Trade unions insist on compliance with EU rules in the process of reforming labour law

More than 60 people, representatives of public authorities, CNSM, employers, national and international experts in the field of work, development partners and the business environment, participated today at the seminar on Labour Law Reform organized by to the Mission of EU High Level Advisers in the Republic of Moldova in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection.

Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection, Stela Grigoraş, said that the improvement of the labour law framework aimed at ensuring the respect of the rights and interests of employees and employers in the labour relations and the adjustment of the national legislation to the EU directives for ensuring social security are of particular importance to the Government.

Nijole Mackeviciene, EU High Level Adviser for Employment Policy, said that the EU-Moldova Association Agreement aims at promoting the European labour law and related working conditions, a large part of which is linked by the content of the ILO Conventions that Republic of Moldova has already ratified. In particular, it advocates the need for labour market reforms while ensuring fairness for both employees and those outside the labour market; the proper accountability of employers, the implementation of reforms in the field of education and training, the elimination of barriers to employment.

Sergiu Sainciuc, vice-president of CNSM, said that lately there were many discussions about the necessity of changing the labour legislation in our country. In his opinion, the current Labour Code of the Republic of Moldova is a very good one, balanced, based on important principles, such as the normative one, which is minimum state guarantees, and the contractual one. It means that on the basis of collective labour agreements, collective labour contracts, the social partners can negotiate, discuss and approve more advantageous conditions for the subjects of labour relations. At the basis of the current Labour Code of the Republic of Moldova, there are 40 ILO Conventions, which our country has ratified, the revised European Social Charter, many UN acts, from which it follows that the labour legislation of our country contains the most advanced ideas from this domain on the globe.

However, he said, the working relations are constantly improving, other international requirements are taking place in this context. But it is important, the vice-president of the CNSM insisted, that excessive labour law liberalization should not be achieved because it will lead to the expansion of the informal economy phenomenon, ignoring the employees’ rights.

Several provisions of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement stipulate the development of social dialogue on the improvement of the labour market situation. That is why Sergiu Sainciuc proposed to proceed at the level of social partners in negotiations, discussions, to reach a common denominator in this context by consensus.

The vice-president of the CNSM has pleaded for the labour legislation in our country to be reformed in such a way as to protect the employees. Firstly, to comply with EU rules in this area in the process of amending the Labour Code of the Republic of Moldova. According to Sergiu Sainciuc, Moldovan Labour Code is quite well adjusted to the current labour market requirements, so that the social partners have nothing else but to identify the most sensitive provisions and to engage in discussions about them, in order to improve them.

Department of Mass Media and International Relations of CNSM