martie 2020 - Best Lawyers in Timisoara

On March 30, 2020, 11 PM, the Emergency Ordinance no. 32/ March 30, 2020 (on amending and completing the Emergency Ordinance of the Government no. 30/ 2020) was published in the Official Bulletin of Romania. It substantially amends the conditions for granting the technological unemployment indemnity (the EMPLOYERS ARE FAVORED)!

By comparison to the previous regulations (meaning the Emergency Ordinance no. 30/ March 21, 2020), the next vital modifications were made:

It was rescinded the different granting of the technological unemployment indemnity, based on the category of the employers that interrupt their activity, as consequence of the military ordinances, or which decreased their activity as consequence of the effects of COVID-19 epidemic. Practically, all companies will benefit of the technological unemployment indemnity for 100% of their employees that are facing technological unemployment and will follow the same procedure for requesting the amounts that represent the technological unemployment indemnity.
It was rescinded the obligation to submit the certificate of emergency situation for receiving the approval on paying the technological unemployment indemnity borne from the unemployment fund. That certificate will still be issued, but will be used in other circumstances (not for granting the technological unemployment indemnity).
It was rescinded the condition of granting the technological unemployment indemnity provided that the collected moneys were diminished by 25% as against the average collected moneys during the January – February 2020 period;
It was amended the total amount of the technological unemployment indemnity. According to the modifications that were published last night, during the state of emergency, the employees for whom the employer decided to temporarily suspend the employment agreement, out of the employer’s initiative, according to article 52 paragraph (1) letter c) of the Labor Code, benefit of an indemnity of 75% of the basic gross salary, but maximum 75% of the gross average salary used for substantiating the law on the budget of social insurances. (Thus, the gross indemnity for the technological unemployment cannot be over Lei 4,071 gross / employee). Only if the employer’s budget allows, it can bear voluntarily, out of its own budget, the different up to at least 75% of the basic salary, which complies with the position (The state will not reimburse the employer for that difference.)
It was sped up the time for recovering the technological unemployment indemnity from the state budget, thus that it is 15 days of the date of submitting the documents.

NEW procedure of obtaining the technological unemployment indemnity from the budget:

For obtaining the technological unemployment indemnity, the companies will send the next documents by email to the county employment agencies, as well as to the Bucharest City employment agency, near which they have their offices:

petition signed and dated by the legal representative;
own responsibility declaration;
list of persons that would benefit of that indemnity, which the legal representative of the employer has accepted;
the new model of those documents will be published by an Order of the Minister of Labor. We will get back to you with those models, as soon as they become available.

The documents must be sent to a single email address, which was set up particularly for that (you can find it by going to this link: https://www.anofm.ro/index.html?agentie=&categ=7&subcateg=2), by using your electronic signature.
You must submit the petitions to AJOFM (county employment agency) thus:

as of April 1, 2020 for the March 16 – 31 period;
as of May 1, 2020, for the April 1 – 16 period.

Financial implications for the companies, while considering the amendments issued:

the companies will no longer pay money out of their own budget for the technological unemployment indemnity;
the companies will request to AJOFM the gross technological unemployment indemnity for 100% of their employees;
AJOFM will pay the gross indemnities in maximum 15 days as of the date when the documents have been submitted;
the gross indemnity is subject to taxation and to paying the mandatory contributions to the social insurance budget, but no work insurance contribution is owed (2.25%);
out of the collected gross indemnities, the companies will calculate, will withhold and will pay the income tax (10%), the contribution to the social insurances budget (25%), and the contribution to the health social insurances budget (10%);
the companies will pay to their employees the net technological unemployment indemnity in maximum 3 business days as of the date when they have collected those amounts paid by the state budget;
The term for declaring and paying the tax obligations is the 25^th including of the month following that when the payment from the unemployment budget was made.

The ordinance regulates the next new situations, which apply to the employees that have concluded several employment agreements:

1) If an employee has registered several employment agreements, out of which at least one is for full time work and active during the state of emergency period, that person cannot receive the technological unemployment indemnity borne from the state budget.
2) If an employee has concluded several employment agreements and they are all suspended as consequence of the state of emergency, he/she benefits of the indemnity borne by the state budget only for the employment agreement that provisions the highest salary.

