Emergency Ordinance (OUG) no.92 for the establishment of active support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as for the modification of some normative acts was published in the Official Gazette (Part I ) no. 459 of May 29, 2020.
Granting technical unemployment benefits:
According to OUG 92, of May 29, 2020, the granting of technical unemployment benefits, for all areas of activity in which restrictions are maintained under the conditions of Law no. after May 31, 2020, until these restrictions are eliminated.
The content of the same normative act shows that the provisions of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020, including the normative acts that modify and / or complete it or that contain provisions regarding the application of its provisions, continue to apply, without interruption, from the date of termination of the state of emergency established by decree, according to art. 93 paragraph (1) of the Romanian Constitution, republished, for all fields of activity in which restrictions are maintained, until their lifting, but not later than 31 December 2020.
Therefore, the deadline by which technical unemployment could be granted in some areas where restrictions remain is December 31, 2020.
According to the provisions of Law no. 55/2020 mentioned above, the restrictions are kept for the time being in the following areas:
- HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, Café): consumption of food and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in common dining areas in restaurants, hotels, motels, boarding houses, cafes or other public places, indoors. Regarding the terraces, relaxation measures have appeared since June 1, 2020, in compliance with some distance conditions.
- MALLs: retail activities of products and services in shopping centers where several economic operators operate, with the consent of the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations (CNSSU). The measure does not apply in the case of small shopping centers, under 15,000 m2, with individual shops under 500 m2
Financial support measures for employees, after June 1, 2020
According to OUG no. 92/2020, starting with June 1, 2020, the employers whose employees benefited from the provisions of art. XI paragraph (1) of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020 (technical unemployment benefit) or had their individual employment contracts suspended in accordance with the provisions of art. 52 paragraph (1) letter c) of the Labor Code and did not benefit from the technical unemployment benefit during the state of emergency or the alert benefits, for a period of three months, from the settlement of a part of the salary, supported from the unemployment insurance budget, representing 41.5% of the gross basic salary corresponding to the job occupied, but not more than 41.5% from the average gross earnings.
Considering the mentioned aspects, the employers have the obligation to maintain the labor relations until December 31, 2020, except for the seasonal workers.
This obligation does not apply if the termination of the employment contract occurs for reasons not attributable to the employer.
It is important to mention that the financial support measures apply only to persons who cumulatively meet the following conditions.
- had a duration of suspension of the individual employment contract of at least 15 days during the state of emergency or alert;
- benefited either from the indemnities provided by art. XI and XV of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020 (technical unemployment allowance or specific allowance for other professionals, athletes, lawyers, persons who obtain income from copyrights), or the provisions of art. 53 of the Labor Code (allowance at least 75% provided it is available to the employer).
Employers who have several objects of activity, of which at least one is subject to the restrictions established by acts of the competent authorities, opt either for the application of the above provisions (settlement of 41.5% of the gross basic salary), or for the application of the provisions regarding the continuation of the granting of technical unemployment benefits and after May 31, 2020, until the lifting of the restrictions.
We remind you that, for 2020, according to Law 6/2020 – Law on the state social insurance budget for 2020, published in Official Gazette no. 3 of January 6, 2020, the average gross salary is 5,429 lei.
Therefore, the maximum amount settled by the state = 41,5% x 5.429 lei = 2.253 lei
The previous provisions also benefit the persons who have individual labor conventions concluded based on Law no. 1/2005 regarding the organization and functioning of the cooperation.
In order to settle the amounts representing 41.5% of the basic salary, the entities fully bear the equivalent value of salaries for these employees and subsequently, starting with the first date until the 25th of the month following the reporting period to which the revenues are related, they submit to the agencies. for employment in whose area the following documents have their registered office, which will be approved by order of the president of the National Agency for Employment (ANOFM):
– a request;
– a statement on one’s own responsibility; and
– the list of persons benefiting from this amount.
The settlement from the unemployment insurance budget of the amounts provided above is made within maximum 10 days from the date of fulfillment by the employers, according to the law, of the declaratory and payment obligations related to income from salaries and assimilated to salaries for the reporting period for which the request is made.
There cannot benefit from these amounts:
- public institutions and authorities;
- employers who at the date of requesting the granting of these amounts are in bankruptcy, dissolution, liquidation or who have suspended activities or restrictions on them for reasons other than those generated by the spread of coronavirus.
It is important to specify that the amounts mentioned above do not cumulate with the subsidies granted in the case of employees for whom the employers have concluded contracts or conventions with the employment agencies based on Law no. 76/2002..
Subsidies for hiring new people
Employers who, between June 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, employ, for an indefinite period, full-time, persons who cumulatively meet the following conditions:
- are over 50 years old;
- employment relationships have ceased for reasons not attributable to them, during the
state of emergency or alert;
- are registered as unemployed in the records of employment agencies,
– receive monthly, for a period of 12 months, for each person employed in this category, 50% of the employee’s salary, but not more than 2,500 lei.
Employers who are employed, but not later than December 31, 2020, for an indefinite period, full time, persons who cumulatively meet the following conditions:
- are 16 à 29 years old;
- are registered as unemployed in the records of employment agencies,
– receive monthly, for a period of 12 months, for each person employed in this category, 50% of the employee’s salary, but not more than 2,500 lei.
These employers have the obligation to maintain employment relations for a period of at least 12 months from the end of the 12-month period in which they receive the “subsidy”.
The amounts are granted for the payment of the salary proportional to the actual time worked by the employee and are not cumulated, for the same employee, with the subsidies granted to the employers who have concluded with the county employment agencies, respectively of the Bucharest municipality, contracts or agreements based Law no. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and employment stimulation.
The above provisions also apply in the case of employment of Romanian citizens whose employment relations with foreign employers in progress on the territory of other states have ceased, for reasons not attributable to them, by dismissal.
The amounts are granted from the unemployment insurance budget, at the request of the employers, submitted, by electronic means, the procedure to be established by order of the president of the National Agency for Employment (ANOFM).
Important!
Employers who terminate the individual employment contracts of employees before the deadlines provided above are obliged to reimburse, in full, to the employment agencies the amounts collected for each person for whom the employment relationship ended before the mentioned deadline, plus the reference interest of the Bank National Law of Romania in force on the date of termination of individual employment contracts, if their termination took place pursuant to art. 55 lit. b), art. 56 para. (1) lit. d) and e) and art. 65 of the Labor Code.