Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Romania (Ratification: 1975)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee noted previously that section 2 of the Labour Code stipulates that the Code applies only to persons employed under a work contract. It also noted that following instructions from the Government, the labour inspectorate supervises the working conditions only of persons hired under an individual work contract and has no authority as regards the work of the self-employed. The Committee recalled that the Convention applies not only to work performed under an employment contract, but to all types of employment or work, including self-employment.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that children involved in intolerable and hazardous work in the formal and informal sectors are identified, in various branches of activity, by professional bodies such as the labour inspectorate, social welfare and child protection, education, health and the police. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that Act No. 52/2011 of April 2011 regulates casual work done by day labourers in various sectors, including agriculture, hunting and fishing, cinematographic and audiovisual performances and productions, and cleaning and maintenance activities. The Government indicates that according to section 4(3) of the Act, no one under the age of 16 years may be engaged as a day labourer. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of children engaged in intolerable and hazardous work or in casual work, in the informal economy, who have been identified and withdrawn by the labour inspectorate and other competent professional bodies. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of Act No. 52/2011 with its next report.

Article 3(1) and (2). Determination of types of hazardous work. The Committee noted previously that a National Guidance Committee had drafted a decision on work hazardous to children, and took note of the Government’s statement that all those activities or types of work not covered by the draft were to be considered as light work able to be performed by young persons between 15 and 18 years of age. The Committee requested the Government to provide a copy of the decision on work hazardous for children as soon as it was adopted.

The Committee notes with satisfaction that Government Order No. 867/2009 on the prohibition of hazardous work for children has been adopted and been sent to Office. The Order bars children under 18 years of age from intolerable and hazardous work, which, by reason of its nature or the conditions in which it is performed, is liable to harm their safety, health, development or morals. The Committee also notes the detailed list of hazardous tasks appended to Order No. 867/2009, which sets out a full range of types of hazardous work prohibited for children under 18 years of age in a number of categories: work in which children are exposed to agents that are harmful to safety and health, such as physical, biological or chemical substances; work in which children are exposed to processes or activities that are harmful to safety and health, such as the handling of machinery, work with ferocious animals, construction work or work involving risk of accident; work in which children are exposed to conditions harmful to safety, health and morals, such as night work, underground work, work in cemeteries or work involving the production or sale of alcoholic beverages; and work preventing participation in some form of education.

Article 9(3). Keeping of registers. The Committee noted previously that Decision No. 161/2006 set forth the procedure for setting up a general register of employees and keeping it up to date.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government to the effect that Decision No. 161/2006 has been amended and supplemented by Government Order No. 37/2010. Under the Order, employers must transmit to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate information on the identity of each employee, the date of their employment, the duties/occupations they perform and the type of individual work contract. Furthermore, employers are required to transmit the employment register electronically to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate in the district where the headquarters or domicile of the employer is located, at the latest one working day before employment of the employee begins. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of Order No. 37/2010, together with a copy of the model employment register to be kept by employers pursuant to the Order.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information sent by the Government to the effect that during the period from 1 June 2009 to 31 December 2010, labour inspectors carried out 133,843 inspections to detect and combat undeclared work. As a result of these visits, 14,947 employers were penalized for employing undeclared labour, including 147 penalized for using the labour of young persons between 15 and 18 years of age without any legal form of employment. The labour inspectors thus identified 29,251 cases of persons working with no legal form of employment, including 196 young people between 15 and 18 years of age. Furthermore, the Government indicates that during the period under consideration, the Territorial Labour Inspectorates filed 53 complaints with the criminal prosecution authorities for breach of the statutory age of admission to employment. Of these, 40 gave rise to criminal investigations and for the other 13 criminal charges were not pressed. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied, including statistical data on the employment of children and young persons, extracts from reports by the inspection services, and the number and nature of offences involving children and young people. To the extent possible, the statistics provided should be disaggregated by age and sex.