Content:
- Law no. 176/2018
- Law no. 177/2018
- Law no. 178/2018
- Law no. 175/2018
- Law no. 165/2018
- Emergency Ordinance no. 60/2018
- Emergency Ordinance no. 69/2018
- Emergency Ordinance no. 75/2018
Law no. 176/2018
Law no. 176/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 626 from July 19, 2018 regarding internship programs, brings the following remarks:
Comment: This law provides a new legal framework regarding the way of organizing internship programs for individuals over the age of 16. By way of exception, individuals over the age of 15 can conclude an internship contract, only with the consent of their parents or legal representatives.
We mention in the following some aspects of interest stated by the present law:
- The Host Organization is required to ensure the financing of the internship programs from the annual budget approved thereof.
- The Host Organization shall publicly promote, in writing and / or on-line, the internship programs, the criteria, the schedule and the internal selection procedure, the main responsibilities for each internship program, as well as the contractual conditions (the number of working hours and duration of the internship program, the minimum monthly allowance).
- Regarding the number of employees, the Host Organization can simultaneously conclude internship contracts for a number of interns that cannot exceed 5% of the total number of employees. By way of exception, the Host Organization with a maximum of 20 employees may conclude simultaneously maximum two internship contracts.
- Internship programs can be carried out at any time during a continuous 12-month period. The duration of an internship program is up to 720 hours over 6 consecutive months.
- Between the intern and the Host Organization can be concluded only one internship contract. By way of exception, several internship contracts may be concluded between the intern and a Host Organization provided they are for different internship programs and their cumulative duration doesn’t exceed 6 months.
- The activity carried out under an internship contract is considered seniority in the workplace, and, as the case may be, seniority in the specialized field depending on the type of activity.
- The intern is entitled to an internship allowance, paid by the Host Organization, the amount of which is stipulated in the internship contract. The amount of the internship allowance as set out above is equal to at least 50% of the gross minimum national salary and is granted based on the number of hours worked.
- The working limit for an intern is a maximum of 40 hours per week and is established through the internship contract. For interns under the age of 18, the working limit is a maximum of 30 hours per week, but no more than 6 hours / day.
- At the end of the internship program, shall be carried out an internship assessment and shall be issued an internship certificate.
- The Host Organization is required to fill out and submit the data and information related to the internship contract, no later than the last working day prior to the start of the internship program, in the electronic register of internship contracts, which will be set up by the territorial or Bucharest labour agency, called – the Electronic Register.
- The internship contract must be concluded in writing, in Romanian, not later than the day before the start of the internship program. The maximum duration of the internship contract is of 6 months, without the possibility of extension. The template of the internship contract as well as the internship certificate will be approved by the Order of the Ministry of Labour and Social Justice.
- Host Organizations, that hire former interns within 60 days after the end of an internship program and maintain the labour relationship for at least 24 months will receive, upon request, from the unemployment insurance budget, a bonus for employment of RON 4,586 per individual.
This law shall enter into force within 30 days of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania.
Law no. 177/2018
Law no. 177/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 628 of July 19, 2018, regarding the approval of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 103/2017 for the amendment and supplement of certain normative acts in the area of social insurance, brings the following clarifications:
Comment: This Law approves Government Emergency Ordinance no. 103/2017 for the amendment and supplement of certain normative acts in the area of social insurance, with some amendments and supplements, among which we mention:
After article 130 of Law 263/2010 on the unitary pension system are introduced two new articles, art. 130 1 and art. 130 2, with the following content: ” Art. 130 1 – (1) The amounts representing death grants, paid by the institution that manages the unemployment insurance budget, on the account of the social insurance, shall be deducted from the of social security contributions due for that month. (2) Amounts representing death grants paid by the institution referred to in paragraph (1), which exceed the amount of the contributions owed by it in the respective month, shall be recovered from the social insurance account of the territorial pension house where its headquarters are located. “Art. 130 2 – By submitting the request for obtaining the rights stipulated herein, the individuals give their explicit consent for the processing of personal data needed to establish and pay the due rights”
Regarding Law no. 346/2002 on insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases, we mention that para. (2) of art. 7 is amended and shall have the following content: “(2) Foreign citizens or stateless individuals are insured if they carry out their work under an individual labour contract for a Romanian employer.
At the same time, para. (1) and (7) of art. 19 are amended and shall have the following content: “Art. 19 – (1) The calculation basis for the allowance for the temporary capacity of work, reduced working hours or temporary change of job is established as the average of gross earnings as defined in Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, with subsequent amendments and supplements, obtained monthly by the insured, from salary income or assimilated to salaries, in the last 6 months preceding the month for which the sick leave is granted. (…) (7) The employer can recover the allowances mentioned in para. (6) after the confirmation of the accident at work or occupational disease.
Law no. 178/2018
Law no. 178/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 627 from July 19, 2018, amending and supplementing Law no. 202/2002 on equal opportunities and treatment between women and men, brings the following clarifications:
Comment: This Law amends and supplements Law no. 202/2002 on equal opportunities and treatment between women and men, regulating the general regime of two occupations, namely the expert on equality of chances and the technician on equality of chances, as provided in the Classification of Occupations in Romania (COR). Central and local civil and military institutions, with more than 50 employees, as well as private companies with more than 50 employees, have the possibility to assign attributions concerning the equality of chances and treatment for women and men to a employee, within their job description. Within the limit of the existing budget destined for salaries, the employer may choose to hire an expert/technician on equality of chances.
