The rollout of the Digital Work Card is entering its final stages, with the Ministry of Labor planning to launch the pilot program in five new sectors starting in June, despite the technical and administrative problems caused by the process of assigning new KAD codes by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).
In fact, according to reports, it is not out of the question that the list of new KAD codes to be introduced in June could be expanded to include new sectors, in order to get and ensure that by the end of the year, the overwhelming majority of private-sector employees are covered by the mandatory use of the Digital Work Card.
Another significant challenge in this new phase is the inclusion of so-called “leased workers, ” that is, those employed through staffing agencies and providing labor to third-party companies, a category that remains particularly difficult in terms of tracking actual working hours and overtime.
Five sectors
According to the Ministry of Labor’s plan, the pilot program will begin in June and will cover private healthcare, staffing agencies, personal services, cleaning services, and telecommunications.
The private healthcare sector includes nurses, paramedical and administrative staff, while doctors are excluded. Personal services include hair salons, beauty salons, dry cleaners, and funeral homes, while cleaning services cover both cleaning crews and employees in multi-use facilities.
In the telecommunications sector, the measure will cover all employees of companies operating in this sector. According to reports, it is not ruled out that other sectors may also be included in the ministerial decision currently being drafted.
To date, the main pillars of the economy—namely industry, retail, tourism, hospitality, wholesale, the energy sector, and financial services—have been integrated into the Digital Work Card system. These are sectors with a high concentration of workers and a historically increased risk of violations regarding working hours and overtime, a fact that makes the implementation of the digital card critical.
Challenges
The expansion is considered particularly challenging, as it involves sectors with thousands of small businesses, many of which employ up to ten workers. At the same time, in many cases, staff do not work in a fixed location or on a fixed schedule, which makes it more difficult to digitally track their work.
A typical example is cleaning companies, where employees move to different buildings and facilities every day. Similar difficulties are also encountered in temporary employment agencies, as this marks the first attempt to fully record the working hours of employees who provide services to an employer other than the one that pays their wages.
KAD and ERGANI
The implementation of the measure was delayed primarily due to issues arising from the transition to the new KAD 2025 codes and their automatic mapping by the AADE. The process affected the operation of ERGANI II, as many businesses found themselves with modified or new activity codes, which caused delays in the technical adaptation of information systems.
However, the Ministry of Labor estimates that most of the problems are being resolved gradually, allowing the pilot implementation to begin in the first days of next month.
The goal
The goal is for these specific sectors to transition to full implementation toward the end of the year, with approximately 220,000 workers being immediately integrated into the Digital Card system. Thus, by the end of the year, the ministry aims to have covered over 80% of private-sector employees, exceeding 2.2 million people.
Already, according to available data, the implementation of the Digital Card led to the recording of approximately 2.7 million more hours of overtime in 2025 compared to the previous year, a development the ministry views as an indication of a reduction in undeclared and underreported work.