What seemed like a routine issue, of no significance whatsoever to the macroeconomy, has escalated into a fierce standoff between the government, labor unions, and big business. The regulations proposed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection do not satisfy anyone. Admittedly, for different reasons.
Vacation Time as a Lottery
Officials at the relevant ministry assure us that switching from calculating vacation in calendar days to calculating it in workdays will ensure a fair approach for all employees. The current system, they claim, creates inequality among employees depending on how weekends coincide with their vacation period. The new mechanism is designed to provide all employees with the same number of actual days off.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection Natalia Plugaru calls the current rules a “lottery for employees,” where everything depends on how they negotiate with their employer.
“People have the right to guaranteed days of actual rest, and this rest should not depend on how weekends fall or when vacation is scheduled. Right now, the most you can get is 24 days—and that’s only if you manage to split your vacation into parts. But what if you can’t? Why should we put employees in a situation where they’re forced to calculate, negotiate with their employer, and figure out how to stay home as long as possible, instead of knowing for certain: they have a fixed number of “X” days, regardless of the calendar or weekends,” the minister stated at a meeting of the National Commission on Consultations and Collective Bargaining.
According to the minister, the figure of 22 working days is a compromise, as the business community initially insisted on 20 working days.
The unions believe that the real motive behind this intervention has nothing to do with the desire or need to harmonize legislation, nor with compliance with the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
“The true goal is to satisfy the demands of representatives of the ICT (information and communication technologies), including central public authorities, namely to reduce the number of days of annual leave for both workers in the real sector and public sector employees,” said Eugen Covrig, head of the legal department of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSM).
“Work to live, not live to work”
The trade unions analyzed the proposed conversion plan and noted that for certain categories of workers and public sector employees, total annual leave would be reduced.
According to the Labor Code, workers in the Republic of Moldova are entitled to 14 paid non-working holidays.
An analysis of the calendar for the next 10 years (2027–2036) showed that employees will lose at least 3 such days each year. Moreover, there will be years when people will not be able to take 5 or even 6 of the 14 public holidays because they will fall on weekends.
According to Kovrig, these calculations “completely refute claims that the bill is an attempt to bring national legislation into line with European Union standards regarding annual leave.”
“We will by no means come close to the European Union average; we are guaranteed to end up at the very bottom of the list,” — concluded Kovrig, adding that “not a single organization that is part of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSM) supports such a conversion of annual leave days.”
“Unfortunately, this draft is not a compromise between the social partners—the government, employers, and trade unions. It lacks a reasonable justification backed by a thorough, multifaceted analysis, and, most importantly, there is no opinion on it from relevant international labor organizations.”
In response to a question from representatives of the Ministry of Labor asking, “Do the labor unions even understand that their vacation pay will increase by 5%? Do they understand that the total amount of payments will go up? That they’ll get more paid days off?” Kovrig replied that people “work to live, not live to work.”
“Workers understand perfectly well that these days off are far more important to them than the hundreds of lei you’re trying to bribe them with, while assuring them that they’ll benefit from this reform. The labor unions are very clearly aware of the loss of this benefit.”
It should be noted that the European Business Association (EBA) advocates for vacation time to be calculated strictly based on a ratio of 20 working days. According to its representatives, Moldova “as a country and as an economy cannot afford to pay for two extra days of vacation.” The association points out: “In two-thirds of EU member states, the standard vacation entitlement in working days is precisely 20 days.”
“A Compromise Solution”
Igor Krapivka, CEO of Orvento Metal, proposed a “compromise and conciliatory solution.” He suggests delegating the decision on the vacation day model to sectoral tripartite commissions. This would allow for a more flexible response to the needs of different economic sectors.
“There are industries that have surged far ahead, such as ICT and the banking and finance sector, and there are lagging industries—unfortunately, these are largely our agriculture and heavy industries. We cannot apply a one-size-fits-all approach and lump everyone together by comparing what happens in the public sector with what happens in the corporate sector. Moreover, the approach I’m proposing—to delegate matters to the sectoral level—will allow each sector to negotiate what works best and is most convenient for it. Legislation should only outline a general framework, while the models should be flexible,” Krapivka noted.
The International Labor Organization is expected to put an end to the protracted dispute between the government, labor unions, and the business community. The organization has promised to provide its expert opinion on this bill. The Minister of Labor noted that the ministry expects to receive this opinion within a week.
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