This Labour Code defines the basic concepts, principles, and objectives of labour legislation, including state guarantees of labour rights and freedoms, protection of workers and employers, and the creation of favourable working conditions.
The Code affirms key principles such as freedom of labour, prohibition of forced labour and discrimination, protection against unjustified dismissal, the right to safe and healthy working conditions, fair remuneration not below the statutory minimum wage, rest, social protection against unemployment, and the right to form and join trade unions and employers’ associations.
The Code regulates the formation, content, modification, and termination of employment relationships, primarily through individual labour contracts. It sets detailed rules on hiring, probation, documentation, working time (normal, reduced, part time, shift work, night work, overtime) and rest periods.
The Code also contains extensive provisions on occupational safety and health, employer duties to ensure safe conditions, medical examinations, investigation of accidents and occupational diseases, and compensation for harm to life and health, including periodic indexation and additional expenses.
Further, the Code devotes a large part to the specific regulation of vulnerable or special categories of workers: minors, women (including pregnancy and maternity protection), in particular persons with disabilities. It institutionalizes social partnership at national, sectoral, territorial and enterprise levels.
Finally, it establishes mechanisms for the protection of labour rights, including state supervision and control by an authorized labour inspectorate and the prosecutor’s office, public control by trade unions, and procedures for resolving individual and collective labour disputes, including mediation, conciliation commissions, the right to strike under defined conditions, and judicial review. The Code also specifies liability for violations of labour legislation for both employers and officials.