ASPECTE TEORETICE SI PRACTICE PRIVIND STABILIREA, PLATA SI EXECUTAREA DREPTURILOR SALARIALE - THEORETICAL AND PRATICAL ISSUES REGARDING THE SET-UP, THE PAYMENT AND THE EXECUTION OF THE WAGES (Romanian version)

The wages payment is one of the most releveant elements or the individual labour relation, together with the work performing and the labour discipline. At the set up of the wages, any direct or indirect discrimination against an employee, based on criteria such as sex, sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, age, national origin, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, political options, social origin, disability, family conditions or responsibilities, union membership or activity, is prohibited, in order to fulfill the WLO principle: “equal pay for equal work”. Nevertheless, in explaining this principle, the European Court of Human Rights said that “to distinguish is not equivalent to discriminate”, if there are certain situations that claim a different treatment. The wages must be paid in cash at least once a month, on the date stipulated in the individual labour contract, in the applicable collective labour contract, or in the company's rules and regulations, as the case may be. The payment of the wages shall be proved by the employee signing the payroll, as well as by any other documentary evidence proving the payment has been made to the entitled employee. No amount shall be withheld from the wages, except for the case the employee's debt is due, liquid and exigible, and has been found as such by a judgment which is final and irrevocable. The cumulated amounts withheld from the wages per month shall not exceed half of the net wages. The unjustified delay in the payment of the wages or the failure to pay it can cause the employer to be obliged to pay damages to cover the loss caused to the employee. The right to take action as regards the wage rights, as well as regards the damages resulting from the failure to comply, entirely or partially, with the obligations concerning wage payment, shall be prescribed within 3 years from the date on which such rights were due.