LLMD
Labour Law (MD)
Labour Law of the Republic of Moldova
Art.
348 Subject of labor jurisdictionThe subject of labor jurisdiction is the resolution of individual labor disputes and collective labor conflicts on collective bargaining, conclusion, execution, modification, suspension or termination of collective and individual labor contracts, collective agreements provided by this law, as well as the resolution of collective conflicts arising in various levels between social partners and concerning the economic, social, professional and cultural interests of workers.
Art.
349 Parties of the individual labor disputes and collective labor disputesThe parties of the individual labor disputes and collective labor disputes may be:
a) employees, as well as any other persons holding certain rights and/or obligations, pursuant to this code;
b) employers natural and legal persons;
c) trade unions and other representatives of employees;
d) employers' associations (patronages);
e) central and local public authorities, as appropriate;
f) (repealed)
Art.
350 Principles of labor jurisdictionThe principles of labor jurisdiction are:
a) conciliation of the divergent interests of the parties, deriving from the relations provided in art.348;
b) the right of the employees to be defended by their representatives;
b.1) the right of the employers to be protected by the patronages;
c) exemption of the employees and their representatives from legal expenses;
d) efficiency in examining individual labor disputes and collective labor disputes.
e) (repealed)
f) (repealed)
Art.
351 Labor jurisdiction bodiesLabor jurisdiction bodies are:
a) conciliation commissions (extrajudicial bodies);
b) the courts.
Art.
352 Examination of individual labor disputes and collective labor disputes(1) The request for settlement of the individual labor dispute or of the collective labor dispute (claims in the case of conciliation procedure) shall be submitted to the competent labor jurisdiction body by the interested party (art. 349) and shall be registered by it in the established manner. .
(2) In the process of examining the application, the parties have the right to explain their position and to present to the labor jurisdiction body all the evidence and justifications they consider necessary.
(3) The labor jurisdiction body assesses the evidence presented by the parties and takes decisions according to the legislation in force.
Art.
353 Exemption of the employees and their representatives from the payment of legal expensesEmployees or their representatives who apply to the courts with requests for settlement of disputes and disputes arising from the reports provided in art. 348 (including to challenge judgments and decisions regarding the litigations and conflicts concerned) are exempted from the payment of legal costs (state tax and costs related to the trial of the case).
Art.
354 Individual labor disputesIndividual labor disputes between the employee and the employer are considered regarding:
a) concluding the individual labor contract;
b) execution, modification and suspension of the individual labor contract;
c) termination and nullity, partial or total, of the individual labor contract;
d) compensations payment in case of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of the obligations by one of the parties of the individual labor contract;
e) contest results;
f) annulment of the order (disposition, decision, resolution) for employment, issued according to art. 65, point (1);
g) (repealed)
h) other problems arising from the individual employment relationships.
Art.
355 Examination of the request regarding the settlement of the individual labor dispute(1) The request regarding the settlement of the individual labor dispute shall be submitted to the court:
a) within 3 months from the date when the employee found out or had to find out about the violation of his right;
b) within 3 years from the date of appearance of employees respective right, in situation when the object of the litigation consists in payment of some salary or other rights, which belong to the employee.
(2) The requests submitted with the omission, for justified reasons, of terms provided in paragraph (1) may be submitted within the court.
(3) The court shall summon the parties of the dispute within 10 working days from the date of the application registration.
(4) The court shall examine the request for settlement of the individual labor dispute within a maximum of 30 working days from the date of its registration and shall issue a decision with the right to appeal according to the Code of Civil Procedure.Â
(5) The court shall remit its decision to the parties within 3 working days from the date of issue.
Art.
356 Execution of decisions regarding the settlement of individual labor disputes(1) The employer is obliged to execute immediately, according to the Code of Civil Procedure, the decision (resolution) of the court on the restoration of the employee's rights deriving from the labor relations and from other relations directly related to them.
(2) The non-execution of the judicial acts indicated in paragraph (1) attracts the effects provided by the Enforcement Code.
Art.
357 General notions(1) Collective labor disputes mean unresolved differences between employees (their representatives) and employers (their representatives) regarding the establishment and modification of working conditions (including the salary), regarding the conduct of collective bargaining, the conclusion, modification and execution of collective bargaining agreements and collective agreements, regarding the employer's refusal to take into account the position of employees' representatives in the process of adopting, within the unit, legal acts containing norms of labor law, as well as divergences regarding the economic, social, professional and cultural interests of employees, appeared at different levels between the social partners.
