Study: Every fourth Moldovan works unofficially. What the Ministry of Labor says
One out of four citizens of the Republic of Moldova works unofficially, according to a study presented recently by the Independent Expert-Group Center. Undeclared work can be combated through surprise checks and penalties, experts say. On the other hand, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection assures that after the reform of the State Labor Inspectorate, the phenomenon of informal work will be reduced.
22.8% of people employed in the Republic of Moldova work unofficially, states the Study presented by Expert Group. According to the director of programs within the analytical center, Stas Madan, unofficially, citizens who accept to receive full or partial salary in an envelope, because they do not want to pay taxes, and employers agree to violate the law because they know that they will not be sanctioned by the State Labor Inspectorate.
"These people are completely outside the social insurance system of the Republic of Moldova, that is, no tax is paid to the budget. Most acts of corruption are done consciously and it is logical what will happen to me if I fall under that law", said Stas Madan.
Starting this year, the State Labor Inspectorate will be reorganized, vacant positions will be reduced, the salaries of inspectors will be increased who will carry out unannounced checks and impose fines on economic agents who violate the legislation. After the reform, the State Labor Inspectorate will have 10 territorial offices, where they will work with integrity specialists who do not have a conflict of interest with the business environment, pointed out the Secretary of State from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Corina Ajder.
"The vision is that we want an efficient Labor Inspection, not necessarily large, not necessarily the number of inspectors to be large, but how well these inspectors work, how much we can help these inspectors to be efficient, through training, through visits internationally. With the help of the European Union, we want to offer a more modern working environment, more machines, more technology, but also certain elements that will help us increase transparency. Each inspector will go to check with body cameras and the whole discussion with the employer will be recorded", explained Corina Ajder.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2021, 192,000 people out of the total of 800,000 employees in the Republic of Moldova were unofficially employed. According to the ExpertGrup study, of the 192,000 unofficially employed people in the Republic of Moldova, 60% work in agriculture, 22% in construction and over 6% in trade and HORECA. Between 2015 and 2020, fiscal losses generated by the invisible economy increased from 8.9 billion lei to 15 billion lei annually.