Within 120 days from the entry into force of this law, the Ministry of Labour and Social Justice will elaborate the methodological norms for the application of the provisions of Law no. 202/2002 on equal opportunities and treatment between women and men, republished, with subsequent amendments and supplements, together with those brought by this law.
Law no. 202/2002 on equal opportunities and treatment between women and men shall be republished in the Official Gazette, giving a new numbering to this content.
Law no. 175/2018
Law no. 175/2018 published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 611 of July 17, 2018, amending and supplementing art. 291 para. (2) of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code.
Law no. 165/2018
Law no. 165/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 599 from July 13, 2018 on granting value vouchers, brings the following clarifications:
Comment: Under this law, the value tickets that can be awarded are: meal vouchers, gift vouchers, childcare vouchers, cultural vouchers and holiday vouchers.
This law stipulates that all costs incurred to issue the value vouchers on paper and/or electronically shall be borne by employers. The nominal value of the vouchers granted to the employees, either on paper or electronic format, cannot be diminished in any way. Value vouchers issued electronically cannot be withdrawn or exchanged in cash.
Value vouchers can only be used on the Romanian territory, within the period of validity and only for the purchase of the goods and services for which they were issued.
It is also specified that the amounts corresponding to the value vouchers awarded by the employer within the nominal limits stipulated by the law, are deductible when calculating the corporate income tax and that these amounts are not taken into account either for the employer or for the employee to establish the salary rights and obligations.
We mention that cultural vouchers are value tickets granted to employees, monthly or occasionally, for the payment of cultural goods and services (subscriptions or tickets for show, concerts, the cinema, museums, festivals, fairs, exhibitions, theme parks, including those for children).
Regarding the nominal value vouchers, depending on their type, we mention:
- The nominal value of a meal voucher may not exceed 15,18 lei;
- The nominal value of a gift voucher is 10 lei or a multiple of 10, but not more than 50 lei;
- The nominal value of a childcare voucher is 10 lei or a multiple of 10 but not more than 100 lei (the maximum amount of childcare vouchers cannot exceed 450 lei for one month, for each child in childcare);
- The nominal value of a cultural voucher is 10 lei or a multiple of 10, but not more than 50 lei (the maximum amount of cultural vouchers cannot exceed the amount of 150 lei for monthly granted vouchers, respectively the sum of 300 lei / event, for those granted occasionally);
- The nominal value allowed for a holiday voucher in paper format is a multiple of 10 lei, but not more than 100 lei (the maximum amount of holiday vouchers that can be granted to an employee during a fiscal year is of 6 minimum gross salaries guaranteed in payment).
This law shall enter into force on January 1, 2019. Upon its entering into force, the following shall be repealed: a) Law no. 142/1998 on the granting of meal vouchers; b) Law no. 193/2006 on granting gift vouchers and childcare vouchers; c) Government Emergency Ordinance no. 8/2009 on granting holiday vouchers.
Emergency Ordinance no. 60/2018
Emergency Ordinance no. 60/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 577 of July 9, 2017, amending and supplementing several normative acts, brings the following clarifications:
Comment: This Emergency Ordinance was adopted taking into account the need to immediately reduce the workforce deficit at national level by increasing the amount of subsidies granted to employers from the unemployment insurance budget. This increase is expected to lead to higher paid salaries, and in this way vacancies will become more attractive for the local and foreign workforce.
This Emergency Ordinance sets out increases in the activation premium, the amounts granted for graduates, long-term unemployed and NEET youth, as well as the amount of the sums granted to employers who conclude internship and apprenticeship contracts under the law, thus modifying the following legislation: a) The Methodological Norms for the application of Law no. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and the employment stimulation: b) Law no. 279/2005 on apprenticeship at the workplace; c) Law no. 335/2013 regarding internship programs for higher education graduates.
Emergency Ordinance no. 69/2018
Emergency Ordinance no. 69/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 625 of July 7, 2018, amending and supplementing Law no. 448/2006 regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of people with disabilities, brings the following clarifications:
Comment: Among the several amendments and supplements brought by this Ordinance, we mention the amendment of Article 46, as follows: “Art. 46 – For each disabled adult in the care and protection of the professional personal assistant, a monthly allowance is granted for housing, food and equipment, as follows: a) 1/2 of the reference social indicator, provided by Law no. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and the stimulation of employment, for adults with accentuated disabilities; b) 1.5 of the reference social indicator, for adults with severe disabilities”
Emergency Ordinance no. 75/2018
Emergency Ordinance no. 75/2018, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 631 of July 19, 2018, amending and supplementing several normative acts regarding environmental protection and the regime of foreign citizens, brings the following clarifications:
Comment: This Emergency Ordinance amends Article 4 para. (2) letter d) of Government Ordinance no. 25/2014 regarding the employment and secondment of foreign citizens on the Romanian territory and amends and supplements certain normative acts the regime of foreign citizens in Romania, as follows: “d) in the last 6 months preceding the filing of the application, the employer has not been sanctioned as provided under the provisions of art. 36 par. (1) of this Ordinance, art. 260 par. (1) Letter e) of Law no. 53/2003 – Labour Code, or according to the provisions of art. 8 par. (1) of the Government Decision no. 905/2017 the General Registry of Employees (REVISAL)” We note that previously, the amended text of the law mentioned that one of the main conditions for the issuance of the notice of employment as that the employer had not been sanctioned on the basis of the above-mentioned normative acts, in the last three years prior to the filing of the application.