Emergency Ordinance (OUG) no. 26/2021 for the amendment and completion of OUG no. 111/2010 on leave and monthly allowance for raising children were published in the Official Gazette no. 363 of April 8, 2021.
The normative act stipulates that parents on parental leave will receive an insertion incentive increased to 1,500 lei, compared to 650 lei, as it is at present if they return to activity before the child reaches the age of 6 months or 1 year in the case of a disabled child.
The amount is granted until the child reaches the age of 2 years, respectively 3 years in the case of the child with disabilities.
The document also provides for the maintenance of the insertion incentive granted for:
- persons who earn income subject to tax after the child reaches the age of 6 months (1 year in the case of a disabled child) at any time, until the child reaches the age of 2 years (3 years in the case of a child with disabilities);
- persons who earn income subject to tax after the child reaches the age of 2 years (3 years in the case of a child with disabilities) at any time, until the child reaches the age of 3 years (4 years in the case of a child with disabilities).
At the same time, the insertion incentive of 650 lei is introduced for the persons who return to the professional activity during the period in which they are entitled to benefit from the leave for the care of the child with disabilities aged between 3 and 7 years.
The document also provides for the granting of the insertion incentive to the parent who has dependent children aged between 2 (3) and 3 (4) years if, after the termination of an employment or service relationship, he re-employs, as well as in the situation in which he benefits from the medical leave provided by OUG no. 158/2005, with the subsequent modifications and completions, respectively the leave for the recovery of the work capacity, the care leave for the sick child, less the maternity leave.
In addition, some provisions are clarified regarding the granting of the child raising allowance in the case of persons who, after establishing the right, establish their residence in another country and regulate the situations in which there is a serious misconduct or repeated disciplinary misconduct related to work during the granting period. the insertion incentive, respectively until the child reaches the age of 3 (4) years, the period in which, at present, the employer is prohibited from terminating the employment or service relationship.
The applications for granting the rights provided by OUG no. 26/2021, representing indemnity or insertion incentive, and the documents resulting from the fulfillment of the legal conditions for granting them are submitted to the mayor’s office of the commune, city, municipality, respectively sectors of Bucharest has his domicile or residence.
Until the 5th of each month, the mayoralties have the obligation to send on a slip basis the applications registered in the previous month, accompanied by supporting documents, to the county social benefits agencies, respectively of Bucharest, hereinafter referred to as territorial agencies. The decision shall be communicated to the applicant within 5 working days from the date of issue directly or by post, including electronic mail or any other means of communication.
OUG 26/0221, adds some situations in which the payment of the child raising allowance is suspended:
- the territorial agency finds that on the basis of the transmitted documents an erroneous amount of the right was established;
- ) following the control performed by the social inspectors or by representatives of the Court of Accounts of Romania, erroneous data were found regarding the fulfillment of the conditions for granting the rights provided by this emergency ordinance.
The amounts representing the rights provided by OUG no. 26/2021, improperly collected, are recovered from their beneficiaries, under the conditions provided by OUG no. 44/2014 for the regulation of some measures regarding the recovery of debts for social assistance benefits, as well as for the modification of art. 101 of Law no. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, approved with amendments by Law no. 266/2015, with subsequent amendments and completions, based on the decision issued by the executive director of the territorial agency.
By exception, the amounts representing the rights provided by this emergency ordinance, improperly collected by the employees of the defense system, public order and national security, are recovered from their beneficiaries, under the conditions provided by Government Ordinance no. 121/1998 on the material liability of the military, approved by Law no. 25/1999. “
Thus – according to the representatives of MMPS – the application of the provisions of the new normative act can lead to the decrease of the social assistance expenses by approximately 100 million lei for a period of 12 months. For the year 2021, taking into account the remaining period until the end of it, it is estimated a decrease of expenses of approximately 58 million lei.
Legal basis:
- OUG 111/2010 on leave and monthly allowance for raising children;
- OUG 26/2021 for the modification and completion of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2010 regarding the leave and the monthly allowance for raising children.