Natalia Plugaru, Minister of Labor and Social Protection
According to the organization, it would exclude the GIT from the scope of Law No. 131/2012, which would affect the coherence of the legal framework and remove fundamental procedural guarantees for the business environment. Its members point to problematic provisions such as inspections without notice and without delegation of control; unrestricted access to any premises at any time; the right of inspectors to conduct “any investigative action” or question individuals without procedural guarantees; the diminished role of checklists; and the equating of inspectors’ findings with evidence in contravention proceedings, which creates serious risks for compliance with the procedures provided for in the Contravention Code. Members of the organization warn that the elimination of elements such as inspection planning, risk criteria, registration in the State Register of Inspections or the use of checklists will lead to a discretionary regime lacking predictability and legal safeguards.
Representatives of the business community argue that the justification fails to demonstrate the necessity and proportionality of the proposed changes. And the arguments are of a general nature and do not indicate how the current regulatory framework will hinder the effective functioning of the State Labor Inspectorate. At the same time, the justification contains references to expired normative acts, and there is no full assessment of the compliance of the proposed innovations with international standards.
AmCham recalls that Law No. 131/2012 already allows intervention without prior notice in case of imminent risk, and jurisprudence confirms the compliance of these provisions with international standards. In this regard, the Chamber notes that there are no arguments regarding the insufficiency of these exemptions or the need to significantly expand the powers of inspectors. Also, the impact on the business environment has not been properly assessed, and the conclusions presented in the explanatory memorandum do not reflect the possible administrative costs and consequences for business entities.
On this basis, the business representatives recommend maintaining the application of Law No. 131/2012 to the GIT with specific exemptions justified by relevant international standards, as well as strengthening the institutional capacity of the Inspectorate through administrative measures such as digitalization, training, increasing the number of inspectors and improving the methodology of risk analysis.
This week, on November 19, a new twinning project was launched with a budget of 1.5 million euros to strengthen the capacity of the State Labor Inspectorate (SLI). It will run for 30 months and the team’s efforts will be aimed at bringing the GIT’s activities in line with European standards and best practices, as well as the International Labor Organization’s rules on safety and hygiene, combating illegal employment and preventing labor exploitation.
The main objectives of the project are modernization of legal norms and procedures, as well as information tools and systems, development of professional competencies of inspectors, improvement of risk-based planning of inspections and use of statistical data for this purpose. At the same time, the project will help improve communication of the GIT to increase public trust and cooperation with employers and employees.
Presenting the project, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Natalia Plougarou stressed its strategic importance for institutional modernization and convergence with EU standards: “The strengthening of the State Labor Inspectorate and the reforms initiated in the National Employment Agency are crucial for the creation of safe, fair and predictable working conditions. These changes will provide the business community with the necessary confidence to invest, while at the same time protecting workers”.
The implementation of the project is supported by Spain, through the Inspectorate of Labor and Social Security, and Slovakia, through the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family and the National Labor Inspectorate. From April 2025, technical teams from these countries have started the first working missions aimed at assessing the capacities of the GIT and harmonizing procedures with EU regulations in the field of occupational safety and health.
Logos Press asked the Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Natalia Plugaru, to comment on the opinion of the business community on the upcoming legislative changes. “The changes that are being undertaken in preparation for EU accession are not only aimed at the autonomy of the inspectorate,” she said. – ‘We want to strengthen its professional potential, and at the same time change the direction of its activity. We want it to be not a controller, but an assistant and partner for both employers and employees. Our common goal is to promote business policy and open social dialog with the business community and trade unions. Then we can talk about workers’ rights and the development of entrepreneurship. When workers’ rights are protected and decent legal labor is ensured, productivity grows. We are conducting an open social dialog and will take into account all opinions of the parties”.
In turn, the head of the State Labor Inspectorate Mykolae Vasilenko is convinced that legislative changes are necessary. “There are different opinions on this issue, and we consider them quite legitimate. But it seems that in this case we are talking about a small group, about 10% of law-abiding employers. I think they are not familiar enough with the real situation. The other 90%, perhaps there are fewer of them, are very sophisticated business entities that do not want to comply with the law. So the question remains open for the time being,” he noted.
“We all remember the system of state control of enterprises before the adoption of Law No. 131/2012 and after,” says Vladislav Caminschi, executive director of the National Confederation of Patronages of Moldova. – Everyone immediately saw and felt the difference. We wanted to create a unified system that would not allow the inspector to come to the enterprise without serious reasons. The risks would be calculated in advance and the enterprises would be informed about the purpose of the inspection. Eventually, we achieved this, Law No. 131/2012 was adopted, and we do not want the inspection to be excluded from its scope. This would entail quite serious costs, but most importantly, there are concerns that the proposed changes could cause excessive authority on the part of inspectors. There must be a framework, otherwise businesses are defenseless. New rules should not apply to everyone, for this there is a risk system and statistical data analysis. We believe that enterprises need appropriate safeguards and the Ministry has committed to provide them. In any case, we will monitor the situation and how this reform will affect the investment climate”.
