The Government has adopted a new bill aimed at transposing Directive 2022/2041 of the European Parliament and of the Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union. It aims at ensuring an appropriate level of adequacy of the statutory minimum wage by supplementing the Labor Code with a number of national criteria for setting and updating the legal minimum wage, such as: (i) the purchasing power of the guaranteed minimum gross basic wage per country, (ii) the general level of wages and their distribution, (iii) the wage growth rate and (iv) long-term national productivity levels and trends.
The bill will also substantially increases the fines applicable to employers who do not pay the guaranteed minimum wage, the limits of the fines being between RON 3,000 and RON 5,000 for each person identified by inspectors in this situation (compared to the current limits, between RON 300 and RON 2,000), and the implementation of a maximum fine payable by the employer of RON 200,000.
The content of the bill is to be debated and approved by the Parliament.