Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure RO-2020-53/2598 – Updated – measures in Romania
Country | Romania , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 31 December 2020 – 31 December 2022 |
Context | COVID-19, Restructuring Support Instruments |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Employment protection and retention
– Income support for people in employment (e.g., short-time work) |
Author | Nicoleta Voicu (Association Center for Public Innovation) |
Measure added | 23 June 2022 (updated 11 July 2023) |
All employers can use the temporary reduction of activity is in cases of temporary business slowdown for economic, technological, structural or other similar reasons.
It has also been used during the COVID-19 crisis along with a governmental wage indemnity for suspended or reduced activity for companies suffering from a reduced turnover due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The employer has three possibilities of internal flexibility available to use:
It can be used by any type of enterprise, no subjects are excluded.
The governmental wage indemnity for suspended or reduced activity (hereafter, the indemnity) is eligible for companies suffering from at least 25% reduced turnover due to the COVID-19 crisis. For the indemnity to be paid, the employer must submit and affidavit concerning the registered decrease of indebtedness for the previous month. The decrease has to amount a minimum of 25% compared to the average of indebtedness registered in January to February 2020, and the company must not have the financial capacity to pay all the employees.
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
02 April 2021 |
By derogation from certain provisions of the Labour Code in the case of temporary reduction of work due to state of emergency/alert/curfew, employers have the possibility of reducing the working time of employees for this period, as well as on for a period of up to 3 months from the date of the end of the last emergency/alert/curfew period. The reduction in working time applies for at least 5 working days per month that they need no longer be consecutive. Employers have the possibility to reduce employees' working time by up to 50% of daily, weekly, monthly duration stipulated in the individual employment contract. The allowance for employees during the reduction of working time is borne by the employer from the personnel costs chapter of the revenue budget and expenses of the employer and will be settled within 5 days after the decision is issued. The law prohibited the accumulation of the allowance for reduced working time with other active support measures. The financial support for employers in the amount of RON 2,500 (approx. €505) has been extended to employees who teleworked for at least 15 working days during the state of alert. Employers have the option of reducing employees' working time by up to 80% of the daily, weekly or monthly working time stipulated in the individual employment contract (as opposed to the previous limit of up to 50%). As before, the measure will be available both during the period of emergency/alert/standby and for up to 3 months after the end of the last period of emergency/alert/standby. The application of the measure will be subject to the agreement of the trade union or employee representatives, where they exist, and to the information of employees in units where there is no trade union or employee representative. The employer is required to submit a copy of the agreement or, where applicable, proof of employee information with the claim for payment of the allowance. The calculation of the allowance for employees affected by the measure is clarified by the legislator, in the sense that the 75% is calculated by reference to the gross monthly basic salary for the hours of reduced working hours. If the budget for staff costs allows, the employer will be able to supplement the allowance by amounts representing the difference up to the level of the basic salary corresponding to the post occupied, but without this difference being settled. |
By May 2021, 1,118,865 employees received indemnity for technical unemployment and the total amount paid by the state was RON 1.38 billion (€290 million). A total number of 129,149 employers were registered with valid applications by the National Employment Agency.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Employees in standard employment
|
Applies to all businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Trade unions |
Employees
Employer National funds |
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Unknown | Unknown |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
There is no publicly available information about the social partners' involvement in designing, implementing and monitoring the measure.
There is no publicly available information about the social partners' views or reaction on the measure.
Citation
Eurofound (2022), Temporary reduction of activity, measure RO-2020-53/2598 (measures in Romania), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/RO-2020-53_2598.html
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