The implementation of the European Minimum Wage Law is a step forward for better-paid jobs but also for greater economic and social stability, says Labour and Social Solidarity Minister Simona Bucura Oprescu.

„With the adoption of this law, we will have better protection for workers in Romania. The wage increase is a step forward for better-paid jobs, but also for greater economic and social stability. By applying this law, we aim to reduce in-work poverty and protect purchasing power. It is a commitment we have made to leave no one behind and to improve working and living conditions,” said Simona Bucura Oprescu, in a Facebook post on the Ministry’s page.

The law ensuring a new mechanism for setting the minimum wage level, according to the provisions of a European directive in this area, was promulgated on Wednesday by President Klaus Iohannis. The legislative act transposes into national law EU Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union, and the goal of the initiative is to ensure a decent living for all workers in Romania and reduce wage inequalities, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity’s post.

The Labour Ministry, together with social partners – unions and employers’ organisations – has created a mechanism for setting the minimum wage that takes into account the population’s purchasing power, the average wage, and labour productivity, thus offering a real and sustainable income increase for Romanian workers.

„The law guarantees that low wages will increase according to clear economic indicators, encourages collective bargaining between employers and trade unions, and strengthens social dialogue,” the ministry’s post mentions.

According to the source, Romania has recorded the highest growth rate of the minimum wage in the European Union in the last decade, both in nominal and real terms.

The legislative act ensures the transposition into national law of the provisions of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 of the European Parliament and the Council of October 19, 2022, regarding adequate minimum wages in the European Union.

It includes regulations to ensure a new mechanism for determining the minimum wage level. Employees have access to minimum wage protection, either through a statutory minimum wage or through decent wages and working conditions established under collective labour agreements, collective agreements, or other written agreements.

„The gross minimum base salary represents the minimum amount to which an employee is entitled for work performed, established by a normative act or by the collective labour agreement. The guaranteed gross minimum base salary in payment represents the amount set annually by government decision, (…) corresponding to the normal working programme, with the goal of improving living and working conditions, especially the adequacy of the minimum wage to ensure a decent standard of living. The guaranteed gross minimum base salary is established annually by government decision and applies from January 1 of the following year, with periodic updates once a year, after consultation with the representative national-level trade union and employer confederations,” the law stipulates.

According to the law, the guaranteed gross minimum base salary established by government decision may be paid to an employee for a period of up to 24 months from the date of signing the individual employment contract. After this period expires, the employee will be paid a salary higher than the guaranteed gross minimum base salary.

„Failure to comply with the provisions regarding the guaranteed gross minimum base salary established by a normative act or the minimum wage level established by the applicable collective labour agreement shall be punished by a fine from 3,000 to 5,000 lei for each person for whom the violation is found, without exceeding a total value of 200,000 lei,” the law further provides.

It is also deemed a criminal offense and punishable by imprisonment for 1 to 12 months or a criminal fine for a person who, repeatedly, establishes wages below the gross minimum base salary specified in this law for employees working under individual labour contracts.

AGREPRES