Emergency Ordinance no. 220/2020 on the application of social protection measures after January 1, 2021 in the context of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as for the amendment of some normative acts

In the current epidemiological context, the Romanian Government has published a new series of urgent measures, with an exceptional character, regarding the extension of some application terms as well as new social protection norms. We list below the main measures adopted.

Providing financial support for employers who employ certain categories of people:

• employers who, between January 1 and September 1, 2021, employs, for an indefinite period, full time:


• persons over 50 years of age whose employment relationships have ended for reasons not related to them, during the state of emergency or alert,


• persons aged between 16 and 29 years registered as unemployed in the records of the county employment agencies, respectively of the municipality of Bucharest,


• romanian citizens, included in the same age categories, whose employment relations with foreign employers in the territory of other states ended in 2020, for reasons not related to them, by dismissal, receive monthly, for a period of 12 months, for each person employed in this category, 50% of the employee's salary, but not more than 2,500 lei;


• employers have the obligation to maintain employment for a period of at least 12 months from the expiry of the 12-month period mentioned above;


• the amounts mentioned above are granted for the payment of the salary proportional to the actual time worked by the employee and are not cumulated, for the same employee, with the allowances granted to employers who have concluded contracts with the county employment agencies, respectively of Bucharest or conventions for the employment, for an indefinite period of time, of graduates of educational institutions, graduates of persons with disabilities, the unemployed over the age of 45, the unemployed who are the sole parents of single-parent families, the long-term unemployed or NEET youth, for the employment of young people at risk of social marginalization, under Law 76/2002;


• the amounts mentioned above are granted from the unemployment insurance budget, at the request of employers, submitted by electronic means to the county employment agencies, as well as to the municipality of Bucharest within which they have their registered office, after payment by the employer of the salary rights;


• employers who end the individual employment contracts of the persons mentioned above before the above-mentioned deadlines are obliged to reimburse in full to the employment agencies the amounts received for each person for whom the employment relationship ended before the mentioned deadline, plus the reference interest of the National Bank of Romania in force on the date of the cessation of individual employment contracts, if their cessation took place as a result of the agreement of the parties, on the date agreed by them; as a result of the establishment of the absolute nullity of the individual employment contract, from the date on which the nullity was established by agreement of the parties or by a final court decision; as a result of the admission of the application for reintegration in the position held by the employee of a person dismissed illegally or for unfounded reasons, from the date of final reintegration court decision; as a result of dismissal for reasons not related to the person of the employee;


• the following employers do not benefit from the amounts mentioned above:


• public institutions and authorities;


• employers who at the date of requesting the granting of these amounts are in bankruptcy, dissolution, liquidation or whose activities are suspended or on which restrictions are imposed for reasons other than those generated by the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

The extension of the deadline for granting financial support to persons carrying out unqualified activities occasionally:

• for persons carrying out unqualified activities occasionally (day laborers), according to the provisions of Law no. 52/2011, republished, with the subsequent amendments and completions in one of the fields provided in the Classification of activities in the national economy, updated, according to art. 13 of Law no. 52/2011, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, affected by the interruption or restriction of activity due to the effects of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, for a period of 3 months, at the choice of the beneficiary of works, but not later than June 30, 2021, an amount representing 35% of a working day remuneration is granted from the state budget.

The extension of the deadline for granting financial support to employees who conclude individual employment contracts for a fixed period of up to 3 months:

• until June 30, 2021, but not more than a period of 3 months, at the choice of the employer, for employees who conclude individual employment contracts for a determined period of up to 3 months, it is granted the settlement of part of the salary to them, from the unemployment insurance budget, representing 41.5% of the salary related to the days worked in these jobs, for a working period of 8 hours / day, but not more than 41.5% of the average gross earnings provided by Law the state social insurance budget for 2020 no. 6/2020, with subsequent amendments and completions, related to the period worked.

The extension of the term for granting days off to one of the parents for the supervision of the children:

• the provisions of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 147/2020 on granting days off for parents in order to supervise children, in case of limitation or suspension of teaching activities that involve the actual presence of children in schools and early childhood education units, as the result of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus applies until June 30, 2021 and in the situation when by order of the Minister of Education the activities that require the physical presence of preschoolers, preschoolers and students in schools are suspended and it is ordered the continuation of teaching activities online.