In this issue:

• Government Emergency Ordinance no. 32/2020 concerning the amendment and completion of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020

The Government Emergency Ordinance no. 32/2020 concerning the amendment and completion of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020 (GEO 30/2020) for the amendment and completion of normative acts, as well as for establishing measures in the field of social protection in the context of the epidemiological situation determined by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and for establishing additional social protection measures (GEO 32/2020) has been published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 260 on the 30th of March 2020 and entered into force upon its publication.

GEO 32/2020 provides for a significant number of amendments. We will refer below only to the ones regulating the technical unemployment indemnity, as well as the benefits granted to the parents within the terms and conditions regulated by Law 19/2020 regarding the granting of paid parental leave for supervising the children if schools close temporarily (Law 19/2020).

The beneficiaries of technical unemployment

Only one category of beneficiaries of the provisions regarding the technical unemployment is regulated: respectively, the employees of the employers who temporarily reduce or interrupt the activity, totally or partially, because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For them, the technical unemployment indemnity will be granted within the terms and conditions of GEO 30/2020 during the state of emergency, only based on a statement issued on the employer's own liability and without the latter having to (i) obtain a state of emergency certificate; (ii) incur a drop in the payment collection by at least 25 % compared to the payment collection average recorded between January - February 2020; or (iii) limit the granting of the technical unemployment indemnity to a maximum of 75% of the employees who have active individual labor agreements on the date GEO 30/2020 entered into force.

In addition, GEO 32/2020 regulates for the following categories of individuals, who suspend their activity due to the coronavirus, during the state of emergency period, the possibility to benefit from the state budget, on the basis of a statement on own liability, from a monthly indemnity of 75% of the gross average salary provided by the law regulating the state social insurance budget for the year 2020 no. 6/2020 (Law 6/2020):

• other professionals, as regulated by art. 3 paragraph (2) of the Civil Code (previously, they only benefited from an allowance equal to the gross minimum base salary applicable at national level for 2020) as well as the persons who have concluded individual labor agreements under Law no. 1/2005 regarding the organization and functioning of the cooperation;
• individuals who obtain income exclusively from copyright and related rights; and
• athletes who have signed sport activities contracts with sports entities according to the sports and physical education law, for the period of temporary suspension of the sport activities contract, on the initiative of the sports entity.

The amount of the indemnity for these categories of beneficiaries will be subject to taxation and payment of mandatory social insurance contributions.

The employees with several employment contracts

GEO 32/2020 clarifies the situation of the employees with multiple employment agreements, as follows:

• If the employee has at least one full-time employment contract active during the establishment of the state of emergency, he/she will not benefit from the technical unemployment indemnity;
• If all the employment contracts are suspended during the state of emergency, he/she will benefit from the technical unemployment indemnity related to the employment contract with the most advantageous salary rights.

The amount of the indemnity

The rule established by GEO 32/2020 states that the employees will benefit from an indemnity capped at 75% of the gross average salary provided by Law 6/2020 (respectively, RON 5,429).

However, to the extent the employer's budget for personnel expenses permits it, the indemnity can be supplemented with an amount representing the difference up to minimum 75% of the base salary corresponding to the employee’s position.

Payment procedure of the technical unemployment indemnity

To receive the amounts necessary for the payment of the technical unemployment indemnity, the employers will submit by e-mail a request to the county work force agencies, accompanied by a statement on own liability and the list of the persons who will receive the indemnity.

The templates for these documents have been approved by order of the minister of labor and social protection and have been published in the Official Gazette.

The indemnity payment will be made from the unemployment insurance budget within maximum 15 days from the submission of the documentation.

The employers will make the payment of the indemnity to the employees within maximum 3 days from the date they received the amounts from the unemployment insurance budget.

Benefits granted to the parents within the terms and conditions regulated by Law 19/2020

GEO 32/2020 changes the taxation of the benefits granted to the parents as per the Law 19/2020. Thus, these benefits are subject to the taxation and payment of the mandatory social insurance contributions.

The respective taxes and contributions will be borne by the employer, within the terms and conditions of the Fiscal Code.

GEO 32/20202 provides that the activity in ante-pre-school educational units is suspended during the state of emergency period, and the parents of the children enrolled in these units will benefit from parental leave for the supervision of the children, as per the Law 19/2020. 

Prepared by:
Rareș Crîșmaru – Associate, Radu și Asociații SPRL

For additional information, please contact:
Anca Atanasiu – Senior Associate, Radu și Asociații SPRL