On December 9, 2020, the Law no. 282/2020 for the approval of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 132/2020 on support measures for employees and employers in the context of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as on encouraging employment (hereinafter referred to as the “Law no. 282/2020”) was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 1201/December 09, 2020 and entered into force on December 12, 2020.
Law no. 282/2020 is bringing some changes to the conditions for providing government support to reduce the effects of the pandemic, the most important being provided below.
1. AMENDMENTS TO KURZARBEIT
- the extension of the period for which kurzarbeit may be implemented – the Law no. 282/2020 provides that, by way of derogation from the provisions of art. 112 para. (1) of Law no. 53/2003 – the Labor Code, in the case of temporary reduction of working time caused by a state of emergency/ alert/ siege, as well as for a period of up to 3 months from the end of the last period in which the state of emergency/ alert/ siege was established, employers have the possibility to reduce the employees’ working time by at most 50%* of the daily, weekly or monthly time provided in their individual employment agreements, subject to informing and consulting with the trade union, the employees’ representatives or the employees, as the case may be, prior to communicating such measure to the employees;
(*) Even if the G.E.O. no. 132/2020 was recently amended by the G.E.O. no 211/2020[1] which increased the percentage to 80%, as of December 12, 2020, the provisions of the Law no. 282/2020 will apply.
- the possibility to apply kurzarbeit for at least 5 days/ month, without the obligation for these days to be consecutive as it was initially regulated;
2. FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR TELEWORK
The financial support of 2,500 RON that the employers benefit for each teleworker, for the purpose of purchasing packages of technological goods and services, shall be granted also in case the employers implemented telework during the state of alert, for a period of at least 15 working days, and not only during the state of emergency.
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[1] Emergency Government Ordinance no. 211/2020 regarding the prolongation of the applicability of certain measures for social protection adopted in the context of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spread, as well as for the amendment of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 132/2020 on support measures for employees and employers in the context of the situation caused by the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as on encouraging employment, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 1189/December 7, 2020:
- the elimination of the obligation of registering the employer’s decision for implementation of kuzarbeit with the general register of employees, no later than the day before its entry into force;
- the extension to subsidiaries, branches or other secondary offices of the employers of the territorial area for which the employers were prohibited to subcontract activities or hire personnel for the purpose of conducting identical or similar activities with those performed by the employees whose working time has been reduced.
