Labour Law Newsletter No. 1/2011

Latest Legislative Developments

News on the performance of certain seasonal activities by day-workers

Law no. 50/2011 on the performance of certain seasonal activities by day-workers (“Law no. 52/2011”) was published within the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 276 as of April 20th, 2011.
The common order no. 1439/1930 of the Labour, Family and Social protection Minister as well as of the Public Finance Minister for the approval of the Enforcement Rules of the Law no. 50/2011 („Enforcement Rules”) has been published within the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 300 as of May 2nd, 2011.
According to Law no. 50/2011 and the Enforcement Rules thereto, a legal person may use a day-worker for certain seasonal unqualified activities provided by the law, such as agriculture, hunting and fishing, advertising, cleaning services, etc.
Nevertheless, the beneficiary is entitled to use a day-worker in view of performing services exclusively in its benefit and not in the benefit of another party.
The new regulations expressly provide that relationship between the day-worker and the beneficiary is not governed by the rules of the Labour Code as regards the existence of an employment agreement. However, the beneficiary has the obligation to keep a Registry of the day-workers and to fill it in with the relevant data of the day-worker before the start of the specific activity.
The period during which a legal person may retain the services of a day-worker cannot exceed 90 cumulative days over a calendar year.
The day-worker is entitled to a gross remuneration which cannot be less than RON 2/hour (aproximately EURO 0,5/hour) and cannot exceed RON 10/hour (aproximately EURO 2,4/hour). Such remuneration must be paid at the end of each workind day.
The incomes obtained by the day-worker are subject of tax income of 16%, which must be paid by the beneficiary. However, no social contributions are due by the day-worker or by the beneficiary.

News in the pension field

Law no. 263/2010 on the unitary system of public pensions (“Law no. 263/2010”) was published within the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 852 as of December 20th, 2010.
Government Decision no. 257/2011 for the approval of the Enforcement Rules of the Law no. 263/2010 on the unitary system of public pensions (“Enforcement Rules”) was published within the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 214 as of 28th March, 2011.
Starting January 1st 2011, the public pension system is regulated by Law no. 263/2010, which has repealed the previous legislation regulated by Law no. 19/2000 on the public pension and other social rights system.
The reformation of the public pension system envisaged by Law no. 263/2010 has integrated a series of measures aimed at improving the sustainability of the public pension system, such as:
(i) the increase of the standard age for retirement;
(ii) discouragement of the number of persons retired with anticipation, by making more difficult the access to this category of pension;
(iii) implementing more severe criteria as regards the access to the invalidity pension in view of discouraging abusive invalidity retirements, without serious medical grounds;
(iv) a new procedure for challenging the retirement decisions.

News in the field of parental leave and allowance

The Government Decision no. 52 as of January 19th, 2011 for the approval of the Rules for the enforcement of the provisions regulated by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2010 on parental leave and the monthly allowance (“Enforcement rules”) was published within the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 78 dated January 31st, 2011.

News on the labor books

The Ministerial Order no. 1083 dated March 7, 2011 for approval of the Procedures regarding the issuance of the labor books by the territorial labor inspectorates („Order no. 1083/2011”) was published in the Romanian Official Gazette, part I, no. 171 dated March 10th, 2011.
According to the above mentioned order, the last date for using a labor book (document used for keeping official records of an employee’s activity) was 31st of December 2010.
Under the new regulation in force, the labor books which were kept and filled in by the territorial labor inspectorates shall be handed over to the employer or to their lawful owner based on a delivery-receipt minutes until 30th of June 2011 at the latest, while the labor books which were authorized to be filled in and kept directly by the employer must be submitted for certification to the territorial labor inspectorate within the deadlines communicated by the territorial labor inspectorate.

News on the monthly indexed amount of a meal ticket for the first semester of 2011

The Ministerial Order no. 959 dated February 11,2011 for the establishment of the monthly indexed amount of a meal ticket for the first semester of 2011 (“Order no. 959/2011”) was published within the Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 111 dated February 11th, 2011.
According to the mentioned order, for the first semester of 2011, starting with the month of March, the amount of a meal ticket, established according to art. 31 par. (3) and par. (4) of the Rules for the enforcement of Law no. 142/1998 regarding meal tickets, amounts RON 9 (approx. Euro 2).

News on granting the nursery vouchers

The Order no. 159 dated January 27, 2011 for the determination of the monthly indexed amount granted as nursery vouchers for the first semester of the year 2011 („Order no. 159/2011”) was published in the Romanian Official Gazette, part I, no. 88 dated February 2nd, 2011.
According to the above mentioned order, for the first semester of the year 2011, starting with the month of February, the monthly indexed amount of the nursery vouchers, granted according to points 6.1 and 6.3 of the Norms for the enforcement of the Law no. 193/2006 for granting the gift and nursery vouchers, is of RON 370 (approx. Euro 88).

News in the field of collective bargaining agreements concluded at branch level

The Additional Act to the Collective Bargaining Agreement at mass-media branch level for the years 2006-2007, registered with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection under no. 35/14.01.2011, was published within the Romanian Official Gazette of Romania, Part V, no. 2cc/20.01.2011.
According to the Additional Act, the validity of the collective bargaining agreement at mass-media branch level was extended for a period of 24 months as of the date the additional act was registered.
The Additional Act to the Collective Bargaining Agreement at constructions branch level for the years 2008-2009, registered with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection under no. 75/10.02.2011, was published within the Romanian Official Gazette of Romania, Part V, no. 4cc/16.02.2011.
According to the Additional Act, the validity of the collective bargaining agreement at constructions branch level was extended for a period of 12 months as of the date the additional act was registered and the minimum gross base monthly salary for a full-time position was agreed for a value of RON 700 (approx. Euro 175), to which certain hierarchical coefficients apply depending on the employee’s professional qualification.
The Additional Act to the Collective Bargaining Agreement at electronics, electro-technical, fine mechanics, machines and defense for the years 2010-2014, registered with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection under no. 170/21.03.2011, was published within the Romanian Official Gazette of Romania, Part V, no. 5/29.03.2011.
According to the Additional Act, the list of the companies to which the collective agreement applies has been supplemented.
The Additional Act no. 2 to the Collective Bargaining Agreement at machine constructions branch level for the years 2008-2010, registered with the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection under no. 160/28.03.2011, was published within the Romanian Official Gazette of Romania, Part V, no. 6/7.04.2011.
According to the Additional Act, inter alia, the validity of the collective bargaining agreement at machine constructions branch level was extended until 31 December 2012