The full text of the normative act can be found on our internal secure servers, by going to this link: https://gofile.me/2hGBu/rRGBMiQpv

Law no. 19/2020 on granting paid days off to parents for monitoring their children if the education institutions would temporarily close was completed and amended during this weekend by Decision no. 217 of March 18, 2020 and Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30 of March 18, 2020 for amending and completing some normative acts, as well as for setting out some approaches in the area of social protection, given the epidemiological situation caused by the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

1. EMPLOYEE CATEGORIES ENTITLED to paid days off according to a written petition:

All employees that have a child below 12 years of age (who is enrolled in an education institution, or that have disability children enrolled in an education institution), for whom work from home or telecommuting cannot be organized by their employer and that have the next status are entitled to paid days off during the entire period when the education institutions are closed:

biological parent, according to Law no. 287/2009 on the Civil Code, republished, as it was subsequently amended and completed;
adoptive parent;
person to whom one or several children were entrusted with the aim of adoption;
foster parent or person that is legal guardian for a child;
person designated according to article 104 paragraph (2) of Law no. 272/2004 on the protection and promotion of children’s rights;
parent or legal representative of an adult that has disabilities, who is enrolled in an education institution;
parent or legal representative of the child that has severe disabilities and cannot attend school, who chose to receive an indemnity according to the provisions of Law no. 448/2006 on protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, only if the activity of his/her day-time job is suspended as consequence of unfavorable weather conditions or other extreme situations, which were indicated as such by the competent authorities having attributions in this area;
parent or legal representative that cares for, monitors and financially supports severely disabled adults or severely disabled adults for whom personal assistant was ordered, for whom he/she has chosen to receive an indemnity according to the provisions of Law no. 448/2006, if he/she benefits of day-time services, which were was suspended as consequence of unfavorable weather conditions or other extreme situations and were indicated as such by the competent authorities having attributions in this area.

One of the parents or a single parent can benefit of this right.

2. EMPLOYEE CATEGORIES NOT ENTITLED to paid days off:

The employees that have a child up to 12 years of age (who is enrolled in an education institution, or that have disabled children enrolled in an education institution), who are in one of the situations below are not entitled to paid days off during the entire period when the education institutions are closed:

the employee that is taking a maternity / paternity leave of absence, which is provisioned by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2010 on leave of absence and monthly indemnity for raising children;
the employee taking a leave of absence;
the employee taking an unpaid leave of absence;
the employee whose employment agreement was suspended as consequence of the temporary interruption of the employer’s activity (article 52 paragraph (1) letter c) of Law no. 53/2003)
the employee that acts as personal assistant of one of his/her dependent children.

There are no derogations from this provision, even if the other parent has no salary and no income similar to salaries, independent activity income, and intellectual property income, or income from agriculture, forestry and fish farming activities.

3. EMPLOYEE CATEGORIES THAT ARE ENTITLED TO PAID DAYS OFF WITH THE CONSENT OF THEIR EMPLOYER:

The employees of healthcare facilities and social work institutions, those providing around the clock services, telecommunications, public TV stations, garbage removal and other public utility services can receive paid days but only while having the consent of their employer.

4. VALUE OF THE GROSS INDEMNITY FOR PAID DAYS OFF TO WHICH THE EMPLOYEES ARE ENTITLED

The gross indemnity for each paid day off must be paid by the employer from its own budget. The GROSS indemnity amounts to 75% of the basic salary that is granted for 1 business day, but it is of maximum 75% of the gross average salary used for substantiating the state-owned social insurances budget (meaning it is of maximum 75% x Lei 5,429 = Lei 4,072/ month / employee).
The indemnity is the salary subject to taxation and payment of social insurance contributions. Given that, the net indemnity that the employees receive is Lei 2,382 / month / employee.

5. TOTAL AMOUNTS THAT THE COMPANIES CAN RECOVER FROM THE STATE SUBSEQUENTLY

Subsequently, after the companies have paid to their employees the net indemnity, the income tax and the social insurance contributions corresponding to it, they can request to AJOFM (County Employment Agency) ONLY that the NET indemnity be reimbursed, meaning that the amount Lei 2,382 / employee / month will be settled.
The amounts that were paid as indemnity will be reimbursed in 60 calendar days as of the date when AJOFM registered the petition concerning that.

