Labour Code Amendments Romania

We wish to inform you that Law No. 53/2003, republished, on the Labour Code, has been supplemented by Law b. 298/2020, published in the Official Gazette No. 1293/24.12.2020, amendments that came into force as of 27 December 2020.

The amendments relate to the following aspects:

1. The suspension of the individual employment contract at the initiative of the employer during the temporary suspension of activity and/or its reduction as a result of the state of siege or emergency decree.
2. A new article was inserted, respectively Article l’art. 53¹, which establishes the ceiling of the allowance (75% from the basic salary) granted to employees during the suspension of the employment contract as a result of the decree of the state of siege or emergency, the social security contributions to be paid, the manner and the documents that must be submitted by employers to recover the allowance from employment agencies. In addition, a prohibition is established for the suppression of jobs occupied by persons for whom contracts have been suspended under these provisions, for a period at least equal to the period of the suspension, for which the employers have received, for these employees, aid by way of allowance from the social security budget for unemployment.This prohibition of the suppression of jobs, pursuant to Article 52 let. c), applies only to the suppressions of jobs that will be carried out after the entry into force of these provisions.

OUR RECOMMENDATION:

For the future intention of job suppression, pursuant to Article 65 of the Romanian Labour Code, employers should take into account the current amendments to the Labour Code regarding the prohibition of suppression of jobs for which the employer has obtained compensation from the employment agency and the consequences in case of non-compliance.