Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 33/2021 for the amendment and completion of Law no. 156/2000 on the protection of Romanian citizens working abroad was published in the Official Gazette no. 459 of April 29, 2021.
Thus, increasing the degree of protection of Romanian citizens working abroad. More precisely, the normative act stipulates new obligations for the employment agencies abroad and of the profile service providers, for the additional protection of the Romanian citizens who work abroad.
According to Law no. 156/2000 on the protection of Romanian citizens working abroad – Republic, the Government of Romania, through the competent authorities, shall take the necessary steps to conclude agreements, understandings, treaties or conventions with similar public authorities in other states, in order to establish conditions for the protection of Romanian citizens domiciled in Romania working in the respective countries.
When negotiating the agreements, understandings, treaties or conventions provided above, the Romanian side will follow the observance of the principle of equal treatment and of the applicable regulations regarding the level of the minimum wage in the receiving state, the duration of working and rest time, general working conditions, occupational health and safety, insurance for accidents at work or occupational diseases and social security.
OUG 33 adds that, for seasonal workers, prior to concluding the agreements, understandings, treaties or conventions mentioned above, the Romanian side negotiates including clauses regarding the accommodation conditions that employers should offer, respecting the national norms of the receiving state, and to the granting of an indemnity for the provision of daily food, during the period in which the seasonal workers actually carry out their activity, as well as to the settlement of the return transport expenses to the domicile in Romania.
Employment agencies and employment placement service providers carry out mediation activities of Romanian citizens, domiciled in Romania, who request to work on the basis of firm job offers sent from abroad by legal or natural persons, as of employers.
The interposition of other categories of intermediaries between the placement agent or the provider of employment services, the mediated person and the foreign employer is prohibited.
Thus, in order to ensure the same degree of protection of Romanian citizens, regardless of whether they use the services of a Romanian employment agent or the services of a placement service provider from another Member State of the European Union that carries out activities in Romania. mediation and placement of the labor force, the same obligations are established:
- performing free of charge the mediation activity of Romanian citizens in order to be employed abroad, without charging commissions, tariffs or fees;
- concluding mediation contracts in written form and ensuring the conclusion of the individual employment contract or the equivalent document from the state of destination both in the language of the state in which the employer is established or carries out its activity, and in Romanian;
- making the contract available to the Romanian worker before leaving the country.
We mention that OUG 33 modifies the definition of mediation thus the activity through which the foreign employer is contacted with the person domiciled in Romania and is looking for a job, in order to establish an employment relationship, as defined by legislation, collective bargaining agreements or practices in force in each Member State, taking into account the case law of the Court of Justice.
We remind you that, according to Law no. 156/2000 on the protection of Romanian citizens working abroad – Republishing, firm offers from contracts concluded by placement agents with legal or natural persons, established in a state other than Romania, which have the quality of employer according to the legislation of the respective state will include at least the following elements:
- the identification data of the foreign employer, including his fiscal domicile;
- b) the duration of the firm offer;
- c) the number of jobs abroad contained in the firm offers;
- d) position, profession or occupation;
- e) duration of employment in months / days, conditions of employment, termination of employment or re-employment;
- f) the maximum duration of the working time and the minimum duration of the periodic rest;
- g) the gross and net remuneration, the hourly tariff and / or the gross and net monthly salary, the currency in which the payment is made, the payment methods and the payment dates of the salary;
- h) the minimum wage / minimum tariff guaranteed in payment by the legislation of the receiving state;
- i) bonuses, overtime and other salary rights;
- j) the cases in which the salary rights can be pursued;
- k) the minimum duration of the paid annual leave, the manner of granting and the monetary rights related to the rest leave, provided in the legislation of the receiving state;
- l) working and climate conditions, measures regarding health and safety at work, hygiene at work and social security;
- m) concluding and signing a health insurance of the Romanian employees in the same conditions with the citizens from the receiving state;
- n) granting compensations in case of occupational diseases, work accidents or death;
- o) the specification of the accommodation conditions he will benefit from during the whole stay, accommodation likely to ensure an adequate standard of living, or, as the case may be, of renting a house and the conditions for granting a food insurance allowance;
- p) ensuring the transport of Romanian citizens’ workers in the receiving state, the transport from the place of accommodation to the place of activity, as well as the conditions of transport and repatriation of Romanian employees, including in case of occupational diseases, accidents or death;
- q) the customs of the place and any other specific aspects of nature to endanger the life, freedom or safety of the Romanian citizens workers;
- r) taxes, duties and contributions levied on the incomes of Romanian citizens’ workers, ensuring, as the case may be, the avoidance of double taxation or double collection of social insurance contributions;
- s) the contact details of the Romanian embassies / diplomatic missions in the destination state;
- t) the contact details of the local authorities in the receiving state to which the Romanian citizen worker may submit a complaint regarding the non-compliance with the contract or, as the case may be, the document equivalent to it, concluded with the employer.
