Legal means to reduce the working time of the employees by (at most) 80%_the Romanian “kurzarbeit”

Stefan Ene – Of Counsel

RO

7 Aprilie 2021

In data de 5 aprilie 2021 a fost publicata in Monitorul Oficial Legea nr. 58/2021 care, printre altele, modifica Ordonanta de Urgenta a Guvernului nr. 132/ 2020 pentru instituirea unor masuri de sprijin destinate salariatilor si angajatorilor […] (“OUG nr. 132/2020”).

OUG nr. 132/2020, in forma modificata de Legea nr. 58/2021, va deveni aplicabila de la data de 8 aprilie 2021.

I. Reducerea timpului de munca cu pana la 80%

Pe perioada starii de urgenta/ alerta/ asediu si pe o perioada de 3 luni de la incetarea acestora angajatorul are posibilitatea de a reduce timpul de munca al salariatilor cu cel mult 80% din durata prevazuta in contractul individual de munca (“CIM”), conditionat de indeplinirea urmatoarelor conditii:

  • are loc o reducere temporara a activitatii, cauzata de instituirea starii de urgenta/ alerta/ asediu;
  • masura reducerii timpului de munca afecteaza cel putin 10% din numarul de salariati ai unitatii;
  • reducerea activitatii este justificata de o diminuare a cifrei de afaceri (i) din luna anterioara aplicarii masurii sau, cel mult, (ii) din luna dinaintea lunii anterioare acesteia cu cel putin 10% fata de luna similara sau media lunara a cifrei de afaceri din anul 2019;
  • este realizata cu acordul prealabil al sindicatului sau a reprezentantilor salariatilor;
  • reducerea are loc pentru o perioada de cel putin 5 zile lucratoare (consecutive sau nu) intr-o perioada de 30 zile calendaristice;
  • decizia se comunica salariatului cu cel putin 5 zile inainte de aplicarea efectiva a masurii si, in anumite situatii de exceptie, cu 24 ore anterior aplicarii effective a masurii.

Pe durata reducerii timpului de munca, salariatii afectati beneficiaza de o indemnizatie de 75% din salariul de bază brut lunar aferent orelor de reducere a programului de lucru.

II. Dispozitii privind indemnizatia

Indemnizatia mentionata este suportata de angajator si se deconteaza din bugetul asigurarilor pentru somaj.

In situatia in care angajatorul nu recupereaza indemnizatia de la bugetul asigurarilor pentru somaj, acesta nu are dreptul de a o recupera de la salariat.

III. Interdictii

In perioada de reducere a timpului de lucru sunt interzise:

  • angajarea de personal pentru prestarea unor activitati identice ori similare cu cele prestate de catre salariatii al caror timp de munca a fost redus;
  • subcontractarea de activitati desfasurate de salariatii al caror timp de munca a fost redus.

Interdictia se raporteaza si la nivel de filiala, sucursala sau alte sedii secundare definite de Legea societatilor nr. 31/1990.

  • prestarea de munca suplimentara de catre salariatii afectati;
  • reducerea programului de lucru pentru salariati in temeiul art. 52 alin. (3) din Legea nr. 53/2003 privind Codul muncii;
  • initierea de concedieri colective.

Acest newsletter a fost pregatit exclusiv in scop de informare generala si nu se va interpreta ca si consultanta juridica. In masura in care considerati util sa aflati mai multe despre aspectele ce fac obiectul acestui newsletter, va rugam sa ne contactati.

EN

7 April 2021

On 5 April 2021, the Law no 58/2021 modifying, among others, the Government Emergency Ordinance no 132/2020 regarding the establishment of certain support measures for the employees and employers […] (“GEO no 132/2020”) was published in the Official Gazette.

The updated version of the GEO no 132/2020, as per the modifications brought by the Law no 58/2021, shall become effective as of 8 April 2021.

I. Reduction of the working time up to 80%

During the state of emergency/ alert/ siege, as well as for a period of 3 months as of their termination, the employer has the possibility to reduce the working time of the employees by at most 80% of the duration provided in the individual labor agreement (“ILA”), provided that the following conditions are met:

  • the employer faces a temporary reduction of the activity, caused by the establishment of the state of emergency/ alert/ siege;
  • the measure of reducing the working time affects at least 10% of the employees from the respective unit;
  • the reduction of the activity is based on a decrease of the turnover (i) from the month prior to the application of the measure, or, at most, (ii) from the month before the previous month by at least 10% in comparison with the similar month or the medium monthly turnover of 2019;
  • prior approval of the union or of the representatives of the employees was obtained;
  • the reduction applies for a period of at least 5 working days (consecutive or not) within a period of 30 calendar days;
  • the decision shall be communicated to the employee at least 5 days before its application and in certain exceptional situations, at least 24 hours before its application.

During the reduction of the working time, the affected employees benefit from an indemnity of 75% of the gross basic salary related to the reduced activity.

II. Provisions regulating the indemnity

The above-mentioned indemnity is borne by the employer and is settled from the unemployment insurance budget.

If the employer does not recover the indemnity from the unemployment insurance budget, it cannot recover the said indemnity from the employee.

III. Interdictions

During the reduction of working time, the following activities are prohibited:

  • hiring personnel for similar or identical activities to those provided by the employees whose working time was reduced;
  • subcontracting of activities provided by the employees whose working time was reduced.

The interdiction is also stipulated for branches, subsidiaries and other secondary offices provided by the Companies Law no 31/1990.

  • performing supplementary time work by the affected employees;
  • reduction of working schedule for employees based on Article 52 para. (3) of the Law no 53/2003 regarding the Labor Code;
  • initiation of collective dismissals.

This newsletter was prepared solely for general information purposes and shall not be construed in any way as legal advice. Should you find it useful and want to know more about the issues presented herein, please do not hesitate to contact us.

stefan-ene-1

Ștefan Ene

Of Counsel