Employment Flash No. 12/2020 – News on the prolongation of the state of alert
The Government Decision no. 476/16.06.2020 on prolonging the state of alert on Romanian territory and establishing the measures that apply during this period to prevent and fight against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been published within the Official Gazette no. 515 dated 16 June 2020.
This normative act establishes the prolongation of the state of alert with 30 days, starting 17 June 2020 and, by means of its three annexes, a series of measures applicable for various fields of activity, out of which we mention, from an employment law perspective, as examples:
- the obligation to wear the protective mask at the workplace;
- the obligation of the economic operators to organize activity in such a manner that they ensure the mandatory epidemiological triage and disinfection of hands at the entry within headquarters, both for the their own personnel and for visitors.
Until some new acts for the enforcement of this Government Decision are published, the previous legislation issued in the state of alert context remains applicable, given that it does not contradict the content of the annexes of the new Decision.
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The Order of the Health Minister and the Minister of Economy, Energy and the Business Environment no. 1088/16.06.2020 on the approval of the regulations establishing specific measures to prevent the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as regards the activities from the commercial centers from the mall category, where more economic operators carry out their activity, the organization and carrying out of the activities within sports betting halls in conditions of security, as well as for the locations where the activity of gambling is carried out has been published within the Official Gazette no. 514 dated 16 June 2020.
According to this order and its annexes, specific measures in the domains mentioned within the title are established and detailed, as regards the prevention and security at the workplace, the work program and activity organization of the employees, as well as special measures regarding the locations where the economic operators in question restart their activity.
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The Government Emergency Ordinance no. 97/11.06.2020 on implementing a series of measures of administrative simplification in the social protection domain and on granting some rights and benefits of social assistance in the domains of activity where restrictions are maintained has been published within the Official Gazette no. 504 dated 12 June 2020.
This GEO establishes, among others, that the persons who, after the date of 13 June 2020, are in a situation of impossibility to obtain income subject to income tax (as they work in domains of activity where the restrictions imposed by the competent authorities are maintained), continue to benefit from the right to child raise leave and the corresponding allowance, the insertion incentive, the leave for taking care of the disabled child and other rights granted in case of parents or other persons who take care of a disabled child, as well as the accommodation leave and the corresponding allowance in case of adoption.
These benefits are granted in the cases described above until the restrictions in question are lifted, but no later than 31 December 2020.
In addition, the GEO contains procedural details regarding the manner in which these benefits are to be accessed and the necessary documentation to be submitted.
In addition, this normative act contains a series of exceptions from the general legislative framework in this field established by means of the GEO no. 111/2010. For example, the persons entitled to insertion incentive according to the provisions detailed above benefit from this right even in the situation when the child reached, during this period, the age of 3 years old or 4 years old, in case of disabled children.
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A series of normative acts in the field of medical leave and quarantine leave have also been published lately, as follows:
- Two acts completing and amending the Order no. 414/2020 regarding the establishment of quarantine for the persons who are in a situation of emergency of international public health determined by COVID-19 infection and for establishing some measures of prevention and limitation of the effects generated by the epidemic:
a) The Order of the Health Minister no. 1069/11.06.2020, published within the Official Gazette no. 497/11.06.2020, regarding a new definition of the term ”quarantine”, conditions to establish community quarantine and some procedural details;
b) The Order of the Health Minister no. 1080/12.06.2020, published within the Official Gazette no. 508/15.06.2020, regarding the specific conditions for establishment of the quarantine/isolation measure for certain persons coming to Romania.
- The Order of the Health Minister no. 1074/12.06.2020 for the completion of the Methodological Norms of GEO no. 158/2005 regarding the leaves and allowances of social health insurance, published within the Official Gazette no. 503/12.06.2020, regarding specific provisions in the domain of medical certificates issued in case of persons to whom the measure of community quarantine applies.
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The Order of the president of the National Workforce Agency no. 456/3.06.2020 for the approval of the Procedure for granting the sums provided by Art. III Para. (1) and (2) of the GEO no. 92/2020 on the establishment of some active measures of support for employers and employees in the context of the epidemiological situation generated by the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and for the amendment of some normative acts has been published within the Official Gazette no. 484 dated 9 June 2020.
This normative act and its annexes describe the necessary steps to be taken and documentation to be submitted in order to access the stat support in case of employment of persons over the age of 50 or officially registered as unemployed, who had their work relations terminated for reasons not attributable to them, during the state of emergency or the state of alert or persons between the ages of 16 and 29, officially registered as unemployed.
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