LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER
Content:
- Law no. 218/2016
- Law no. 172/2016
- Decision no. 324/2016
- Decision no. 877/2016
- Order no. 2263/2016
Law no. 218/2016
Law no. 218 of November 17, 2016, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 931 of November 18, 2016, amending art. 3 paragraph. (1) of Law no. 142/1998 on granting meal vouchers, brings the following clarifications:
„Art. 3 – (1) The nominal value of a lunch voucher shall not exceed the amount of 15 lei on the date of enforcement of this law”.
Comment: Starting December 01, 2016, employers can provide meal vouchers worth up to 15 lei.
Law no. 220/2016
Law no. 220 of November 17, 2016, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 931 of November 18, 2016, supplementing paragraph (1) art. 139 of Law no. 53/2003 – Labour Code.
Comment: This law supplements paragraph (1) art. 139 of the Labour Code by introducing a new non-working public holiday, namely June 1st.
Decision no. 324/2016
Decision no. 324 of October 21, 2016, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 838 of October 21, 2016, amending and supplementing certain normative acts regarding the unemployment insurance system, employment stimulation and health and safety at work, brings the following clarifications:
Among other amendments and supplements brought to the Methodological Norms for the enforcement of Law no. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and employment stimulation, we mention the provisions of art. 45 paragraph (1) which lists the documents needed for granting of the mobility premium (provided in art. 74 and art. 75 of this Law) and how to submit / sent these documents to the authorities in charge, either by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, or by fax or e-mail sent to the County or Bucharest Agency for Employment, depending on the registration place of the individual.
Another aspect covered in this Decision concerns those employers who have signed agreements with employment agencies in order to receive monthly subsidies granted as exemptions from the payment of the contribution or as deductions from the monthly mandatory contribution owed to the unemployment insurance budget or those employers who, under the law, benefit from a reduction in the contribution owed to the unemployment insurance budget and change their headquarters, domicile or residence and are thereafter registered at a different territorial tax authority subordinated to the National Agency for Fiscal Administration. If, at the time of this change, those employers are receiving said subsidies or have the obligation to maintain the labour relations, then the file containing the documents based on which the subsidies are granted or were granted, shall be transferred, in certified copy in accordance with the original copy, to the employment agency in whose jurisdiction the employer now has the headquarters, domicile or residence. Additionally, the Decision stipulates the file transfer procedure and the documents to be submitted by the employer to facilitate the transfer.
The Decision brings amendments to the Methodological Norms for the enforcement of the provisions of Law no. 1425/2006 on Health and Safety at Work, by introducing a new article, namely art. 801. The article stipulates that the duration for health and safety at work training provided for workers, for each of the 3 phases (general-induction training, training in the workplace and regular training) and the duration for regular training provided in addition to the already scheduled training, shall not be less than one hour. This is established through the training-testing program, developed at company and/or unit level, which shall be dated and approved by the employer.
According to art. 92, paragraph. (2), the duration of the training in the workplace is established by the employer, together with:
a) The head of the workplace in question; or
b) The designated worker; or
c) Internal Service for prevention and protection at work; or
d) External Service for prevention and protection at work
Previously, the article stated that the duration of the training at the workplace shall not be less than 8 hours.
Decision no. 877/2016
Decision no. 877 of November 23, 2016, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 963 of November 28, 2016, amending and supplementing Government Decision no. 500/2011 on the general employee register and unitary enforcement of legal provisions:
Comment: Government Decision no. 500/2011 on the general employee register shall be amended and supplemented as follows:
The general employee register shall consist of two parts:
a) The Private Register, which is drafted, filled in and sent by employers, individuals or private legal entities
b) The Public Register, which is drafted, filled in and sent by public institutions / authorities for which are applied the provisions set out in the Framework-Law no. 284/2010 on the unitary payment of personnel paid from public funds, with subsequent amendments.
In the Private Register shall be registered those employees hired under an individual employment contract in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Code.
In the Public Register shall be registered those individuals paid from public funds, who hold a position based on an individual employment contract, an administrative deed of appointment or based on a different kind of deed issued under the law.
This Decision clearly states that employers, whether they are individuals or private legal entities, can contract the service of drafting, filling and transmission of data to the Private Register by signing service contracts with providers who operate under the legal provisions in force. It is important to note that for employers who send data to the Public Register it is not provided the possibility to contract the service of drafting, filling and transmission of data. For those employers, these activities are carried out by employees who have this duty assigned in their job description.
Along with the data that has to be reported in the Private Register, this Decision lays down new data to be reported in the register, as follows:
a) data concerning the long-term studies of individuals, as well as data regarding the profile/specialization/qualification, in accordance with the documents / certificates of qualification.
b) user identification data, in case of temporary employment contracts;
c) transnational posting or posting in a non-EU state.
The contract termination deadline is at the latest the termination date of the individual employment contract / the date when the event that caused the termination is acknowledged. From this, we can conclude that this reporting might also be done prior to the termination of the employment contract.
Any change that appears in the identification data of the employer, namely change of headquarters or, as appropriate, of the domicile, is sent to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate within 3 working days from the day of the change.
Any correction of the errors occurred when filling in of the register is done on the date when the employer is made aware of.
The Decision also considers the Public Register and sets out the data to be filled in and reported and the deadlines for reporting.
We mention that art. 7 was repealed. The article stated that the register had to be kept in electronic format at the headquarters of the employer, or as appropriate, at the branch offices, agencies or any other such units without legal personality that were appointed to draft the register.
Finally, we mention that this Decision brings certain changes regarding contraventions.
Order no. 2263/2016
Order no. 2263 of December 08, 2016, published in the Official Gazette Part I no. 991 of December 08, 2016, on the procedure for transmitting data in public registers, brings the following clarifications:
Starting with the entry into force of this order, the public institutions / authorities shall transmit the data, regarding all categories personnel paid from public funds, via the M500 form.
The data shall be sent monthly, until the 25th (including) of the following month for the previous month, in accordance with the procedure set out in the Annex to this Order regarding the transmission of data in public registers.
This Order shall apply to public institutions / authorities that have personnel paid from public funds, and that holds a position based on an individual employment contract, an administrative deed of appointment or based on a different kind of deed issued under the law.
As an exception to the aforementioned, for November 2016, the deadline for transmission of said data is of 10 days from the publication date of this Order in the Official Gazette.