Labour Ministry has completed a piece of legislation on the digitalisation employment relations to introduce electronic signature for signing contracts and simplify working remotely, Labour Minister Violeta Alexandru announced on Wednesday, according to AGERPRES.
"After consultations with trade unions and employers, after discussions with entrepreneurs in Bucharest and in the country, we decided to take a major step in digitising employment relations and, implicitly, simplifying their conduct," she said.
Under the new piece of legislation, for the first time in Romania, it will be possible to use the electronic signature, both when signing and when modifying or terminating the individual employment contract; the electronic signature can also be used for OSH training, including in the case of teleworking; the documents can be kept in an electronic archive; the activity of the remote workforce, which will no longer have to mention the place where it performs their duties, can be verified by electronic means.
At the same time, the teleworker will be able to use his own laptop / equipment for work, by agreement of the parties, and the employer will no longer have to answer for the working conditions chosen by the remote workers.
"I believe that such measures save citizens' time, cut through red tape and increase trust in the public system. I leave the piece of legislation transparent for other observations, but I am stubborn enough to carry it through, regardless of obstacles. There are also reactions designed to make me give up, I admit. There have already been discussions about obtaining the electronic signature, how expensive it is and where to get it. There will be a transition period in which the use of the handwritten signature will be allowed. I have a solution for the public system " added Alexandru.
She believes that Romania needs to modernise as soon as possible, because with each passing year, Romania lags behind other civilised European countries.