Challenges Facing the New Labour Minister
The public sector salary law and the new provisions on child rearing are challenges facing the new Labour Minister
România Internațional, 19.04.2016, 13:44
The new Romanian Labour Minister, the 40-year old Dragos Paslaru, an economist by trade, took office on Tuesday, just one day after being sworn in before the head of state Klaus Iohannis. The President stressed the fact that the new minister was taking over the office at a very complicated time and advised the new minister to turn salaries in the public sector into a priority of his term in office. Klaus Iohannis:
Klaus Iohannis: “Obviously, expectations are high with regard to eliminating salary inequality in the public sector. I hope that, together with all the other stakeholders, you will find a solution that would really improve the situation in this sector.
Dragos Paslaru, a former economic adviser to Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, was proposed by the very PM to replace Ana Costea, who resigned last week, following protests by trade unions over the draft emergency ordinance on salaries in the public sector. In the meantime, PM Ciolos has announced that the executive carries on talks with the main stakeholders on the salary issue, with the aim of finding a feasible and acceptable solution, from both a budgetary and legal point of view.
Another challenge for the new Labour Minister is to enforce the new provisions of the law regarding child rearing leave and benefits, which have been recently promulgated by the head of state. At the investiture ceremony, President Iohannis said that was a very important law for Romanias demographic development and called for proper implementation solutions.
Klaus Iohannis: “I believe this is a good law, awaited for and welcome. It is a pro-active law in this field of demographic policies, and it is definitely extremely important to Romania.
The new law eliminates the monthly child rearing benefit cap, which until recently was 760 Euro. Therefore, under the new law, mothers will get 85% of their incomes, for a period of 2 years. The parents who decide to get back to work sooner are entitled to an incentive accounting for 50% of the minimum guaranteed benefit.
Parents who have won taxable incomes for a period of minimum 12 months in the last two years may benefit from a 2 year child rearing leave, or 3 years, if the child is disabled. The new provisions are due to come into force on July 1st, but the Finance Minister has recently said there are not enough funds to apply the law until the budget is adjusted. The National Liberal Party has hailed the promulgation of the law and has called on the new Labour Minister to identify the financial resources needed to grant child rearing benefits.
