Union: Romanian Govt. insists on transferring contributions to employees

The Government insists on transferring the social contributions from employers to employees and doesn’t want to come up with an alternative solution, Cartel Alfa union president Bogdan Hossu said on Friday. “The transfer of taxes from the employer to the employee only takes from employees to cover the holes of the state budget,” Hosu added, reports local Agerpres. Romania will become a “garbage bin” in terms of labor conditions, and implicitly, this will lead to dumping. The full transfer of social contributions doesn’t exist anywhere else, Hossu added. Romania’s Government met with union representatives on Friday, October 6, to discuss about the transfer of social contributions to employees. They didn’t reach an agreement. However, there will be a new meeting between the Government and unions this week. The Government believes that employers’ associations will commit to increase the gross salaries by 23% so there is no negative effect on wages if contributions are transferred to employees. The talks took place after the Cartel Alfa union association had organized a large protest in Bucharest on Wednesday. The social contributions (CAS and CASS) for normal work conditions currently amount to 39.25% of the gross wage, part of which is paid by the employer while the rest is paid by the employee but withheld and transferred to the state budget by the employer. Starting January 1, 2018, the Government plans to lower the social contributions to 35% of the gross wage and put the whole charge on the employees. However, the employers will still have to withhold and transfer the money to the state budget. Unions are worried that some employers won’t accept increasing the gross wages, which would lead to lower net salaries. editor@romania-insider.com