Trade Unions request annulment of bill concerning sick leaves

Trade Unions demand the annulment of the bill for amending the Law on indemnities for temporary labor incapacity and other labor conscriptions of social insurance, which provides that the first day of the sick leave is paid by the employee and the other 7 by the employer. “Solidaritatea” trade-union have recently expedited the Parliament an official letter in which it solicits the creation of a committee with the participation of trade-unions and employers which would analyze the activities of all funds of the Budget of state social insurance, including the way of paying the indemnities for temporary labor incapacity. The committee would also establish a strict control over the process of remitting of the sick leave certificates. The trade-union also requests the possibility of implementation of the institution of the authorized doctor in the structure of trade-unions. The letter also states:” the state is obliged to honor art. 47 of the Constitution which stipulates that citizens have the right to insurance in cases of unemployment, disease, widowhood, aging or in other cases of losing their means of subsistence as effect to some circumstances independent of their will”. Taking away the employee’s right to receive an indemnity for the first day is seen by the trade-unionists as a limit of the tax-payers’ right to insurances from the Budget of the state social assurances, which comes in conflict with the art. 54 of the Constitution, which states that no law can be adopted in the Republic of Moldova which would suppress or restrain the fundamental rights and liberties of the human being and the citizen. At the same time, the obligation of the economic agents to pay the sick leave without reducing the compulsory social contribution is considered by the trade-unions to be an additional social tax. The Executive asserts that the aim of the draft law, approved in June current year, is to reduce the morbidity of the employees. According to the Government’s sources, last year the expenses of the Social Fund for the Payment of the sick leaves were increased by 40 %. At the moment of the approval by the Executive, trade unions and patronages considered, that in case the number of sick leave certificates increased because of the real morbidity of employees, the state should be concerned with methods of improving the working places of the employers or other factors which influence their health.