CHAPTER I - General provisions
Art. 154. - (1) The wages shall represent the equivalent of the work performed by an employee based on the individual labour contract.
(2) For the work performed based on the individual labour contract, each employee shall be entitled to wages expressed in cash.
(3) When establishing and granting the wages, all discrimination shall be prohibited for criteria such as gender, sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, age, national origin, race, colour of the skin, ethnic origin, religion, political options, social origin, disability, family situation or responsibility, or trade union membership or activity.
Art. 155. - The wages shall comprise the basic wages, emoluments, benefits, as well as other additions.
Art. 156. - The employers shall pay the wages before any other payment obligations.
Art. 157. - (1) The wages shall be established by means of individual and/or collective negotiations between the employer and the employees or their representatives.
(2) The wage plan for the personnel of the public authorities and institutions financed entirely or mainly by the state budget, the budget of state social securities, the local budgets, and the budgets of the special funds, shall be set forth by the law, after consultation with the representative trade unions.
Art. 158. - (1) The wages shall be confidential, and the employer shall have the obligation to take the necessary steps to keep confidentiality.
(2) With a view to promoting the employees' interests and defending their rights, the confidentiality of wages may not be opposed to trade unions or, as applicable, to the employees' representatives, in strict connection with their interests and in their direct relation to the employer.
CHAPTER II - "National minimum gross basic wages guaranteed to be paid"*)
Art. 159. - (1) The national minimum gross basic wages guaranteed to be paid, corresponding to the normal work schedule, shall be established by Government decision after consultations with the trade unions and employers' organisations. If the normal work schedule is, under the law, less than 8 hours/day, the hourly gross minimum basic wages shall be calculated by relating the national gross minimum basic wages to the monthly average number of hours according to the lawful work schedule approved.
(2) An employer may not negotiate or establish basic wages under the individual labour contract below the national hourly minimum gross basic wages.
(3) The employer shall be under the obligation to guarantee the payment of monthly gross wages equal to at least the national minimum gross basic wages. These provisions shall also apply if the employee is present for work, according to the schedule, but he/she cannot carry out his/her activity due to reasons beyond his/her control, except for strikes.
(4) The employer shall see that the national minimum gross basic wages guaranteed to be paid are being notified to the employees.
Art. 160. - For employees to whom the employer, in compliance with the collective or individual labour contract, provides food, housing or other facilities, the amount of money due for the work performed shall not be lower than the national minimum gross wages stipulated by the law.
CHAPTER III - Payment of wages
Art. 161. - (1) The wages shall 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 internal regulations, as applicable.
(2) The payment of the wages may be made by transfer to a bank account, if such means is stipulated in the applicable collective labour contract.
(3) The payment in kind of part of the wages, according to the terms stipulated under article 160, shall only be possible if expressly stipulated in the applicable collective labour contract or the individual labour contract.
(4) An unjustified delay in the payment of the wages or the failure to pay them may cause the employer to be obliged to pay damages in order to cover the prejudice caused to the employee.
Art. 162. - (1) The wages shall be paid directly to the holder or his/her agent.
(2) In the event of the employee's death, the wages due up to the date of his/her death shall be paid, in sequence, to the surviving spouse, the deceased employee's major children, or parents. If none of these categories of persons exist, the wages shall be paid to other heirs, in compliance with the common law.
Art. 163. - (1) The payment of the wages shall be proved by the employee signing the pay lists, as well as any other documentary evidence proving the payment has been made to the entitled employee.
(2) The pay lists, as well as the other documentary evidence, shall be kept and archived by the employer under the same terms and for the same delays as the accounting documents, under the law.
Art. 164. - (1) No amount may be withheld from the wages, except for the cases and under the circumstances stipulated by the law.
(2) No amounts may be withheld as damages caused to the employer unless the employee's debt is due, liquid and exigible, and has been found as such by a court decree which is final and irrevocable.
(3) If several creditors of the employee exist, the following order shall be observed:
a) child support, under the Family Law;
b) contributions and taxes due to the state;
c) damages caused to public property by means of illicit actions;
d) covering other debts.
(4) The cumulated amounts withheld from the wages may not exceed half of the net wages every month.
Art. 165. - The acceptance without reservation of part of the wages or the signature of the pay documents under such circumstances shall not be construed as the employee waiving the entire wages due to him/her, under the provisions of the law or the contract.
Art. 166. - (1) The right to take action as regards the wages, as well as regarding 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 became due.
(2) The prescription delay stipulated under paragraph (1) shall be discontinued if the debtor should admit the wages or deriving from the payment of the wages.
CHAPTER IV - Guarantee fund for the payment of wage debts
"Article 167. - The establishment and use of the guarantee fund for the payment of wage debts shall be regulated by a special law."*)
Art. 168. - Repealed.*)
CHAPTER V - Protection of employees' rights in the event of a transfer of the company, unit, or parts of it
Art. 169. - (1) Employees shall benefit from the protection of their rights if a transfer of the company, unit, or parts of it takes place to another employer, under the law.
(2) The transferor's rights and obligations, which derive from a labour contract or relationship existing on the date of transfer, shall be fully transferred to the transferee.
(3) The transfer of the company, unit, or parts of it shall not constitute the grounds for the individual or collective dismissal of the employees by the transferor or the transferee.
Art. 170. - Prior to a transfer, the transferor and the transferee shall be under the obligation to inform and consult the trade union or, as applicable, the employees' representatives as regards the legal, economic, and social consequences deriving from the transfer of the property right on the employees.
