Only seven of ten employees in Moldova contribute to the state insurance budget. Thus, about 30% of the employees work in the underground economy. The figures were presented in the international conference “Informal economy: realities, impact, actions”, IPN reports.

Deputy Minister of Labor Sergiu Sainciuc said that the Government adopted a plan of action for reducing illegal labor. The punishments provided in the Labor Code have been toughened up. Now there will be punished also the employees who do not have a work contract, while employers will be obliged to present a copy of the employment scheme. There was also drafted a bill on occasional work as most of the employees from the underground economy work in agriculture.

According to the chairman of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova Oleg Budza, the situation concerning the underground economy is rather worrisome. “We cannot say that today we have noticeable results. A large part of the economic entities continue to work illegally. We can give an example. A company from the agricultural sector sells products of millions of lei, but has no person employed officially,” he stated.

A wide program to combat illegal labor will be launched following the initialing of the Association Agreement between Moldova and the EU. “We believe that the European partners will not tolerate such a state. We must deal with these problems,” said Oleg Budza.

Ovidiu Jurca, senior specialist for workers ‘activities at the International Labor Organization subregional office in Budapest, said that in the international labor conference next year, they will discuss the adoption of a legal instrument for reducing illegal labor.