TIRANA, Oct 21 /ATA/-By Maela Marini/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama announced Monday a strong crackdown on the practice of underreporting real wages in the country, stating such a practice was “a crime against pensioners.”
In his remarks at a public meeting on the pension scheme, the government head stressed the need for “a stronger solidarity in this process, to prevent dozens of thousands of people steal the monthly pension payment from the retired people by underreported real wages of employees.”
“We will launch a strong crackdown on this practice. This is neither a threat, nor a warning, but I would like to tell every businessman, especially those operating in the construction sector, that registering employees with minimum wages is a crime,” PM Rama said, adding that wages in the construction sector in particular are much higher than the officially reported wage level.
PM Rama said that an operation similar to the crackdown on the electricity theft will be launched to put an end to the wage underreported practice.
For years, businesses have been declaring only the minimum wage for their staff, while paying the rest in cash off the books.
The first step will be targeting businesses suspected of allegedly low reported salaries, a practice that deprives workers of full social and health benefits and limits their future financial opportunities.
/u.sh/