6. PROCEDURE OF REQUESTING THE PARTIAL SETTLEMENT OF THE INDEMNITY TO AJOFM

In 30-day time of this law entering in force, the actual procedures for settling the amounts on paying the indemnity will be approved.
For benefitting of paid days off, the employees must make the next documents available to the company:

written petition signed by the employee
(standard) own responsibility declaration of the other parent indicating that he/she has not requested paid days off to his/her employer, according to Law no. 19/2020. Petition and own responsibility declaration model documents can be downloaded from our internal secure servers, by going to this link: https://gofile.me/2hGBu/8xHBgC04j

For the state reimbursing those amounts, the employer must submit a petition to AJOFM (by email or any other means of communication), while following a procedure that would be approved, and by attaching the next documents:

petition sent to AJOFM. A model petition can be downloaded from our internal secure servers, by going to this link: https://gofile.me/2hGBu/yAbVd6umE
list of employees that benefit of days off, as well as the indemnity granted for that period;
payrolls (indicating that the indemnity for the days off was granted);
own responsibility declaration of the legal representative of the employer, drafted by using the standard model document that would be approved;
proof of having paid the social insurance contributions and taxes for the month when the indemnity was paid.

In the Official Bulletin of March 21, 2020 the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE No. 30/ March 21, 2020 was published. It provisions the situations when the state will bear the „technological unemployment” of the employees whose employment agreements were suspended given the decrease or interruption of the companies’ activities.
In the newsletter sent on March 21, 2020, we presented the company categories that can benefit of the tax facility and the total amount of the unemployment indemnity which the company will be able to recover from the state, following to provide details on the procedure that the companies would have to follow.

We present below the necessary details for being able to request the partial / complete reimbursement of the unemployment indemnity paid to the employees by the state:

1. The companies must decide on temporarily suspending the employment agreements of their employees
(PAY ATTENTION TO REVISAL: The cause of suspending the employment agreement must be declared while complying with article 52 paragraph 1 letter c) of the Labor Code)

Documents required:

Substantiation report issued by the employer;
Internal Decision of the employer to temporarily interrupt / decrease the activity without terminating the employment agreements, due to economic reasons.

WARNING! For the companies that decreased their activity as consequence of the effects of the COVID-19 epidemics (and not as consequence of a normative act issued by the authorities), if they decided prior to the date of publishing the normative act (March 21, 2020) to suspend the employment agreements and have registered the suspension of those employment agreements in REVISAL, they cannot request to AJOFM the reimbursement of the indemnity for the technological unemployment period!
Thus, Article XI paragraph (2) letter b) of the Government Ordinance no. 30/2020 provisions that „The employers can benefit of paying the indemnity provisioned in paragraph (1) for maximum 75% of the employees that have ACTIVE employment agreements (meaning, which were not suspended) on the date when this emergency ordinance entered in force.”

2. During the temporary suspension of the employment agreements, the companies will pay to their employees an indemnity of 75% of the basic salary for their job
(meaning of the gross salary for that job, which is provisioned in the employment agreement, item 1 of Chapter J. SALARY)

3. The companies that INTERRUPTED THEIR ACTIVITY according to the DECISIONS ISSUED BY THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES according to the law, during the state of emergency that was ordered, and that obtain the certificate on the state of emergency will be able to recover from AJOFM some of the indemnity paid by them for the period when the employment agreement was suspended, for 100% of their employees. The amount to be reimbursed cannot exceed 75% of the gross average salary for year 2020 (75% x Lei 5,429 = Lei 4,072 / employee / month). Practically, the companies will be able to recover the indemnity paid to their employees during the period when the employment agreements were suspended, as it follows:

for the employees whose gross salary is below Lei 4.072 / month, the gross indemnity will be recovered completely from the state;
for the employees whose gross salary is above Lei 4,072/ month, the gross indemnity subsidized by the state is of maximum Lei 4,072 / month.

PAY ATTENTION to the phrasing:

MILITARY ORDINANCE No. 1/ 2020 provisions that „the activity of…. is suspended”, and not the entire activity:
– „The activity of serving and consuming food and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, organized by restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and other such public places, in premises meant for that, inside or outside those places, is suspended.”
– „All cultural, scientific, artistic, religious, sports, entertainment or gambling, spa and beautification activities, which unfold in closed premises, are suspended.”

MILITARY ORDINANCE No. 2/ 2020 provisions „the activity is suspended”:
– „The activity of dental practices is temporarily suspended. As an exception, emergency dental procedures are allowed”.
– „The activities of retail sale of products and services in shopping centers where several economic entities unfold their activity are suspended. Exception to this are the sale of food, veterinary or pharmaceutical products and the provision of dry cleaning services.”

Given the double meaning, we doubt that the companies having their activities partially suspended according to the MILITARY ORDINANCE No. 1/ 2020 are included in item 3 (more likely, we believe that the institution that issued the ordinance had a clear intention to include them in item 4 below).

