The Parliament has adopted the law for the ratification of C190
The Romanian Parliament adopted on Tuesday, 5 March 2024, the law for Romania’s ratification of the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at Work (C190). This is the first convention to set international legal standards for preventing and combating violence and harassment in the world of work – standards that will now be applied in Romania.
In 2021, A.L.E.G. initiated the national campaign “Employers for Respect” for the ratification of C190. The gaps in the legal framework on harassment in the world of work and the poor implementation of the law are documented in this policy-brief published by A.L.E.G.
The ratification of C190 sets in motion a mechanism whereby the legal framework will be improved and its implementation monitored by the International Labour Organisation, thus complementing civil society’s efforts to get authorities and employers to prevent and combat harassment in the world of work.
The provisions of C190 apply to all categories of workers, including trainees, people whose employment contracts have ended and jobseekers. They apply to workers in both formal and informal economies. C190 is a strong tool to combat gender-based violence in the workplace, to address the impact of domestic violence in the world of work and to support labour inspectors, prosecutors and police officers in addressing cases of harassment.
Over the past year, A.L.E.G. has documented the impact of violence and harassment in the workplace, including on migrant workers. C190 calls for special attention to be paid to this category of workers who are at increased risk of harassment.
“This moment crowns two and a half years of collective and sustained work, in which we analysed laws, their gaps and their implementation, came up with solutions and asked the Government and Parliament, together with more than 40 NGOs and trade unions, to ratify the ILO Convention and put an end to violence and harassment in the world of work. The provisions of the Convention are legally binding and ratification sends a strong message that harassment in the world of work is unacceptable, punishable and will no longer be tolerated. We urge the Government to continue to work together with civil society organisations in the process of implementing the Convention and to enforce it. Notably, this does not stop at legislative reform but must include adequate training of all officers and institutions whose mandates include addressing harassment in the world of work,” said Georgiana Epure, President of the A.L.E.G..
The next step is for the President to promulgate the law and for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit the instrument of ratification to the ILO, at which point Romania will have to align its legislative framework, public policies and institutional practices with C190 standards. Our recommendations and those of over 40 allied organisations in this endeavour can be found here. To date, 38 countries around the world have ratified C190.
