4 February 2022 – The authorities and the business community are discussing the draft amendment to the Labour Code and the draft Government Decision on Workplace Apprenticeships which would bring clarity to the regulation and application of this type of non-formal pre-vocational training. The discussions take place in the Economic Council under the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova.

Workplace apprenticeship involves training people in the company (potential employer) according to the skills needed by this employer, as a result of which the apprentice acquires professional skills and has the chance to become an employee.

Currently, the Labour Code regulates apprenticeships in the workplace, but in a confusing form and not widely applied by economic operators. One provision of the Labour Code states that the apprenticeship contract is governed by the Civil Code, while another states that labour law, including occupational health and safety law, applies to apprentices, and the employer is obliged to provide the apprentice with all the guarantees it would provide to an employee.  On the other hand, a person can only become an apprentice if they are looking for a job and do not have a professional qualification, i.e. have not completed any accredited course of study.

The draft addition involves “relaunching” apprenticeships in the workplace as a “vocational conversion” for people who have no qualifications or for those who want to change their professional skills (e.g. from cook to IT specialist, or vice versa). With the shortage of skilled labour, companies are ready to train staff on ther own.

Thus the proposed amendments provide, among other things, for a broadening of the type of subjects who can apply for apprenticeships at work, i.e. not only those without professional qualifications or those registered as unemployed, but anyone over 18 years of age.

The objectives of the proposed changes are: to train the necessary staff for employers themselves according to the needs of the enterprise; to raise the level of employment and adapt the workforce to the needs of the economy; to reduce the financial burden on the state in terms of unemployment benefits; to give people who already have a qualification the opportunity to acquire completely different new professional skills, and to certify them; to give people without any qualification the opportunity to acquire professional skills and get a job suitable to their abilities.

Discussions with the business community and representatives of state institutions have been held and the proposals for the amendment of the Government Decision on Apprenticeship at Work are to be submitted to the Government for approval.

The Secretariat of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, funded by the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund.