The main working hours are 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. As a rule, working days are Monday to Friday, with rest on Saturdays and Sundays. However, it is not always possible for an employer to work only on these days.
Article 137 para. 2 of Law 53/2003 – Labour Code regulates this situation:
If rest on Saturdays and Sundays would be detrimental to the public interest or to the normal conduct of business, weekly rest may be granted on other days established by the applicable collective labour agreement or internal regulations.
So, if work cannot be interrupted at the weekend, employees can be called back to work on Saturdays and Sundays, provided they are given two more consecutive days off within a working week. In addition to the two days off, employees will also receive a wage bonus set by collective labour agreement or, where applicable, by individual employment contract.
If, in exceptional circumstances, the employer is unable to grant the weekly rest in one week, the employee will receive 4 consecutive days off in the following week, plus the bonus for the hours worked on Saturdays and Sundays, but this requires the authorisation of the Territorial Labour Inspectorate and the agreement of the trade union/employee representatives, in accordance with Art. 137 para. 4 of the Labour Code.
In this case the employees must also be paid a bonus of 150% of the basic salary.
Failure to comply with the legal provisions concerning the granting of weekly rest is punishable by a fine of between 1,500 lei and 3,000 lei.