On October 5, it was published in the Official Gazette no. 951 Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 117/2021 for the amendment and completion of Law no. 53/2003 – Labor Code.
According to this, starting with October 5, employers have 90 days during which to compensate the additional hours worked by the employee with paid free hours.
We mention that prior to the amendment to the Labor Code, the available term was 60 days.
Employers who do not pay overtime to employees risk a fine of up to 3,000 lei / employee.
At the same time, the ordinance introduces a new article (152) in the Labor Code, which defines “gray” work as follows: “Undeclared work represents the granting of a net salary higher than that established and highlighted in the payroll statements and in the monthly declaration on the obligations to pay social contributions, income tax and nominal records of insured persons, sent to the tax authorities.”
According to the legal regulations, the underreported work will be sanctioned with a fine from 8,000 to 10,000 lei for each employee, without exceeding the cumulative value of 100,000 lei.
The change also concerns art.151 letter d), which now better regulates the situations of employees who have concluded part-time employment contracts. In this sense, the duration of working time and as a whole is taken into account.
Given that in the previous form it was forbidden to “hire an employee outside the working hours established in individual part-time employment contracts”, after this recent amendment to the Labor Code is sanctioned “hiring an employee with exceeding the duration of the working time established within the individual part-time employment contracts ”.
Violation of these provisions is to be sanctioned with a fine from 10,000 to 15,000 lei for each employee, the maximum ceiling of 200,000 lei being kept in case several employees are identified in such a situation.
Also, according to OUG 117, employers who do not pay their salaries on time and exceed the deadline set by more than one month will be able to be sanctioned with a fine from 5,000 lei to 10,000 lei for each employee who did not receive their remuneration .
Employers who are under the incidence of Law no. 85/2014 regarding the insolvency prevention and insolvency procedures. We mention that the new fine enters into force on October 20.