The draft law to modify the Labour Code, which the government put to public debate this week, will in its current form do away with many of the restrictions imposed on employers and reduce employee rights.
According to the proposals, employers will no longer be forced to provide professional training for employees or seek new employment for employees given the sack.
Employees could also be forced to work overtime under certain conditions, while trade union members or employee representatives will no longer be immune in the face of employers.
Employer representatives say the new rules will ensure increased flexibility of the labour market, while trade union representatives have criticised the draft saying it will generate social imbalances.
"Certain modifications were absolutely necessary. For instance, under the current labour code, labour norms must be established by employers with the approval of the trade union, whereas normally the trade union need only be consulted. At the same time, staff-cutting procedures were too elaborate. I believe the modifications proposed by the ministry are likely to bring higher flexibility to the labour market and more possibilities for negotiation at the company-employee level will emerge," explained Cristian Parvan, executive manager of the Association of Businessmen in Romania (AOAR).
Ever since the Labour Code was adopted in March 2003, employers' associations have said that it leads to more advantages for employees than for employers, being too restrictive, and have categorised many articles as "outrageous".
However, trade union members are critical of the initiative by the Ministry of Labour to modify the Labour Code. Bogdan Hossu, chairman of Cartel Alfa, says the new formula transfers most of the risk to the employee.
"The intention is that the manager should be protected from all risks and any inability to adapt to the market, by transferring the risk to the employee. For instance, in the case of collective layoffs, it is normal that employers are forced to give employees 60 days notice so the employees are able to take some protective measures. With the new formula, the employees will have to suffer any possible management flaws if the firm enters bankruptcy, because of not being notified," said Hossu. He added that the deregulation brought about by these changes did not conform to European Union practices.
"These changes are the result of the pressure from multinationals that seek to create a different social model in the EU applicants, so that they could attempt to extend it across the entire Union after accession," Bogdan Hossu said. georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro
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