Emergency ordinance no. 132/2020 on support measures designed for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and for stimulating the increase of job occupancy

The Government of Romania has published a new series of urgent measures, exceptional in nature, in the social field. These are the main measures that were taken.

I. Decreasing work time

Derogation from the normal duration of work time provided by Law no. 53/2003 – Labor Code:

• in case of the temporary reduction of the activity caused by instituting the state of emergency/alert/siege, according to the law, employers have the possibility of decreasing employees’ work time by maximum 50% from the duration provided in the individual employment contract, by informing and consulting the union, the employees’ representatives or the employees, as the case may be, before communicating the decision to the employee;
• the decision to decrease the work time is taken by the employer, for at least 5 consecutive working days, and the employer must set the work hours for the entire month;

NB: work time decreases are also applied for working in shifts, and in case of inequal work hours;

•  the employer’s decision of decreasing work time, the work hours, the manner of distributing them by days and the related salary rights is communicated to the employee at least 5 days before the actual application of the measure and is sent to the general register for employee records until the day prior to its application.

Clarifications regarding salary rights of the employees affected by the decrease of work hours:

• during the decrease of the work hours under the aforementioned conditions, the employees who were affected by the measure benefit from a 75% compensation from the difference between the gross base salary provided in the individual employment contract and the gross base salary related to the work hours actually worked following the decrease of the work hours, as a supplementation of the due salary rights, calculated on the actually worked time;

• the aforementioned compensation is paid by the employer, on the date on which the salary for the respective month is paid, and will be deducted from the unemployment insurance budget after fulfilling by the employer the declarative and payment obligations related to the salary revenues and assimilated to the salaries from the period for which the request is made according to the provisions of Law no. 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code, as further amended and supplemented;

NB: if the employer does not recover the compensation granted from the unemployment insurance budget, it does not have the right to recover it from the employee; 

• the aforementioned compensation represents salary revenues and is subject to taxation and to the payment of social contributions, according to the law;

• the aforementioned compensation is considered when setting the contribution level of at least 12 months in the last 24 months prior to the date on which the application for the unemployment compensation is registered, granted according to Law no. 76/2002, as further amended and supplemented;

• employers owe the insurance contribution for work for the period in which the work time is reduced both for the salary rights related to the worked time, and for the aforementioned compensation, which constitutes an assimilated level in the system of unemployment insurance;

• the deduction of part of the salary if the individual employment contract is concluded for a determinate period up to 3 months;

• the deduction of part of the salary for the case where the employee has benefitted from a technical unemployment compensation covered from the unemployment insurance budget;

• the amounts granted for fulltime indeterminate period employment of certain categories of persons, according to GEO no. 92/2020;

• with the measures for stimulating employers financed from the unemployment insurance budget provided by Law no. 76/2002, as further amended and supplemented.

The conditions to be fulfilled by the employer for ordering the work time decrease measure:

• the employer may order the measure of reducing the work time under the aforementioned conditions and may ask the deduction of the compensation if the following conditions are cumulatively met:

• the measure affects at least 10% of the number of employees of the unit;

• the activity decrease is justified by a reduction of the turnover in the month prior to the application of the measure or, at most, from the previous month, by at least 10% compared to the similar month of the previous year.

Clarifications regarding the applicability period of the measures of decreasing work time:

• during the applicability of the measure of decreasing work time the following actions are forbidden:

• employing personnel for performing activities that are identical or similar to the ones performed by the employees whose work time has been reduced; and

• subcontracting activities performed by the employees whose work time has been reduced;

NB: the interdiction is also applicable at the level of branches, subsidiaries or other secondary office defined by Law on companies no. 31/1990 republished, as further amended and supplemented;

• during the applicability of the measure of decreasing work time the employee benefits from all the other rights provided in the individual employment contract, proportional to the actually worked time;

• during the application of the measure, the employees who are affected by this measure cannot work overtime at the same employer;

NB: the approval for work or providing any other type of work, including teleworking or working at home in the interest of the employer, of one or several employees, outside the agreed work hours, constitutes a crime and the employer is sanctioned with a fine of 20,000 RON for each thus identified person, without exceeding the cumulated value of 200,000 RON.

• during the application of the measure, affected employees cannot have their work hours decreased for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons;

• in case of employers that apply the measure of reducing the work time, granting bonuses and other additions to the base salary for the management structure of the employer is performed after the end of the measure application period;

• in the months when the work time decrease measure is applied, the employer CANNOT initiate collective dismissals;

• the provisions regarding the decrease of work time are also applied for apprentices, provided the employer ensures to the apprentice the access to theoretical and practical training for acquiring the skills provided by the occupational standard, and the professional training standard, respectively, according to Law no. 279/2005 on apprenticeship at the workplace, republished, as further amended.

II. Deduction for persons who perform occasional unqualified activities

• for persons who perform occasional unqualified activities, according to the provisions of Law no. 52/2011, as further amended and supplemented, who work in one of the fields provide by the law as affected by the interruption or limitation of activities following the effects of SARS CoV-2 coronavirus, for a period of three months, when choosing the beneficiary of the works, but no later than December 31, 2020, an amount from the state budget is granted that represents 35% of the payment for a work day.

III. Deduction of part of the salary for employees who conclude individual employment contracts for a determinate period of up to 3 months

The period for which the deduction is granted:

• until December 31, 2020, but no more than 3 months, at the discretion of the employer, for employees who conclude individual employment contracts for determinate periods up to 3 months, the deduction of a part of the salary granted to them is ensured, covered from the unemployment insurance budget, representing 41.5% of the salary for the days worked at these workplaces, for 8 hours a day, but no more than 41.5% of the gross average salary earnings provided by Budget law no. 5/2020, as further amended and supplemented, related to the worked period;

Deduction procedure:

• the employer has the obligation of fully paying the equivalent value of the work performed based on the individual employment contract for a determinate period, and the amount represents the aforementioned percentage of 41.5% subsequently deducted by the National Employment Agency, hereinafter referred to as ANOFM;

• for deducting the aforementioned amount, the following documents are necessary:

• the employer’s application;

• an affidavit showing the compliance with the legal conditions;

• a list with the persons for whom the deduction of the amount is requested, assumed by the legal representative of the employer;

• the proof of having complied with the declarative and payment obligations related to salary and salary assimilated revenues, provided by Law no. 227/2015, as further amended and supplemented, from the period for which the request is submitted;

• the deduction of the amounts from the unemployment insurance budget is made within 10 days after the submittal of the application, based on a procedure approved by a Government Resolution.

IV. Financial support for telework

Goal of the financial support:

• for performing telework activities, according to the provisions of Law no. 81/2018, as further amended and supplemented, each teleworker is granted, a single time, financial support of 2,500 RON for purchasing packages of technological goods and services that are necessary for teleworking.

Financial support granting procedure:

• the aforementioned amount is granted, in the application submittal order, until December 31, 2020, from the unemployment insurance budget, via ANOFM, within the limit of the funds allocated for this destination, to employers, for the employees who teleworked during the state of emergency for at least 15 days;

• the granting manner and the categories of goods that can be purchased are set by an order of the Minister of Labor and Welfare, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I;

• within 30 days after granting the amount, the employer must send to ANOFM substantiating documents regarding the purchase of goods set by the order of the Minister of Labor and Welfare;

NB: if the obligation to send the substantiating documents regarding the purchase of the categories of goods set by the order of the Minister of Labor and Welfare is not complied with, the employer shall fully return the granted amount, within 30 days after the expiry of the aforementioned submittal deadline.