Агент временной занятости в Республике Молдова

The regulation of temporary agency work is one of the important recent changes introduced into the labour legislation of the Republic of Moldova. It establishes a legal mechanism under which an employee may be hired by a temporary work agency and assigned to another entity, called the user undertaking, in order to perform work on a temporary basis under its supervision and direction.

From a legal perspective, it is important to note that the employment relationship exists between the temporary employee and the temporary work agency, not between the employee and the user undertaking. However, during the assignment, the user undertaking is the entity that effectively organizes the work and has concrete obligations regarding working conditions, occupational safety and health, and compliance with the principle of equal treatment.

The law allows the use of this mechanism only for the performance of specific tasks of a temporary nature. A temporary work assignment may not exceed 12 months and, including any extensions, may not exceed 24 months. In addition, the user undertaking may not rely indefinitely on successive assignments for the same task, which clearly shows that this institution cannot be used to permanently fill positions that should instead be covered through direct employment.

A key principle introduced by law is that, during the assignment, the temporary employee must benefit from the same basic working and employment conditions as an employee directly hired by the user undertaking for the same position. This applies in particular to working time, rest periods, night work, leave, wages, and other payments related to the work performed.

Although the salary is paid by the temporary work agency, it may not be lower than the salary granted for identical or equivalent work performed within the user undertaking. At the same time, the agency is not entitled to charge the temporary employee any fees, commissions, or other payments for recruitment, hiring, or the performance of the assignment.

The law also establishes certain express prohibitions. For example, temporary agency work may not be used to replace employees who are on strike, to substitute employees who have suspended their work due to non-payment of wages or unsafe working conditions, or to circumvent legal requirements concerning the holding of certain positions.

For the business community, this institution may be particularly useful during periods of increased activity or for projects of limited duration. However, its use requires careful legal consideration. It is not a simplified form of employment, but rather a distinct mechanism subject to strict regulation, involving obligations for all parties concerned: the agency, the user undertaking, and the employee.

In essence, a temporary work agency may offer flexibility to employers, but only within the limits and with the safeguards established by law. For that reason, before this model is applied in practice, it is advisable to carry out a legal assessment of how the contractual relationships and the obligations of each party will be structured.