Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2001, publiée 90ème session CIT (2002)

The Committee notes the conclusions and recommendations of the committee set up to examine the representation made by the General Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Moldova, under article 24 of the Constitution, alleging non-observance by the Republic of Moldova of Convention No. 95 (document GB.278/5/1, 278th Session, June 2000). Bearing in mind the conclusions contained in paragraphs 20 to 35 of the report, the above Committee recommended that the Government should be invited to supply detailed information on all measures taken or envisaged with a view to:

(i)  ensure the regular payment of wages, in particular regarding the ongoing legislative reforms to improve the supervision of the application of labour laws, including the establishment of a Labour Inspectorate, and the progress in the discussions with the most representative workers’ organizations to agree on a yearly schedule for the payment of wage arrears; and

(ii)  put an end to the practice of partial payment of wages in the form of alcoholic drinks and tobacco products or any other allowance in kind which would be in violation of the provisions of Convention No. 95, and in particular on the nature of institutions or agencies responsible for the enforcement of relevant laws and regulations, the number of complaints investigated or infringements observed and the nature of sanctions imposed.

Wage arrears

In its report, the Government states that a series of measures have made it possible to reduce the overall amount of wage arrears from 552.1 million lei in January 2000 to 475.2 million in October 2000, that is a 14 per cent decrease. Significant reductions were observed in some sectors such as education where wage arrears dropped from 88.7 to 60.8 million lei, or a 31.5 per cent decrease, and the health sector where arrears fell by 22.5 per cent from 66.4 to 51.5 million lei. The average delay in the payment of wages was 2.1 months ranging from 0.7 to 1.7 months in industry, trade, transport, education and culture, to 3 to 4 months in agriculture, health and public administration. Agriculture, including the industry related to agricultural products, accounted for 58 per cent of all accumulated arrears in the non-budgetary sector.

With regard to legislative and administrative measures, the Committee notes the adoption of Government Resolution No. 927 of 9 September 2000 by which companies with accumulated wage arrears cannot increase wage scales until they have paid off all due wages, and Resolution No. 985 of 27 September 2000 which provides that, in case of partial payment, company managers may only receive the same proportion of their salaries as their employees. By resolution No. 468 of 18 May 2000, the Government defined the payment of wages and pensions as one of the priorities in the execution of the state budget. In addition, on 15 June 2000, the Government amended Act No. 491-XIV of 9 July 1999 concerning the local public finances to the effect that funds transferred from the state budget to the treasury of regional authorities must be used as a matter of priority for the payment of the wages of employees of institutions financed by administrative-territorial units. In September 2000, the Parliament adopted the plan of reform of the system of remuneration including action to ensure the timely payment of wages. The Government further indicates that in 2000, new draft laws were elaborated on minimum-wage fixing, protection of wages, and labour inspection as well as a new consolidated text of the Labour Code. The Government also refers to paragraph 73 of the National Collective Agreement of 1998 which expands the liability of managers and provides that officials responsible for the non-payment of wages who admit having misused financial resources destined to pay workers’ wages shall be punished in conformity with the laws in force.

While noting that, according to the figures provided by the Government, there have been some signs of improvement in certain branches of the state-owned sector, the Committee is bound to observe that the situation remains particularly serious especially in the non-budgetary sector. The Committee has been emphasizing the importance of such measures as: (i) effective supervision; (ii) imposition of appropriate penalties to prevent and punish infringements; and (iii) steps to make good the prejudice suffered. The information supplied by the Government does not permit to conclude that all possible measures have been exhausted in any of these three aspects. In particular, the Committee notes with concern that little progress has been recorded in the effort to create a Labour Inspectorate which would have facilitated the systematic control of the application of national legislation. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on all relevant measures taken to ensure the regular payment of wages and a rapid settlement of outstanding wage arrears in conformity with Article 12(1) of the Convention. Recalling paragraph 36(a)(i) of the report of the committee set up to examine the representation made by the General Federation of Trade Unions under article 24 of the Constitution, the Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date information in its next report on the number of workers affected and the type and number of establishments concerned as well as on the number of punishable offences observed and the sanctions imposed, including any relevant court decisions. The Committee also asks the Government to make available to the Office the text of any legislative or regulatory acts such as Government resolutions which have not been supplied previously.

Payment of wages in kind

The Committee takes note of the information contained in the Government’s report regarding the payment of wages in the form of alcoholic drinks. According to the results of an inspection carried out in 99 establishments throughout the country, following the allegations of the General Federation of Trade Unions about the extensive practice of supplying alcoholic drinks in lieu of money, 14 enterprises were found to offer alcohol in lieu of wages in cash. In total, 2,586 workers were affected by such practice, or 0.36 per cent of the total workforce, while alcoholic drinks represented 2.2 per cent of all payments in kind, or 0.16 per cent of the country’s nine-month wage bill. The Committee also notes the Government’ s indication that cash remuneration is replaced by alcohol upon the written request of workers on specific family occasions (e.g. weddings, funerals, etc.). To the Government’s knowledge, workers were in no case imposed the payment of wages in the form of alcoholic drinks. The Government adds that there have been no reports of wages being paid in the form of narcotic substances.

In the Committee’ s opinion, the above information based on a sample survey gives alarming evidence of the ongoing practice of substituting alcohol for money wages. While noting that the Government insists that the problem is limited to a few isolated cases and that such practice only occurs on the workers’ express request, the Committee is obliged to recall that Article 4(1) of the Convention prohibits the payment of wages in the form of alcoholic drinks or of noxious drugs in any circumstances. The Committee further considers that the Government has primary responsibility in the enforcement of this prohibition and should do therefore its utmost in order to definitively eradicate such practice.

The Committee therefore urges the Government to make a clear commitment to put an end to this violation of the Convention and to take all necessary measures to ensure that the partial payment of wages in kind, when authorized, meets the strict requirements laid down in the Convention. Recalling paragraph 36(a)(ii) of the report of the committee set up to examine the representation made by the General Federation of Trade Unions under article 24 of the Constitution, the Committee asks the Government to supply, in particular, concrete information on: (i) the scale of the problem consisting in replacing cash remuneration by alcohol or tobacco; (ii) the enforcement of existing legislation and the results obtained; and (iii) any steps taken for improving the legislative or regulatory framework with regard to payment of wages in kind.

In addition, a request regarding other points is being addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2002.]