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Romania: Prolongation of Measures to Stimulate Employment Growth in the Context of Covid-19

Romania: Prolongation of Measures to Stimulate Employment Growth in the Context of Covid-19

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Government Emergency Ordinance no. 211/2020 (“GEO no. 211/2020”) was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 1189 of 7 December 2020.

GEO no. 132/2020 provides for the extension until 30 June 2021 of the granting of: (i) reimbursement for reduced working time of employees (Kurzarbeit) and (ii) reimbursement for technically unemployed employees and other categories of professionals.

In addition, a number of amendments of GEO no. 132/2020 have been adopted, as follows:

  • the five days in which the reduction of working time is mandatory must no longer be consecutive;
  • employers will be able to reduce employees’ working hours by at most 80% of the hours provided in the individual employment agreements;
  • the prohibition on hiring or subcontracting for work similar to the work that is subject to reduced working time will apply strictly to the jobs affected by this measure and not to the employer as a whole;
  • it is not permitted to claim the Kurzarbeit reimbursement in addition to support measures set out in GEO no. 92/2020 or Law no. 76/2002 for the same employee only if the granting periods overlap.

Please see below a table showing the changes made to the previous legal provisions.

GEO no. 132/2020 (previous provision)

Art. 1(1) In case of temporary work reduction due to declaration of a state of emergency/alert/siege, employers have the option of reducing each employee’s working hours by a maximum of 50% of the hours provided in that employee’s employment agreement.

Art. 1(2) The reduced working hours are established by the decision of the employer for a period of at least five consecutive working days, and the employer must establish the work schedule for the entire month. The reduction of working time is also applied in the case of a shift work schedule, as well as in the case of an inconsistent work schedule.

Art. 1(9) During the period of applicability of the measure, it is prohibited to hire staff to do work that is identical or similar to that performed by the employees whose working time has been reduced or to subcontract work carried out by the employees whose working time has been reduced. The prohibition also applies to subsidiary, branch or other secondary offices as defined in Companies Law no. 31/1990.

Art. 7(2) The reimbursement may not be claimed for the same employee in addition to support measures set out in Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020, nor the measures to stimulate employers financed from the unemployment insurance budget, as set out in Law no. 76/2002 (as amended).

GEO no. 211/2020 (new provision in force)

Art. 1(1) In case of temporary work reduction due to declaration of a state of emergency/alert/siege, employers have the option of reducing each employee’s working hours by a maximum of 80% of the monthly hours provided in that employee’s employment agreement.

Art. 1(2)The reduced working hours are established by the decision of the employer for a period of at least five working days per month, and the employer must establish the work schedule for the entire month.

Art. 1(9) During the period of applicability of the measure, it is prohibited to hire staff to do work that is identical or similar to that done by the employees whose working time has been reduced or to subcontract work carried out by the employees whose working time has been reduced. The prohibition refers strictly to jobs in which employees actually do their work in the premises provided by the employer at which the measure applies.

Art. 7(2) If the granting periods overlap, the reimbursement may not be claimed for the same employee in addition to support measures set out in Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020, nor the measures to stimulate employers financed from the unemployment insurance budget, as set out in Law no. 76/2002 (as amended).

By Mircea-Catalin Roman, Senior Associate, and Flavia Denisa Margas, Associate, Noerr