(2) The moment of triggering the collective labor dispute represents the date on which the decision of the employer (its representatives at different levels) or, as the case may be, of the respective public authority regarding the refusal, totally or partially, to fulfill the demands of employees (their representatives) or the date on which the employer (his representatives) or the respective public authority had to respond to these claims, or the date of drawing up the report on the divergences within the collective bargaining.
(3) The conciliation procedure means the examination of the collective labor dispute, in order to resolve it, within a conciliation commission.
Art.
358 Submission of claims(1) In all cases where in a unit there are the premises for initiating a collective labor dispute, the employees' representatives have the right to submit to the employer their claims regarding the establishment of new working conditions or modification of existing ones, collective bargaining, conclusion, modification and execution of the collective labor contract.
(2) The employees' claims are submitted to the employer (his representatives) in written form. They must be substantiated and contain concrete references to the infringed rules of the legislation in force.
(3) The employer is obliged to receive the submitted claims and to register them in the established manner.
(4) The copies of the claims may be handed over, as the case may be, to the hierarchically superior bodies of the unit, the employers' associations, the branch unions, the central and local public authorities.
(5) The employer is obliged in written form to respond to the employees' representatives within 5 working days from the date of claims registration.
Art.
359 Conciliation procedure(1) The conciliation procedure takes place between the parties of the conflict, within a conciliation commission.
(2) The Conciliation Commission consists of an equal number of representatives from each of conflict parties, by the initiative of one of them.
(3) The conciliation commission is set up ad hoc, whenever a collective labor dispute arises.
(4) The order (disposition, decision, resolution) of the employer (his representatives) and the respective decision (disposition) of the employees' representatives shall serve as the basis for the establishment of the conciliation commission.
(5) The chairman of the conciliation commission is elected by the majority of votes of the commision members.
(6) The employer is obliged to create normal working conditions for the conciliation commission.
(7) The debates of the conciliation commission shall be recorded in a report drawn up in 2 or more copies, as the case may be, in which the general or partial measures for resolving the conflict, on which the parties have agreed, shall be indicated.
(8) The Commission shall reconcile the parties to the collective labor dispute within a maximum of 10 working days from the date of the commission establishment. This period may be extended once by an written agreement from commision members. If the members of the conciliation commission have reached an agreement on the claims submitted, the commission will adopt a binding decision for the parties to the conflict, which it will submit to them within 24 hours of adoption.
(9) If the members of the conciliation commission have not reached an agreement, the chairman of the commission informs conflict parties in written form within 24 hours.
Art.
360 Resolving collective labor disputes in court(1) In case the parties to the conflict have not reached an agreement or do not agree with the decision of the conciliation commission, each of them, within 10 working days from the date of expiration of the term for conciliation of the collective labor dispute by the conciliation commission or, as the case may be, from the date of adopting the decision or receiving the respective information (art. 359 par. (8) and (9)), is entitled to submit a request for settlement of the conflict in the court.
(2) The court shall summon the parties to the dispute within 10 working days from the date of registration of the application.
(3) The court shall examine the request for settlement of the collective labor dispute within a maximum of 30 working days from the date of its registration and shall issue a decision with the right to appeal according to the Code of Civil Procedure.
(4) The court shall remit its decision to the parties within 3 calendar days from the date of issue.
Art.
361 Finding the nullity of the collective labor contract or the collective agreement and the legality of the strike(1) The requests regarding the settlement of collective labor disputes regarding the finding of the nullity of the collective labor contract, of the collective agreement or of some clauses thereof may be submitted by the parties to the courts starting with the date of signing the collective labor contract or collective agreement.
(2) The requests regarding the settlement of the collective labor conflicts regarding the ascertainment of the legality of the strike may be submitted by the parties to the courts starting with the date of declaring the strike according to art. 362.
(3) The applications indicated in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be examined according to art.360.
Art.
362 Declaration of strike(1) The strike represents the voluntary refusal of the employees to fulfill, totally or partially, their work obligations, in order to resolve the collective labor conflict triggered in accordance with the legislation in force.
(2) The strike may be declared in accordance with this law only for the purpose of defending the professional economic and social interests of the employees and may not pursue political purposes.
(3) The strike may be declared if all the ways of resolving the collective labor dispute within the conciliation procedure provided by this law have been exhausted.
(4) The decision regarding the declaration of the strike is taken by the employees' representatives and is notified to the employer 48 hours before the start of the strike.
(5) Copies of the decision on declaring the strike may be submitted, as the case may be, to the hierarchically superior bodies of the unit, employers' associations, trade unions, central and local public authorities.
Art.
363 Organization of the strike at unit level(1) Before starting the strike in the unit, the observance of the conciliation procedure (art. 359) is obligatory.
