The state of emergency was extended in Romania for a period of 30 days as of 15 April 2020, as per the Decree no. 240/2020 for prolongation of the state of emergency in Romania (“Decree no. 240/2020”), published yesterday in the Official Gazette no. 311/2020.
We have included below a short review of the main measures provided by the Decree no. 240/2020 from an employment law perspective:
New measures provided by the Decree no. 240/2020:
In case of resignation of the personnel within the sanitary units, social assistance units, units for medical-social assistance and within institutions of defense, public order and national security, the notice period provided under art. 81 para. (4) of the Labour Code shall not begin to run and, if already began to run, shall be suspended during the entire state of emergency.
Also, during the state of emergency, for the abovementioned personnel, the provisions of art. 81 para. (8) of the Labour Code shall not be applicable – namely the possibility of the employee to resign without notice period in case the employer does not fulfill its obligations provided by the individual employment agreement.
Those measures translate into the interdiction to resign for the personnel within the sanitary units, social assistance units, units for medical-social assistance and within institutions of defense, public order and national security during the state of emergency.
Please note that the abovementioned measures shall be applicable as of 15 April 2020 and shall not retroactively apply to the cases of resignation as per art. 81 para. (8) of the Labour Code prior to 15 April 2020 or to the cases of resignation where the notice period ended prior to such date.
The Decree no. 240/2020 also provides new measures regarding personnel within public institutions, such as provisions regarding the applicable legislation and derogatory regulations for (i) the modification of the individual employment agreements of the personnel within institutions of defense, public order and national security and for the (ii) modification of the service report of the public servants within institutions of defense, public order and national security.
Furthermore, the Decree no. 240/2020 provides the possibility to unilaterally decide certain aspects related to the annual leaves, supplementary annual leaves, leaves without payment, study leaves etc. for the personnel within the public sector, as per the specificity of the activities and the needs of the employer, during the state of emergency.
Other main measures provided by the Decree no. 240/2020 that have been provided similarly or identically by the Decree no. 195/2020 (“Previous Decree”):
- During the state of emergency, the Government shall further on establish special measures for supporting the employers and for the protection of the employees and their families
- The employers shall continue to implement work from home or telework during the state of emergency, where possible, by unilateral decision
In addition to the Previous Decree, certain clarifications are provided, namely that during performing of the work activities from home or by telework, the employees are fulfilling their job specific activities as per the applicable legislation regulating work from home or telework, as the case may be
- Inspections of the Territorial Labour Inspectorates at employers shall continue to be suspended, except for specific cases expressly provided under the Decree no. 240/2020 (i.e. inspections ordered by the ministry of labour and social protection, inspections ordered by the Labour Inspection for the enforcement of the decisions of the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations, necessary inspections for events having an increased degree of social danger and inspections for investigating work accidents)
In addition to the Previous Decree, Decree no. 240/2020 provides for another exception from the rule that the inspections are suspended during the decreed state of emergency, namely in case of inspections ordered by the Labour Inspection for the enforcement of the military ordinances;
- The validity of the Collective Bargaining Agreements and of the collective agreements (Romanian: acorduri colective) shall be maintained during the state of emergency.