Documents required:

petition signed and dated by the legal representative;
list of persons who would benefit of that indemnity, which the employer’s legal representative has accepted;
model documents can be downloaded from our internal secure servers by going to this link: https://gofile.me/2hGBu/aLknS5tX2

The documents will be sent by email to the county employment agencies as well as to the Bucharest City Employment Agency, near which the companies have their registered office.
Contact: https://www.anofm.ro/index.html?agentie=&categ=7&subcateg=2

4. The companies that DECREASED THEIR ACTIVITY AS CONSEQUENCE OF THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 EPIDEMICS (and not as consequence of a normative act issued by the authorities), which lack the financial means for paying the indemnity each month to their employees, and which register a decrease of the collected moneys as of the month prior to submitting the request, of at least 25% by comparison to the average collected moneys during January – February 2020 can receive a facility (indemnity borne by the state) for maximum 75% of their employees that have active employment agreements on the date when this ordinance entered in force.
Practically, these companies will be able to recover the indemnity paid to their employees during the period when the employment agreements were suspended, as it follows:

for the employees whose gross salary is below Lei 4.072 / month, the gross indemnity will be recovered completely from the state;
for the employees whose gross salary is above Lei 4,072/ month, the gross indemnity subsidized by the state is of maximum Lei 4,072 / month.

Documents required:

petition signed and dated by the legal representative;
list of persons who would benefit of that indemnity, which the employer’s legal representative has accepted;
own responsibility declaration indicating that the employer registers a decrease in the collected moneys as of the month prior to submitting the own responsibility declaration, of at least 25% by comparison to the mean of collected moneys during January – February 2020 and is financially unable to pay all its employees;
model documents can be downloaded from our internal secure servers by going to this link: https://gofile.me/2hGBu/gT1i8VZfE

The following decisions were taken by Military Ordinance no.2 / 21.03.2020:

Measures to BE APPLIED from 22 March 2020:

1. The activity of DENTAL OFFICES is temporarily suspended. By way of exception, emergency dental interventions are allowed.

2. The activity of the MALL-s, meaning retail activities, products and services, is temporarily suspended in the commercial centers where several economic agents operate, except for the sale of food, veterinary or pharmaceutical products and cleaning services.

Measures to be applied from March 23, 2020:

1. The movement of persons outside the home within the hours 06.00 – 22.00, it is recommended to take place only for the following reasons:
a) travel for professional interest, including travelling between home / household and the work place(s), when the professional activity is essential and cannot be postponed or performed remotely;
b) travel for the provision of goods that cover the basic needs of the persons and the pets, as well as for goods which are necessary for the professional activity;
c) travel for healthcare that cannot be postponed or performed remotely;
d) travel for justified reasons, such as caring / accompanying the child, assistance of elderly, sick or disabled persons or death of a family member;
e) short trips, near the home / household, related to the individual physical activity of people and the needs of the pets.

2. The movement of persons outside the home between the hours 22.00 – 06.00 is allowed exclusively for the following reasons:
a) travel for professional interest, including travelling between home / household and the work place (s), when the professional activity is essential and cannot be postponed or performed remotely;
In order to verify the reason for travelling for professional interest, the persons must present, at the request of the personnel of the competent authorities, the service card/work ID, the certificate issued by the employer or a declaration on their own responsibility/affidavit.
The declaration on its own responsibility/affidavit must include name and surname, date of birth, address of workplace, reason for travel, date of completion and signature.
b) travel for the provision of goods that cover the basic needs of the persons and the pets, as well as for goods which are necessary for the professional activity;
In order to verify the reason for travelling for personal interest, the persons must present, at the request of the personnel of the competent authorities, a declaration on their own responsibility/affidavit, filled in advance.
The declaration on its own responsibility/affidavit must include name and surname, date of birth, domicile address, reason for travel, date of completion and signature.
c) travel for healthcare that cannot be postponed or performed remotely;
d) travel for justified reasons, such as caring / accompanying the child, assistance of elderly, sick or disabled persons or death of a family member;
e) short trips, near the home / household, related to the individual physical activity of the people and the needs of the pets.

Measures to be applied from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of the military ordinance

1. Drivers of FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION vehicles with a maximum authorized capacity of more than 2.4 t can cross the border, but have the obligation that, at the border crossing point, to have and to wear individual means of protection, such as disinfectant, gloves, face mask and to present documents attesting the route of travel to the destination.
The drivers of the aforementioned vehicles, who arrive from or have passed through „red areas” or „yellow areas”, do not undergo quarantine or isolation measures, if at the border crossing point they do not show any symptoms associated with SARS coronavirus infection -CoV-2.

