A female employee in a chemical laboratory announces that she is pregnant. Her position routinely involves handling chemical substances and working night shifts. Without intervention from the employer, the same working conditions that were acceptable a week earlier can become a real risk to the pregnancy.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Emergency Ordinance No. 96/2003 on the protection of maternity in the workplace regulates this type of situation by requiring the employer to take action as soon as they are informed in writing of an employee’s pregnancy. If the work performed poses risks to the health or safety of the pregnant employee, the woman who has recently given birth, or the breastfeeding employee, affecting the pregnancy or breastfeeding, the employer is required, where possible, to modify her working conditions and working schedule.
When such a modification is not possible, the law provides a fallback solution, not an exception that can simply be ignored: the employee must be transferred to another position free of risks, while maintaining her basic salary. Only if such a transfer is also not possible does maternity risk leave apply. This leave may be granted in full or in instalments for a maximum period of 120 days, with the employee receiving an allowance paid from the state social insurance budget rather than the employer’s budget.
Night work receives specific attention under this ordinance. Pregnant employees and breastfeeding employees may not be required to perform night work. If their health is affected by such a schedule, the employer is required, at the employee’s written request, to transfer her to daytime work while maintaining her basic salary.
Perhaps the most important guarantee provided by Emergency Ordinance No. 96/2003 concerns job security: employers are prohibited from terminating the employment relationships of pregnant employees, women who have recently given birth, or breastfeeding employees for reasons directly related to their condition. The same protection applies to employees on maternity leave or leave for pregnancy-related risks.
The difference between a company that correctly applies these provisions and one that treats them superficially is not necessarily visible during the pregnancy itself. It becomes apparent later, in the level of trust that the employee — and the rest of the team — has in the way the organisation treats its people during the most vulnerable moments of their lives.