The provisions of the Government decision on the method of working for days declared nonworking run counter to the provisions of the Labor Code, consider trade unionists, who do not agree with the extension of the workdays by one hour and reduction of the lunch break by 30 minutes from Monday through Friday, as of May 18, so as to work for ten non-worked days, IPN reports.

The National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova sent a letter to the secretary of state of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection Nelea Rusu. The letter says that under paragraph (5) of Article 111 of the Labor Code, for the salary earners to optimally use the nonworking days and bank holidays, the Government can transfer the nonworking days to other days. The extension of the workdays by one hour and reduction of the lunch break by 30 minutes are prerogatives negotiated by the employer and employee and are stipulated in the internal regulations of the unit, in the collective contract and in the individual work contract.

The Confederation suggests that point 1 of the draft Government decision on the method of working for days declared nonworking should provide that the days declared free from work (22 days) should be worked on Saturdays in 2020-2021, while points 2-5 should be excluded.

The trade unionists also propose that the provision concerning the cutting of the salary for paying the employee’s debt to the employer when the individual work contract is terminated or labor relations are ended before the non-worked days are worked should be excluded so as not to allow contradictions between the provisions of the Government decision and the Labor Code and to avoid possible disputes.