Number of violations recorded by labor inspectors is rising

The number of violations discovered by the labor inspectors over the period of January-October 2010 rose compared to the similar period last year by over 3,500 cases. Most violations are related to safety and health at work, Dumitru Stavila, General Labor Inspector of State, has told Info-Prim Neo. According to Dumitru Stavila, with the adoption of the new Code of Administrative Offenses, which enables labor inspectors to issue citations in connection with accidents in the work place, cases are resolved faster and the overall efficiency of work has improved. In 2010, 315 workplace accidents were reported to the Labor Inspection. 207 of them, classified as accidents resulting in temporary incapacity to work, were investigated internally, and 108 other cases, including 48 lethal accidents, were investigated by labor inspectors. According to Dumitru Stavila, the number of lethal workplace accidents decreased compared to 2009 by 4. The most serious accidents mainly take place in agriculture and forestry, constructions, in the energy sector and transportation. Employers are to blame for six in ten accidents. A double lethal accident recently took place in the village of Hijdieni, Glodeni district, at an apple gathering event. The tractor which carried the containers laden with apples also carried the female workers who gathered the apples. While trying to surmount a difficult slope, the tractor skidded backward and the women panicked, jumping out of the trailer. The jump destabilized the trailer and the containers fell out, killing two of the women. In this case the employer was to blame not only for the failure to give security instructions to the employees, but also of illegal hiring. Dumitru Stavila thinks that the establishment of a Labor Court in the Moldovan judicial system would speed up the settlement of legal cases related to the violation of labor rules. “Considering the experience of other countries and taking into account the big number of civil cases in our courts, the establishment of such a special court is absolutely necessary”, said Dumitru Stavila. The labor disputes which are commonly protracted in court are those related to re-employment. Usually these last almost one year. In case of re-employment, the employer has to pay the salary for the entire duration of the forced leave, and this means excessive costs for the employer, but also for the employee, who has to cover expenses related to the lawsuit. A Labor Court would speed up these lawsuits to make them last one month, and as a result the costs will be significantly lower. An attempt to create a Labor Court was made in 2003 with the drafting of the Labor Code, but it was unsuccessful. “This initiative is now promoted by the social partners and maybe we will be able to get somewhere when a new legal initiative is developed”, said Dumitru Stavila. The penalties for the violation of the labor legislation and security rules in the workplace range from 800 to 2,400 lei. If the fine is paid within 72 hours, a deduction of 50% is in place. Serious workplace accidents are handled by the police. In these cases the responsible persons are fined 4,000-10,000 lei, or sentenced to 100-200 hours of community service or up to 2 years' imprisonment. The lethal accidents as a result of the employers' negligence are punished with 2 to 6 years in prison.