The firm offers of jobs abroad for seasonal workers, with all their specifications, both in the language of the destination state or in another language of international circulation, as well as in Romanian, will include, in addition to the elements previously provided, the following items:
- rental agreement or equivalent document which clearly states the accommodation conditions made available to the seasonal worker by the employer, as well as proof that the employer ensures, in terms of accommodation, compliance with general health standards; andsecurity in force in the receiving state;
- the commitment that the employer of the seasonal worker will ensure the return of the round trip between the domicile of the seasonal worker in Romania and the place of work in the receiving state;
- the conditions for granting an indemnity for the provision of daily food.
- the health insurance during the contractual period or the commitment that the employer of the seasonal worker concludes for him the health insurance during the contractual period.(condition introduced by OUG 33/2021).
It is important to note that, if the movement of workers to the same job in the destination state is carried out in groups of more than 10 people, the employment agent and the employment placement service provider have the obligation to organize the transport by legal persons authorized to carry out international transport of persons.
Employment agents and employment service providers have the obligation to ensure that, prior to their travel, workers placed abroad have all the necessary documents for access to the state of destination.
Employment agents and employment service providers have the obligation to ensure that workers employed abroad have all the information regarding the special conditions of entry into the destination state, respectively the special rules that must be observed, according to the legislation. the state of destination, given the existence of an epidemiological risk.
For states in which individual employment contracts are concluded, according to the legislation applicable in that state, in writing, employment agencies and employment placement service providers have the obligation to ensure their conclusion by the parties both in the language of the state in which is established or carries out its activity by the employer, as well as in Romanian, as well as the making available to the Romanian worker of this contract, before his departure from Romania.
For the states in which the form of employment is not achieved by concluding an employment contract, the employment agencies and the providers of employment services have the obligation to ensure the communication and making available to the Romanian citizen worker, before his departure from Romania , of the document equivalent to the employment contract according to the legislation of the state of destination, both in Romanian and in the language of the state in which the employer is established or carries out his activity.
The placement agents, respectively the providers of employment placement services have the obligation to keep at the registered office, respectively at the permanent headquarters in Romania the mediation contract, as well as a copy, in Romanian and in the language of the state in which they are located. established or carries out the activity of the employer, of the individual employment contract, signed by the parties, or, as the case may be, a copy of another employment document, for a period of 3 years from the date of their conclusion, and to make them available labor inspectors, during the control.
Employment agents and employment service providers have the obligation to submit to the territorial labor inspectorate (ITM) in whose territorial area the agencies have their registered office, respectively to the Territorial Labor Inspectorate in whose territorial area the service providers carries out the activity on the Romanian territory a notification regarding the employment, at least 5 working days prior to the departure from the country of the persons employed abroad
The notification must include the following elements: destination state, name and address of the foreign employer’s registered office, address of the locations where the activity is to be performed, number of Romanian workers to leave the country, their identification data, the activity to be followed to provide it, the date on which the trip is made, the location from where the trip is made, the conditions for carrying out the transport and the identification data of the transport operator.
It is important to mention that the transmission of ITM notification is done by any means of written communication, including by e-mail.
Employment agents and employment placement service providers have the obligation to submit monthly to the Territorial Labor Inspectorate (ITM) in whose territorial area they carry out their activity, until the 5th of the following month, the situation regarding the concluded mediation contracts. and persons employed abroad, according to the model established by the methodological norms for the application of the law.
The normative act approved by the Government also introduces a series of additional obligations and tightens the sanctions applied in case of non-compliance with the law.
Legal basis:
– OUG 33/2021 for the amendment and completion of Law no. 156/2000 on the protection of Romanian citizens working abroad;
– Law no. 156/2000 on the protection of Romanian citizens working abroad – republished.