Law no. 221/2021 to complete Law no. 55/2020 on some measures to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was published in the Official Gazette no. 732 of July 26, 2021, with the applicability of July 29, 2021.
This law is a measure designed to encourage vaccination and to eliminate possible obstacles to vaccination related to labor relations.
According to the document, public and private employees who choose to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will receive, on the day of vaccination, for each dose of vaccine performed, upon request, one paid day off.
The day in question will therefore be granted both for the initial dose of vaccine and for the booster, for vaccines for which two doses are administered, and this day will benefit in addition to the days off.
It is very important to mention that the provisions of the law, respectively the day off for vaccination, will benefit those who are vaccinated after the date of entry into force of Law no. 221/2021, not those who have been vaccinated until July 29, 2021.
According to the principle of non-retroactivity of the civil law, a law is not applied retroactively, ie before its entry into force, but only in the time interval between the date of entry into force and the date of its entry into force.
This means that employees who were vaccinated before the entry into force of this bill will not be able to benefit from these days off. According to the same normative act that enters into force on Thursday, pupils and students will benefit from an exemption day for attending classes on the day of vaccination, as well as for each dose of vaccine performed.
In addition, active military personnel, soldiers, and professional ranks will benefit, according to the enacted law, from “one day off, for each dose of vaccine given.”
They will be able to receive the mentioned free days, according to the mentioned law, based on the vaccination certificate issued according to the law, as a justifying document proving the administration of the dose of vaccine against COVID-19 on that day.
Moreover, “in the situation where the day off coincides with the day of vaccination, the persons (…) have the obligation to submit the vaccination certificate on the first working day after vaccination”. According to Law no. 221/2021, these provisions do not apply in the situation when employees, active military personnel, soldiers, and professional graduates are vaccinated “at work, by the care of the employer”.
It is important to note that, in order not to significantly affect the employer’s activity, “employees have the obligation to inform the employer about the scheduling options of the days they are going to request” for vaccination, in order to ensure optimal operation.
According to the already published law, one of the parents of the child up to 18 years old or his legal representative, “as well as of the disabled person up to 26 years old, on the day of vaccination of the child, respectively of the disabled person”, they will also be able to benefit from a day off on each of the vaccination days. Thus, the parent will have to present to the employer both the child’s vaccination certificate and a statement on the other parent’s own responsibility, “according to which he did not request and will not request days off to accompany the child with the vaccine the age under 18, respectively of the person with disabilities up to 26 years old “.
Regarding single-parent families, the only person who has dependent children and who lives with her will have to mention in this regard in the statement on his own responsibility, specifying that he is in one of the situations provided in art. 3 of Law no. 277/2010, in order to be framed according to the definition of the single-parent family, namely:
- is unmarried;
- is a widow;
- is divorced;
- has the husband or wife declared/disappeared by a court decision;
- has the spouse remanded in custody for a period longer than 30 days or is serving a custodial sentence and does not participate in the maintenance of children;
- has not reached the age of 18 and is in one of the above situations; or
- she has been appointed guardian or has been entrusted or placed in foster care with one or more children and is unmarried, widowed, or divorced.
Example case:
How to correctly apply the provisions of Law no. 221/2021 for the completion of Law no. 55/2020 on some measures to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, if the day off coincides with the day of vaccination or not?
Solution: Law 221/2021 regulating the granting of a day off to vaccinated employees does not expressly provide that this day is granted only on the day of vaccination.
Only in the situation where the person who is vaccinated is the child, the law expressly provides that the day off is granted on the day of vaccination of the child.
According to art. 21 ^ 1 para. (3) of Law no. 55/2020 on some measures to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced by Law 221/2021:
It benefits from the rights provided in par. (1) and one of the parents or the legal representative of the child up to 18 years of age, as well as of the person with disabilities up to 26 years old, on the day of vaccination of the child, respectively of the person with disabilities.
Therefore, employees who are vaccinated on days such as weekly rest days may benefit from the next day off.
We mention that the law stipulates the employee’s obligation to inform the employer about the options for scheduling days off in order to ensure in optimal conditions the functioning of his activity without containing other regulations such as the period of time before making this information. In addition, the law does not regulate the possibility for the employer to refuse to be granted leave on the day requested by the employee.
Under these conditions, the employer should regulate internally the procedure for granting these days off, which he should communicate to the employee so that he knows under what conditions he can request the granting of the day off.
Legal basis:
Law 221/2021 to complete Law no. 55/2020 on some measures to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.