Last updated: 18 May 2022
Government Emergency Ordinance no. 36/2022 establishes new social protection measures for employees, in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and of the international sanctions adopted against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Thus, Romanian companies whose activity is affected by the war and/or international sanctions and are obliged to send employees to technical unemployment, may benefit under certain conditions from the facility of reimbursement by the state of indemnities for technical unemployment. The concrete ways of implementing the GEO were specified by Order no. 705/2022, published, and entered into force on April 27, 2022.
From the date of entry into force of GEO and until December 31, 2022, the measure of reimbursement of the technical unemployment indemnity is applied in case of suspension of the employment contracts of the employees due to the temporary interruption or reduction of the activity based on art. 52 (1) lit.c) of the Labor Code.
In order to receive state payment of technical unemployment indemnity, a company must meet several conditions and follow a special procedure.
Conditions regarding the activity of the employer in Romania
Two categories of employers are eligible for the settlement of the technical unemployment indemnity :
- On the one hand, employers who, as a result of the war in Ukraine, are directly or indirectly affected by the impossibility of conducting transactions with economic operators from Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus, which register a decrease in revenues by a percentage of at least 20% compared to the receipts made in January 2022 or the receipts made in the same month of 2021, compared to the month for which the allowance is claimed.
- On the other hand, employers who suffer from international sanctions and have the funds or economic resources blocked by an order issued by the ANAF president.
Procedure to be followed by the employer for granting the indemnity
In order to benefit from the aid offered by the state, employers will submit by e-mail to the County Employment Agency in whose area it has its registered office:
- An application form dated and signed by the legal representative (on the model of the document provided in the Annex to Order no. 705/2022);
- A list of persons who are to benefit from the technical unemployment indemnity, assumed by the legal representative.
These documents must be accompanied, where appropriate by :
- A sworn declaration stating that the employer has been directly or indirectly affected by the impossibility of conducting transactions with economic operators from Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus, as a result of the effects of the Russian military aggression on Ukraine, to which is attached the balance of incomes and expenses related to the month for which the allowance is requested, as well as the balance of incomes and expenses to which the decrease is related;
or
- A copy of the order blocking funds or economic resources in the field of international sanctions.
Level of allowance
To the extent that the above-mentioned conditions are met, the GEO establishes the indemnity for technical unemployment in amount of 75% of the basic gross salary corresponding to the job occupied, and is borne from the unemployment insurance budget, but not more than 75% of the average gross salary provided by the law on the state social insurance budget for2022.
The allowance shall be calculated and granted in proportion to the number of days on which the activity was temporarily interrupted or reduced.
Limitations of the assistive mechanism
From the legal text results a number of limitations in terms of eligible companies are those whose activity is indirectly affected by the war in Ukraine.
Thus, according to art. 2 (3) of GEO no. 36/2022 indirectly impacted employers are those employers in Romania who have contractual relations with other employers in Romania directly impacted by the impossibility of conducting transactions with economic operators in Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus.
It follows that the legal provisions are applicable only if on the subcontracting chain both the company that contacts directly and the subcontractor are registered in Romania (e.g. Romanian employers).
We do not know if this situation is generated by a legislative error or by other causes, but we consider it appropriate to make a written complaint to the Employment Agency in order to obtain clarifications in this respect. It is 30 calendar days, a recommendation deadline for the public authority.