Romania: Amendments to GEO no. 30/2020 on technical unemployment measures during the state of emergency

On 30th March the Romanian Government published in the Romanian Official Gazette GEO no. 32/2020 that amends, among others, the initial regulation on technical unemployment measures adopted in the context of COVID-19 epidemic by GEO no. 30/2020.

The amendments brought by GEO no. 32/2020 have the declared purpose of simplifying the conditions and formalities that need to be fulfilled in order for the employers to get the technical unemployment indemnity granted by the Romanian state.

1. Changes to the conditions that must be fulfilled by the employers in order to benefit from the indemnity granted by the state

Who shall benefit from the technical unemployment indemnity granted by the Romanian state? The employees of the employers that temporarily reduce or discontinue their activity, partially or totally, due to the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, during the state of emergency, subject to an affidavit given by the employer in this respect.

The following documents are no longer required:

1. the certificate of emergency situations is no longer required for the employers deciding the total or partial discontinuity of their activities based on decisions issued by the competent public authorities as per the applicable legislation;
2. the affidavit from which to result the decrease of incomes of minimum 25% in comparison to the average incomes afferent to the period January – February 2020 and the lack of financial capacity to pay all employees, for the employers that are reducing their activities due to the effects of COVID-19 epidemic and that are not having the financial capacity to pay all the salaries to their employees.

In addition, all the employees of the employers mentioned at point 2 above shall benefit from the indemnity granted by the state (contrary to the previous regulation that capped the granting of indemnity only to maximum 75% of the employees having individual employment agreements active at the date of entering into force of the initial GEO no. 30/2020).

2. Clarifications on the amount of the indemnity granted to the employees for technical unemployment

In case the employer’s budget for personnel expenses allows it, the indemnity for technical unemployment granted by the Romanian state may be supplemented by the employer with amounts representing the difference up to minimum of 75% of the base salary corresponding to the occupied job, as per the general rule provided under art. 53 para. (1) of the Romanian Labour Code.

3. Additional provisions regarding the employees having concluded multiple individual employment agreements

In case an employee has multiple individual employment agreements concluded and at least one full-time agreement is active during the state of emergency, the employee shall not benefit from the indemnity granted by the Romanian state.

In case an employee has multiple individual employment agreements concluded and all of them are suspended due to the state of emergency, the employee shall benefit from the indemnity afferent to the individual employment agreement providing the most advantageous salary rights.

4. Changes in the procedural aspects for benefiting from the indemnity

The employers shall electronically submit with the competent employment agencies (i) a request signed and dated by the legal representative of the employer  together with an affidavit and (ii) the list of persons who shall benefit from the indemnity assumed by the legal representative of the employer, as per a template that will further be adopted by order of the ministry of labour and social protection and published in the Official Gazette.

The employers shall be held responsible for the correctness and the truthfulness of the data contained by such documents.

Please note that the templates provided under the initial GEO no. 30/2020 are no longer valid.

5. New terms for payment of indemnity by the state / employer

The term for payment of the indemnity by the Romanian state to the employer was modified to 15 days as of submission of documents by the employer (the initial term provided under the previous regulation was of 30 days as of such submission of documents).

The employer shall pay the indemnity to the employees within 3 days as of receiving the amounts from the state.

6. Provisions related to other beneficiaries of the indemnity granted by the state

Other professionals (such as individual companies or self-employed persons) and the persons having concluded individual labour agreements (Romanian: conventii individuale de munca) under Law no. 1/2005 on the management and functioning of cooperatives, that are discontinuing the activity due to the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, during the state of emergency, shall benefit from a monthly indemnity amounting of 75% of the medium gross salary provided by Law no. 6/2020 on the state social security budget for 2020, based on an affidavit.

The natural persons obtaining incomes exclusively from copyrights and neighboring right, as regulated under Law 8/1996 on copyright and neighboring rights, that are discontinuing the activity due to the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, during the state of emergency, shall benefit from a monthly indemnity amounting of 75% of the medium gross salary provided by Law no. 6/2020 on the state social security budget for 2020, on the basis of the documents requested by the National Agency for Payments and Social Inspection.

Also, GEO no. 32/2020 provides certain rules regarding sportsmen.