Currently there is no specific legal framework in Moldova that would comprehensively regulate the secondment of employees within the European Union in this context. Moldovan labor legislation regulates general aspects of labor relations, but it does not reflect the complexity of situations that arise when enterprises from other states send employees to Moldova. And vice versa, when domestic enterprises send their employees to the EU.
The draft law was elaborated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection in order to create a unified system of regulations, measures and control mechanisms applicable to employees’ business trips, including measures to prevent circumvention of these rules. In this context, the powers of the State Labor Inspectorate will be increased and sanctions for violations of the legislation will be defined.
The measures will require additional costs
According to the draft, an employee of an employer registered in an EU Member State or Swiss Confederation who is sent to work in Moldova for a limited period of time in the framework of the execution of a transnational service contract will be considered as a seconded employee on the territory of Moldova.
Similarly, an employee of an employer registered on the territory of Moldova who will perform work in the territory of an EU Member State or Swiss Confederation for not more than 24 months will be considered a seconded employee.
The explanatory memorandum to the draft also provides an approximate cost estimate. As the authors emphasize, the inspections will require hiring staff and spending on salaries, equipment for monitoring and real-time information exchange with other EU member states, training, visits, which include travel and accommodation expenses for officials.
Salary costs may increase by about 15-20%, while staff training may cost about 50,000-100,000 lei per year. Modernization of IT systems will require investments of 500 thousand lei or more.
