- Decision 27/2025 for the amendment and completion of the Methodology on the prevention and combatting of harassment based on sex, as well as moral harassment at the workplace, approved by Government Decision no. 970/2023 (“GD 27/2025”)
GD 27/2025 was published in the Official Gazette no. 97 on 3 February 2025.
GD 27/2025 extends the scope of the methodology to the educational sector, officially including the obligation for higher education institutions and pre-university educational units to prevent and sanction cases of moral harassment, as well as harassment based on sex that occur within these institutions, obligations that were previously applicable only to public authorities at the central and local levels and private companies.
The amendments to the methodology also expand the responsibilities of employers, requiring them to promote measures that increase awareness and facilitate victims’ access to administrative protection procedures. In this regard, employers must provide clear and detailed information regarding available procedural options, as well as to offer support and guidance during the necessary processes.
Another important modification concerns the obligation of employers to support victims of harassment. According to GD 27/2025, employers must implement preventive mechanisms to ensure specialized counselling and guidance for anyone who reports harassment based on sex or moral harassment.
Additionally, GD 27/2025 sets out the possibility for victims to submit written complaints without a handwritten signature. Previously, victims could only submit written complaints with the disclosure of their identity. Now, the employer is required to examine and resolve anonymous complaints if they contain data and information regarding cases of sex-based harassment or moral harassment.
Thus, the new regulation obliges both public and private sector employers to adapt their internal methodologies to allow for anonymous complaint submissions. In this context, the implementation of two distinct procedures is required: one for managing anonymous complaints and another for complaints where the complainant’s identity is disclosed.
- Draft laws for amending relevant legal enactments
Following Romania’s ratification of Convention no. 190/2019 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work under Law no. 69/2024, the Ministry of Labor, Family, Youth, and Social Solidarity has simultaneously initiated three draft laws to amend the following legal enactments:
- Draft law for amending and supplementing Law No. 53/2003 – the Labor Code (public consultation deadline: 14 March 2025), which sets forth, inter alia:
- the introduction of an explicit obligation for employers to protect victims of violence and harassment, as well as individuals who report such acts, ensuring protection against any abuse or pressure while respecting the confidentiality of administrative procedures and the right to privacy of the persons involved;
- in cases of imminent danger to the life, health, or safety of an employee due to violence or harassment, the employer may temporarily modify the employee’s job location or duties, with the employee’s consent, to ensure their safety. If a change in the workplace is not possible, the employer will grant paid leave days, under the conditions provided by the internal regulations or negotiated in the collective labor agreement;
- employers risk fines ranging from RON 5,000 to RON 10,000 if they fail to meet the obligation to protect victims of violence and harassment or do not grant paid leave days when the employee faces imminent danger to their life or safety;
- the introduction of an official definition of violence and harassment at the workplace as “unacceptable behaviours and practices, or threats of unacceptable behaviours and practices, whether isolated or repeated, that undermine the dignity of a person or create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment or are intended to cause, cause, or may cause physical, psychological, sexual, or economic harm.”
- expanding the scope of places where violence and harassment can occur at the workplace, including:
- in the workplace, including in public and private spaces when they constitute a workplace;
- in places where the employee is paid, rests, eats, or uses sanitary facilities;
- washing facilities and changing rooms provided by the employer;
- during business trips, training, events, or social activities related to work;
- through work-related communications, including those conducted via information and communication technologies;
- in accommodation spaces provided by the employer;
- during travel to and from the workplace.
- Draft law for amending and supplementing the Occupational Health and Safety Law no. 319/2006 (public consultation deadline: 14 March 2025), which introduces new obligations for employers to prevent violence and harassment in all its forms, specifically:
- adopting and implementing a workplace violence and harassment policy that includes an internal confidential reporting mechanism for cases of violence and harassment;
- considering regulations in internal procedures on the prevention of violence and harassment, as well as psychosocial risks related to them, in managing occupational health and safety;
- providing accessible and appropriate information and training to workers and other participants in the work process regarding identified risks and dangers related to violence and harassment and related preventive and protective measures, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and other participants in the work process with regard to the policy specified in point (a).
The draft law also introduces a new sanction for non-compliance with these obligations, ranging from RON 3,500 to RON 7,000.
These amendments will come into force 90 days after the law is published in the Official Gazette to allow employers sufficient time to adapt their internal regulations and procedures to the new provisions.
- Draft law for completing Law no. 108/1999 for the establishment and organization of the Labor Inspectorate (public consultation deadline: 14 March 2025), which sets forth that, in the event of reported discrimination or harassment in the workplace, in order to carry out the necessary checks regarding the situation at the workplace of the person reporting such incidents, and with their prior consent, labor inspectors are not required to maintain confidentiality regarding the identity of the person making the report.
