in the presence of both the employee and a company representative.

Compliant terminations may occur through the following means:

  • Voluntary resignation by the employee
  • Mutual agreement between the parties
  • Unilateral termination by the employer based on:
  • Probation period evaluation
  • Objective grounds
  • Disciplinary reasons
  • Unsuitability for the job performance
  • Expiration of the employment contract

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is 30 days and is contingent on the conditions outlined in Article 177 of the Labor Law.

Severance for Employees

In Montenegro, employees who are terminated without cause are entitled to receive severance pay. The severance amount should be a minimum of one-third of the employee's average monthly wage for each year of service with that employer.

Paid Time Off

Full-time employees are entitled to 20 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.66 days per month.

If the employee has a working week of 6 days, the minimum time off will be 24 working days. Employees must take at least 10 working days in a row during each calendar year.

Public Holidays

Montenegro celebrates 14 national holidays and no regional holidays.

National public holidays include:

  • New Year's Day
  • Day after New Year’s Day
  • Orthodox Christmas Eve
  • Orthodox Christmas
  • Orthodox Good Friday
  • Orthodox Easter Day
  • Orthodox Easter Monday
  • May Day Monday (Labour Day)
  • May Day Tuesday (Labour Day)
  • Independence Day Monday
  • Independence Day Tuesday
  • Statehood Day Thursday
  • Statehood Day Friday
  • Njegos's Day, Montenegrin Culture Holiday
If an employee is observing a religious holiday, they are entitled to additional leave days.

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 7 business days. Compliance documents must be completed 1 day before the start date, including the wet ink employment agreement. 

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in Montenegrin and may also be bilingual. They must be documented in writing and duly signed in wet ink by both parties.
A contract should encompass the following details:

  • Full name
  • Commencement date
  • Duration of employment
  • Job description
  • Termination conditions

Probation Period

The minimum probationary period is 30 days, and the maximum probationary period is 180 days.

Hiring in Montenegro, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Montenegro with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in Montenegro and 150+ countries.

Group (8)

Starting at 599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

2.97%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

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