Exceptions sought to bill requiring employers to cover 3 days of sick leave

The law that will require employers to cover three days of the sick leave for employees, instead of one at present, should not be applicable to the agricultural sector, suggest members of the Parliament's Commission for Agriculture and Food Industry. The bill, which was approved by Parliament upon first reading in late December, now received the specialized commission's go ahead for a second reading, with two amendments proposed. The need for exceptions with respect to farmers are explained on the fact that the sector has many self-employed persons, which in case of the bill's initial version will be put in a disadvantaged position by having to cover 4 days of the sick leave, one as employee and three as employer. Before the bill is considered in the second reading, the Government was instructed to present to Parliament information on the number of rural households and farmers' associations that could be affected. The garment factory Ionel have also requested an exception from the 3-day rule, claiming they are facing big financial problems and the measure could push them into bankruptcy, announced Vladimir Hotineanu, the head of the Commission for Social Protection, which is the commission in charge of the bill. Attending the Commission's meeting, the representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, expressed their disagreement with the proposed exceptions, arguing that they might set an unwanted precedent. At the same time, the representatives of employers' organizations suggested that the 3-day rule should not be promoted at all, because it would be too heavy a burden for employers to bear and this might lead to a reduction in job numbers. To reduce government spending on sick leaves, a Government decision was adopted on 1 July 2010 according to which the first day of the sick leave is covered by the employee, the second by the employer and the remainder by the governmental social insurance scheme. For 2012, the Labor Ministry proposed that the employer should cover the second, third and fourth day of the sick leave, and the government should take it from the fifth day.