(2) The employees' representatives express the interests of the striking employees in the relations with the employer, the employers' associations, the central and local public authorities, as well as in the courts, in the case of civil and criminal proceedings.
(3) The striking employees, together with the employer, have the obligation, during the strike, to protect the goods of the unit and to ensure the continuous operation of the equipment and installations whose stopping could endanger the life and health of people or cause damage irrecoverable to the unit.
(4) Participation in the strike is free. No one can be forced to go on strike.
(5) If the technological, safety and hygiene conditions of the work allow it, the employees who do not participate in the strike can continue their activity at their workplace.
(6) During the strike, the employer cannot be prevented from carrying out his activity by the striking employees.
(7) The employer may not hire persons to replace the striking employees.
(8) Participation in the strike or its organization in compliance with the provisions of this law does not constitute a violation of work obligations and may not have negative consequences for striking employees.
(9) During the strike, the employees maintain all the rights deriving from the individual and the collective labor contract, from the collective agreements, as well as from the present law, except for the salary rights.
(10) The remuneration of the employees work who do not participate in the strike and are stationed on the reason of its development shall be carried out according to the provisions of art. 80.
Art.
364 Organization of the strike at territorial level(1) The right to declare and organize the strike at territorial level belongs to the territorial trade union body.
(2) The claims of the strike participants shall be examined by the territorial commissions for consultations and collective bargaining, at the request of the interested social partner.
(3) The strike shall be declared and carried out in accordance with this law and with the collective agreement concluded at territorial level.
Art.
365 Organization of the strike at branch level(1) The right to declare and organize the strike at branch level belongs to the branch trade union body.
(2) The claims of the strike participants shall be examined by the branch commission for consultations and collective bargaining, at the request of the interested social partner.
(3) The strike shall be declared and carried out in accordance with this law and with the collective agreement concluded at branch level.
Art.
366 Organization of the strike at national level(1) The right to declare and organize the strike at national level belongs to the respective national-inter-branch trade union body.
(2) The claims of the strike participants shall be examined by the National Commission for Consultations and Collective Bargaining, at the request of the social partner concerned.
(3) The strike shall be declared and carried out in accordance with this law and with the collective agreement concluded at national level.
Art.
367 Place of the strike(1) The strike takes place, as a rule, at the permanent workplace of the employees.
(2) In case of non-satisfaction of the employees' claims for 15 calendar days, the strike may be carried out outside the unit.
(3) The public administration authorities, with the consent of the employees' representatives, shall establish the public places or, as the case may be, the rooms in which the strike will take place.
(4) The conduct of the strike outside the unit and in the public places shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the legislative acts regulating the organization and conduct of the meetings.
Art.
368 Suspension of the strike(1) The employer may request the suspension of the strike, for a maximum period of 30 calendar days, if it could endanger the life and health of people or when he considers that the strike has been declared or is carried out in violation of the law in force.
(2) The request of the strike suspension shall be submitted to the court.
(3) The court establishes the term for the examination of the application, which cannot be longer than 3 working days, and orders the summoning of the parties.
(4) The court resolves the request within 2 working days and pronounces a decision by which, as the case may be:
a) rejects the employer's request;
b) admits the employer's request and orders the strike suspension.
(5) The court shall remit its decision to the parties within 48 hours from the moment of pronouncing.
(6) The decision of the court may be appealed according to the Code of Civil Procedure.
Art.
369 Limitation of the strike participation(1) The strike is prohibited during the natural calamities, the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics, as well as during the state of emergency, siege or war.
(2) The following may not participate in the strike:
a) the medical-sanitary personnel from the hospitals and the urgent medical assistance services;
b) employees from energy and water supply systems;
c) employees in the telecommunications system;
d) employees of air traffic management services;
e) the persons in charge of the central public authorities;
f) the collaborators of the bodies that ensure the public order, the rule of law and the security of the state, the judges of the courts, the employees of the military units, the organizations or institutions of the Armed Forces;
g) employees from continuous flow units;
h) the employees from the units that manufacture production for the country's defense needs.
(3) The nomenclature of units, sectors and services, the employees of which may not participate in the strike according to point (2), shall be approved by the Government after consulting the employers' associations and trade unions.
(4) If the strike is prohibited according to the points (1) and (2), the collective labor disputes shall be resolved by the labor jurisdiction bodies, according to the present law.
Art.
370 Liability for organizing the illegal strike(1) For declaring and organizing the illegal strike, the guilty persons shall bear disciplinary, material, administrative and criminal liability in accordance with the legislation in force.
(2) The court that found the illegality of the strike will oblige the guilty persons to repair the material and moral damage caused, according to the present law and other normative acts in force.