Employers who hire minors without contracts may face large fines

The Labour Inspection (LI) found in 2006 more than 70 cases involving violations of the laws governing the employment of minors. According to Angela Moldovanu, LI consultant, among the most frequent violations of the laws governing the employment of minors, that is children aged between 15 and 18 years, are the lack of employment contracts and the failure to respect the number of hours minors may work, namely 5 hours a day for children aged between 15 and 16, and 7 hours for the 17-year-olds. Besides these, other violations include the employment of children without a prior medical exam, without labour protection training and without qualification. Under the labour legislation, violating employers are liable to fines ranging from 2000 to 5000 lei. According to official data from LI, in 2006, there were hired 660 minors, most of them – 400 – in processing industry, and 100 – in agriculture. However, unofficial data report a much higher number of underage workers, most of them from rural areas. June 12 is the World Day Against Child Labour, declared by the International Labour Organisation in Geneva in 2002.