Labor Code Amendments - Between Necessity and the Reality of the Labor Market in Romania and in the European Union

In a united Europe, where the labor market should be an open one, where the free movement of people also means their free workplace setting, the Romanian legislation is constantly changing and adapting. Responding to the necessity of making legal relations between employers and employees more flexible, the Romanian legislator has amended the general law regarding individual and collective labor relations, reforming the legal concepts and institutions in the field. Therefore, an analysis of these changes and their implications on the national and European labor market is absolutely necessary. The concept of flexicurity and its implementation in national legislation is a guiding principle for the Romanian legislator, which materializes in normative changes in labour law regulations. In this context, the Labour Code has suffered several modifications and additions which try to answer the need for flexibility of labour relations, in the interests of employers and employees, the last being made by law no. 40/2011. The provisions of the Labour Code, in its current form, have to stimulate economic activity in the country, to bring undeclared work to formal economy’s level, to eliminate corruption and bureaucracy and, last but not least, create better safer jobs that will generate additional constant revenue for the country’s public budget.