Unions To Challenge Order For Layoffs In Romanian Financial Guard

Oprescu said Blejnar’s order is illegal, since prior notice should be given only to the employees who fail an evaluation and it has not yet been held. The union leader said he has filed a complaint with ANAF asking for the order to be suspended and will contest the act in court on Tuesday.

About 1,063 Financial Guard employees will undergo evaluation and, based on results, at least 291 of them (or 21%) will leave the institution, Blejnar told MEDIAFAX Monday.

According to Blejnar, 58 of the employees who received an evaluation notice Monday fill executive positions. Evaluation results will decide who will be sacked and who will be transferred to other structures within the Financial Guard, said Blejnar.

He pointed out that 320 of the 1,383 employees of the institution did not receive an evaluation notice as the structures they work in already have few employees.

Following a restructuring process targeting ANAF, which has been recently approved by the Government, the Financial Guard’s organizational chart will include at most 1,092 positions, from the current 1,805.

According to Blejnar, evaluation will be followed by layoffs of National Customs Authority employees, as well as of employees of local public finance offices.

Mid-June, Blejnar announced ANAF would lay off 2,000 employees as part of the institution’s reorganization process, of whom 1,200 would be sacked by min-August.

Early June, the Government decided to cut 4,927 positions within ANAF, of which 1,200 are occupied positions, 1,427 National Customs Authority position (of which 600 are occupied) and 713 Financial Guard positions (300 occupied).

Restructuring the tax authority is one of the conditions Romania must observe before the first evaluation of the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund.