Topic 1 Introduction to the Romanian labour market, employment contracts and rights
As provided by the law, based on a work authorization, you can be recruited on an individual employment contract or you can be posted in Romania.
1- The individual employment contract:
- The Labour Code of Romania regulates the field of employment relationships, the way in which the enforcement of regulations in the field of employment is carried out, as well as the jurisdiction of work. (Art. 1 of Law no. 40/2011 amending and completing law 53/2003 – Labour Code).
- The provisions of the Romanian Labour Code also apply to foreign citizens or stateless individuals who have individual employment contracts or work for a Romanian soil or employer.
- In Romania, a person (including foreigners) is allowed to work starting from the age of 15 (under special regulated conditions), and parents’ approval is no longer requested starting with the age of 16 (special regulated conditions apply to minors).
- The employer has the responsibility to write and register the individual work contract (C.I.M.) – the work contract will be registered, in electronic format, in the general employee record register (REVISAL) – before starting the working relations. Following the completion of this activity, the REVISAL will be completed and sent to the Territorial Work Inspectorate (ITM).
- The individual work contract must be executed in two copies, one for the employer and one for the employee.
- The employee must be aware of all the clauses included in the contract. In accordance with Art.17 of the Labour Code, “before concluding or amending the individual employment contract, the employer shall inform the person selected for employment or, as appropriate, the employee on the essential clauses to be introduced in the contract or to be amended”.
The employer has the obligation to provide you with a copy of the employment contract. Every modification of the contract will be registered in the general employee record register. Once the work contract terminated, the employer will provide you all the documents attesting the duration of the contract, salary etc.
- According to art. 17, information on employment contract clauses, of the Labour Code, the following information communicated to the employee (by the employer) must be also included in the work contract.
- The parties of the contract (employer and employee),
- The workplace (or the possibility to work in different workplaces in the absence of a permanent workplace).
- Length of contract, length of work, length of the annual holiday.
- Salary, the normal length of work in hours/day and hours/week,
- The collective employment contract that regulates the work conditions (if applicable).
- The length of the trial period (maximum 90 days for executive positions and 120 for leadership/management positions).
- Special clauses (regarding professional training, confidentiality, non-competitiveness, mobility etc.), general rights and obligations of the parties.
salary for the work done, daily and weekly rest, annual holiday, equal opportunities and treatment, dignity at work, safety and security at work, access to professional training, information and consultation, protection in case of lay off, collective and individual bargaining, participation in collective actions, the right to set up or join a trade union, other law regulations regarding the applicability of the collective employment contracts.
Other employability mandatory conditions: a person can be employed based on a medical certificate (Apt de munca), which certifies the fact that the holder is fit to carry out that work.
Following “Welcome to Romania” guidebook
- To meet the set of responsibilities and tasks according to job description.
- To respect the provisions of the internal regulations code and work contract.
- To be loyal with carrying out all the job-related activities.
- To respect the labour contract and other internal regulations regarding privacy and confidentiality.
- To inform the employees about the work conditions and the elements regarding working relations.
- To always ensure the necessary work conditions and safety.
- To grant employees all the rights stipulated by law and the individual and collective employment contracts.
- To regularly inform the employees about the economic and financial situation of the company, except for confidential information, which could harm the activity of the company.
- To consult the trade union or employees’ representatives about decisions that may affect the workers‘ rights and interests (if applicable), to pay all contributions and taxes resulting from the contracts concluded with the employees.
- To release, upon request and free of charge, all the documents attesting the applicant’s status of employment, to ensure the confidentiality of personal data.
2- Posting
- Posting is a provision according to which an employee must temporarily change their workplace, to another employer or another branch of the same company/institution/organization. This can be done for a period of maximum one year, based on the individual employment contract you concluded and the posting document.
- Entitles a beneficiary of the provision of services to get to work in Romania as a foreigner endorsed for a particular function.
https://igi.mai.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/work-permit-for-posted-workers-.pdf
https://igi.mai.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/opis-eng.-lucrator-detasat.pdf
The status of posted worker will be granted when you are a skilled foreign citizen, employed by a legal person based abroad and you carry out activities in Romania in the following situations:
“Art. 2, letter g) of GEO no. 56/2007 on employment and the posting of foreign to Romania”.
- You are posted in Romania, under a contract concluded between the foreign company where you are employed (that decides the posting) and other companies operating in Romania; “Art. 21 of GEO no. 194/2002 on the status of foreigners in Romania, republished with the subsequent amendments”.
- You are posted to a unit in Romania or the branch of a group of companies in Romania.
Posting doesn’t mean that you are not employed by a company in Romania, but your employment contract is concluded abroad, with a foreign company that runs activities based on a service provision contract with a company in Romania.
Undertakings established in the territory of a Member State other than Romania or in the territory of the Swiss Confederation which post workers to undertakings in the territory of Romania are required to submit a notification on the transnational posting of workers, in Romanian language, to the territorial labour inspectorate under whose jurisdiction they are going to operate within at least one working day before starting work.
Failure to submit the notification to the territorial labour inspectorate prior to the posting is a contravention and shall be sanctioned with a fine from 5,000 lei to 9,000 lei according to the provisions of GD no. 337/2017 on the posting of workers in the framework of the transnational provision of services to the territory of Romania.
Employers who post their workers to undertakings established in the territory of Romania are subject, during their posting, to the rules provided by Romanian law.
Workers posted to the Romanian territory in the framework of the transnational provision of services shall benefit, irrespective of the law applicable to the employment relationship, from the working conditions provided by the Romanian legislation and / or from the collective labour agreement concluded at sectoral level (http://dialogsocial.gov.ro/sector-de-activitate/), regarding:
- Maximum length of working time and minimum period of regular rest time.
- Minimum period of paid annual holidays.
- The minimum wage applicable in Romania for the worker posted to the territory of Romania is the one stipulated by the Romanian legislation and/or the collective labour agreement concluded at sectoral level, extended to the entire sector of activity, according to the legal provisions, including compensation or payment for overtime.
- Conditions of assignment of workers by temporary work agencies.
- Health and safety at work.
- Protective measures concerning the conditions of employment applicable for pregnant women or those who have recently given birth, as well as for children and young people.
- Equality of treatment between men and women and other provisions on non-discrimination.