Moldova has voted to impose fines against employers who discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers.

The country's parliament passed the second reading of a bill which would see those who discriminate against minorities, including the LGBT community, face penalities of up to 9,000 Moldovan lei ($750).

The Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported that offenders could also be jailed for up to six years if the persecution led to death or suicide.

If it passes a third reading, the new law would add to the EU backed equal rights legislation passed in May 2012, which banned discrimination against all minorities but did not set out the legislation's legal frame work.

But despite the apparent progress being made in the country's gay rights laws, there have been plans to introduce legislation banning 'homosexual propaganda' similar to laws already passed in Russia.

The so-called 'gay gag' would fine and jail people who talk positively about gay issues.