On the platform of the National Commission for Collective Consultation and Bargaining, the government, trade unions and employers discussed an increase in the minimum wage and a new formula for calculating paid annual leave. Proposals aimed at bringing the labor market in line with European standards, ensuring predictability of the minimum wage and modernizing labor legislation were discussed.
The central topic was the reform of the labor remuneration system and the need to introduce a transparent mechanism for calculating the minimum wage. The government reiterated the intention to gradually raise the minimum wage to 10,000 lei over the next four years. At present, it amounts to 6,300 lei.
According to the trade unions, more than 10,000 public sector employees do not reach the guaranteed minimum wage only at the expense of the basic wage, due to which compensatory payments are applied.
In response, representatives of the Finance Ministry said that the new concept of the labor payment reform will be submitted for public consultations in the first half of May.
Trade unions against changing the formula for calculating vacations
Another topic of intense debate was the initiative to convert annual paid leave from calendar days to working days. Business and employer representatives, including the information technology sector, argued that such a measure would provide greater clarity and eliminate existing differences in interpretation.
They proposed a formula of 20 working days with a standard five-day work schedule, a model already in use in 20 European Union countries.
However, the proposal was flatly rejected by union leaders. They said that switching to a new calculation formula could lead to a reduction in the actual guarantees for workers in case of vacation splitting, and also referred to the norms of the Revised European Social Charter, which guarantees at least four full weeks of annual rest.
Also on the agenda were the periodic revaluation of military pensions and the transposition of European directives on working on digital platforms, equal treatment and increased transparency in the labor market.