2. The movement of persons outside home / household is carried out only in compliance with the general measures to prevent spreading of COVID-19 and to avoid the formation of any group of persons.
By forming a group of people is meant joining a larger number of 3 people who do not live together

In the Official Gazette from 21.03.2020, it was published the OUG No. 29 / 21.03.2020, approving the Program to support small and medium-sized companies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

THE FOLLOWING SUPPORT MEASURES WERE OFFICIALLY APPROVED FOR COMPANIES:

1. Granting of state guarantees for loans / credit lines, as it follows:

a) one or more guarantees for investments loans for and / or one or more loans / credit lines for working capital in a percentage of maximum 80% of the financing value, excluding the interest, commissions and bank charges related to the guaranteed loan.
The maximum total value of state guaranteed financing: 10,000,000 lei.
Maximum value of loans / credit lines for working capital loans: 5,000,000 lei (capped to the average of the expenses related to working capital during the last 2 fiscal years)
The maximum value of the loans / credit lines for financial investments: 10,000,000 lei.
Maximum duration of financing for investment loans: 120 months
Maximum duration of financing for working capital loans: 36 months

b) one or more guarantees for loans / credit lines for financing the working capital for micro-enterprises and small enterprises with a maximum percentage of 90% of the financing value the interest, commissions and bank charges related to the credit guaranteed by the state
Maximum value: 500,000 lei for micro-enterprises,
Maximum value: 1,000,000 lei for small businesses.
The maximum value of each financing granted to a beneficiary may not exceed the average of the expenses related to the working capital of the last 2 fiscal years, within the limits previously provided.
Maximum duration of financing for investment loans: 120 months
Maximum duration of financing for working capital loans: 36 months

2. Interest subsidies on loans / credit lines for working capital loans and investment loans of 100% of the budget of the Ministry of Public Finance, within de minimis aid
Grant period: until March 31, 2021, with the possibility of extension

3. Extension of the term for payment of taxes and local taxes (tax on buildings, land tax, tax on means of transport) until June 30, 2020.
In 2020, the deadline of March 31 inclusive, stipulated in art. 462 paragraph (1), art. 467 para. (1) and art. 472 para. (1) of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, with subsequent amendments, is extended until June 30 inclusive.

4. Interest rates and penalties for fiscal obligations due from the date of entry into force of OUG and unpaid up to 30 days after the end of the emergency state shall not be calculated and owed;
For the fiscal obligations due from the date of entry into force of the OUG and unpaid until the termination of measures, according to par. (4), from the present article, interest rates and penalties are not calculated and owed, according to the Fiscal Procedure Code, approved by Law no. 207/2015, as subsequently amended.

5. The measures of legal enforcement by garnishment of budget claims are suspended or not initiated, except from the legal enforcements applied for the recovery of the budget claims established by court decisions on criminal matters

6. Postponement of payment of utilities services and rent for the building destined for registered office and secondary offices for SOME companies by invoking „force majeure”
During the state of emergency, small and medium-sized enterprises, which have interrupted their activity totally or partially based on DECISIONS issued by the public authorities, according to the law, and who own the certificate of emergency situation issued by the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, benefit from deferred payment for utilities services: electricity, natural gas, water, telephone and Internet services, as well as deferred payment of the rent for the building destined for registered office and secondary offices.
This category includes companies whose activity has been restricted by the Military Ordinance, respectively:

RESTAURANTS
HOTELS
COFFEE SHOPS
OTHER PUBLIC LOCATIONS
CAFETERIAS
COMPANIES ORGANIZING CULTURAL, SCIENTIFIC, ARTISTIC, RELIGIOUS, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT, GAMES EVENTS
SPA TREATMENT COMPANIES
PERSONAL CARE COMPANIES

and additionally:

FAMILY MEDICAL OFFICES
DENTAL OFFICES, with an activity of maximum 20 persons
SPORTS FEDERATIONS

SPORTS CLUBS

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Categorii

COVID-19. TECHNOLOGICAL UNEMPLOYMENT. NEW FACILITIES PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA TO COMPANIES!

COVID-19. Procedure on grading the paid days off for monitoring children and partial settlement of the indemnity from the state budget

COVID – 19. PROCEDURE FOR PARTIALLY RECOVERING FROM AJOFM THE INDEMNITY PAID TO EMPLOYEES DURING THE „TECHNOLOGICAL UNEMPLOYMENT” PERIOD

COVID-19. RESTRICTION OF THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY FOR NEW COMPANIES AND MEASURES CONCERNING THE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS (Military Ordinance no.2 /2020)

COVID-19. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR COMPANIES