Employment Flash No. 16/2020 – News on the state support for technical unemployment, discrimination and harassment at the workplace, the Electronic registry for the record of daily workers and special provisions for disabled persons
27.07.2020 – The Emergency Government Ordinance no. 120/22.07.2020 on the establishment of some support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation determined by the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been published within the Official Gazette no. 658 dated July 24th, 2020.
According to this normative act, the employees of employers who had their activity suspended as a result of the epidemiological investigation carried out by the public health authorities benefit from the technical unemployment allowance granted under the provisions of art. XI of GEO no. 30/2020.
The specific technical unemployment allowance is calculated for the number of days when the employer’s activity was suspended, the measure being applicable for the entire duration when activity is suspended, but no later than December 31st, 2020.
The employees who are on medical leave and receive the corresponding social insurance allowance do not benefit from the technical unemployment allowance under the present GEO.
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The Law no. 151/23.07.2020 on the amendment and completion of Law no. 53/2003 – the Labour Code has been published within the Official Gazette no. 658 dated July 24th, 2020.
According to this law, a series of provisions are amended or introduced in the field of discrimination and harassment at the workplace, as follows:
a) The content of main prohibition in this field is amended and completed so as to comprise any direct or indirect discrimination, towards an employee, discrimination by association, harassment or deed of victimization, based on race, citizenship, ethnicity, color, language, religion, social origin, genetic traits, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, chronic non-contagious disease, HIV infection, political option, family situation or responsibility, trade union membership or activity, belonging to a disadvantaged category.
b) The criteria on which dismissals are prohibited are also updated so as to comprise those mentioned above.
c) The definitions of direct and indirect discrimination are also amended and completed.
d) The terms of harassment, discrimination by association, victimization and any adverse treatment are also introduced and defined.
In addition, any behaviour that consists in ordering a person, in writing or orally, to use a form of discrimination based on one of the criteria provided above, against one or more persons, is considered discrimination.
e) It is established that the exclusion, distinction, restriction or preference as regards a particular job do not represent discrimination if, by means of the specific nature of the activity in question or the conditions under which the activity is performed, there are certain essential and decisive professional requirements, provided that the purpose is legitimate and the requirements are proportionate.
f) Non-compliance with the provisions of the Labour Code in the field of discrimination at the workplace (Art. 5, Para. (2) to (9)) and non-compliance with the provisions regarding prohibition of dismissal based on certain criteria mentioned above (Art. 59, Letter a)) are sanctioned by administrative fees ranging from RON 1,000 to RON 20.000.
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The Order of the Labour and Social Protection Mister no. 1140/13.07.2020 on the approval of the Methodology for the preparation and submission of the Electronic Registry for the record of daily workers, as well as on the registrations operated therein has been published within the Official Gazette no. 651 dated July 23rd, 2020.
By means of this normative act it is established that the economic operators for which daily workers carry out non-qualified activities with occasional character have to complete, keep and submit the corresponding electronic registry, starting from July 25th, 2020, instead of the physical registry applicable up to this point.
The methodology annexed to the present order provides the information necessary in order to fill in and submit the electronic registry.
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The Law no. 145/22.07.2020 on the amendment and completion of Law no. 448/2006 regarding the protection and promotion of disabled persons’ rights has been published within the Official Gazette no. 648 dated July 22nd, 2020.
This law operates a series of amendments to various aspects in the field of disabled persons’ rights, out of which we mention, from an employment perspective:
a) The definitions for the following terms are amended: reasonable adaptation of the workplace, assisted employment and authorized protected unit.
b) It is established that, in what regards the integration of disabled persons within work, the employers ensure the access of disabled persons to an adapted workplace, as the case may be, in accordance with the functional potential and the adaptation capacity of the persons in question.
c) The equality of chances, accessibility of the workplace and the adaptation of duties in accordance with the functional potential are guaranteed to the disabled persons in employment relations.
d) The limits of the administrative fees applicable in the employment field increase, as follows:
i. for non-compliance with the obligation of economic operators who have at least 50 employees either to employ a certain percentage of disabled persons or, alternatively, to pay a certain sum to the state budget – administrative fees ranging from RON 25,000 to RON 50,000;
ii. for non-compliance with the right of the disabled persons to reasonable adaptation of the workplace – administrative fees ranging from RON 10,000 to RON 25,000.
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