Employment Flash No. 1/2020 – News on granting days off to parents to supervise their children in case of temporary closing of schools
Law no. 19/2020 on granting days off to parents to watch over their children in case of temporary closing of educational establishments was published within the Official Gazette no. 209 dated March 14, 2020.
According to the provisions of this law, in case of temporary closing of educational establishments (e.g. schools, kindergartens etc.), as a result of extreme situations officially declared by the competent authorities, the parents of children who are enrolled in these educational establishments will be granted days off for a corresponding period, subject to compliance with some cumulative conditions.
Firstly, this benefit is granted only to parents who have children up to the age of 12 enrolled in an educational establishment or to those who have disabled children up to the age of 18, enrolled in an educational establishment.
In addition, the provisions of this bill also apply to persons from single-parent families, to the legal representative of the child or the person designated according to law to exercise the parental rights and fulfill the corresponding obligations towards the child.
The second condition, that has to be fulfilled alongside the first one, establishes that the days off are granted only in cases where the workplace in not compatible with work from home or telework.
The persons who comply with both the aforementioned conditions are entitled to paid days off for the entire period of time when the authorities decided the closing of those educational units.
The procedure for obtaining this benefit involves the parent who will watch over the child submitting a request to the employer, accompanied by a self-declaration/affidavit of the other parent, stating that he/she has not requested this benefit at his/her workplace.
The employer automatically grants days off based on the above mentioned documents. As an exception, the bill contains a list of units for which the granting of these days off is subject to the employer’s agreement (for example, units with mandatory continuous activity, sanitary and social assistance units, units supplying the population with electricity, gas, heat and water, the units in the national energy system etc.).
The allowance for each day off is paid by the employer from the budget chapter related to personnel expenses and represents 75% of the salary corresponding to a working day, but no more than the correspondent per day of 75% of the average gross wage used to substantiate the budget of the state social insurance (i.e. RON 5,429). Although initially paid by the employer, the amounts corresponding to this allowance will be granted be retrieved by the employer from the Fund guaranteeing the payment of salary claims (state budget).
Note: The provisions of this law shall apply to all employees in the public and private sectors. The actual number of days off will be established by Government decision, on a case by case basis.
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As the legislator does not mention another date, this law enters into force in 3 days from the date it was published within the Official Gazette.
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