AHK president says current Labor Code hails from socialist Romania, timesheet system obsolete

Romania is a country where timesheets are still being kept and the Labor Code is reminiscent of socialist Romania, president of the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce (AHK Romania) Dragos Anastasiu told a specialist conference on Tuesday. 

"This is a country where we are still keeping timesheets, Mr. [Labor] Minister. I am urging you, please change the Labor Code and adjust it to modern day. The current Labor Code hails from socialist Romania. In 2019 I must keep a record and timesheets. I don't care if someone is at the workplace for two or 12 hours. He has to do his job, but I must clock him. This is crazy!," Anastasiu said. 

The AHK Romania president also criticized the system of occupational medicine, voicing his opinion that employee tests are passed for grease money. 

Speaking of occupational medicine, Anastasiu pointed the finger at some aberrant requirements that don't differentiate tests for blue-collar workers and office workers, go over the top, requiring employees to go through the same health tests when changing jobs, and also stating that tests are passed for grease money.

Regarding the minimum wage per economy, Anastasiu said that three quarters of the workforce get undeclared money. 

"Three quarters of the Romania's population are paid the minimum wage. But shouldn't we talk about benefits?" he said, pointing to the HoReCa or the transport sector, where this phenomenon is particularly widespread. He suggested a nationwide pay rise and that the Romanian state should change its attitude towards entrepreneurs and no longer consider they are all prone to shunning the law. Attracting workforce from abroad remains only possibility to solve the issue in the short term, because the Romanians are staying abroad for the quality of life, not for the salaries Dragos Anastasiu mentioned. 

The first edition of the Working Romania conference takes place in Bucharest on Tuesday; the event is intended as a mouthpiece for the human resources sector, and aims to highlight existing or expected trends in the Romanian labor market.