The Romanian Government has declared a State of Alert in Romania, beginning on 18 May 2020 and lasting for a period of 30 days, and imposed a series of measures with major impacts for the business environment.
- THE ECONOMY
Public and private economic operators, as well as public institutions and authorities, are obliged to organise their activity such that they take appropriate measures to ensure compliance with hygiene and sanitation rules in the workplace.
The serving and consumption of products in shared dining areas inside restaurants, hotels, motels, boarding houses, cafés or other such establishments, as well as outdoor dining areas belonging to said establishments, is temporarily suspended. An exception is made for “drive in”, “room service”, home delivery and “take away” services, etc.
Retail sales of products and services in shopping centres from which several economic operators operate is also temporarily suspended, with the following exceptions:
- economic activity in small shopping centres, of under 15,000 sqm, containing individual shops of less than 500 sqm each;
- the activity of food shops, pharmacies, dental practices, laundry service providers and personal care centres, as well as the sale of opticians’ products and services;
- sales of electronic and household appliances where the economic operator also ensures their delivery to the buyer’s home/office;
- the activity of economic operators that takes place in shopping centres where there is direct access to the location from outside of the premises and where communication with the rest of the complex is cut off.
Dental practices and non-COVID health units are obliged to restart their activity, in compliance with the conditions laid down in the Order of the Minister of Health.
Other important measures address the following issues:
- for a period of 6 months starting from the date on which the state of emergency ceased to be effective, specimen signatures are to be sent to the Trade Register Office (ORC) pursuant to witnessing by a notary public, certification by a lawyer or registration under private signature, or alternatively they can be submitted before ORC staff
- the submissions deadline for a declaration regarding the real beneficiary is extended until 1 November 2020, and the declaration can be registered under private signature or in electronic format and sent to the ORC electronically with an electronic signature or sent by a postal or courier service. The declaration regarding the real beneficiary can also be in authentic form, certified by a lawyer, or submitted before ORC staff
- affidavits may be sent to the ORC, under private signature or in electronic form, electronically with an electronic signature or sent by a postal or courier service. Affidavits can also be in authentic form, certified by a lawyer or submitted before ORC staff
- the validity of documents issued by public institutions and authorities is extended for a period of 90 days from the cessation of the state of emergency
- the timeframe during which the Ministry of Economy, Energy and the Business Environment can issue state of emergency certificates, upon request, to economic operators whose activity was affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic during the state emergency, is extended until 15 June 2020
2. LABOR LAW
The payment of technical unemployment allowances from the state budget, in the amount of 75% of the basic salary but not more than 75% of the average gross salary, has been extended to also cover the period between the end of the state of emergency and 31 May 2020, with possible continuation thereafter only in areas where restrictions are maintained and until their lifting, but no later than 31 December 2020.
In addition, the payment of allowances is also extended to other professional categories who are not employers and who interrupted their activity either totally or partially as result of the decisions issued by the competent public authorities according to the law during the state of emergency.
These allowances are not subject to enforcement by seizure during the period of their granting, regardless of the budget from which they paid.
The legal provisions regarding the use of email when applying for and granting social assistance benefits, state social insurance and unemployment benefits will also continue to apply for a period of 30 days after the state of emergency comes to an end.
The period of suspended employment, imposed at the unilateral decision of the employer during the state of emergency and the state of alert, is taken into account when establishing the contribution period of a minimum 12 months worked during the 24 months prior to the date of application for unemployment benefit and thus constitutes a contribution period in the unemployment insurance system.
During the state of alert, the provisions of Law no. 19/2020 regarding the granting of days off work to parents to supervise their children in the event of the temporary closure of educational establishments, with its subsequent amendments and supplementations, shall apply until the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
The validity of collective bargaining agreements and collective agreements is to be maintained for a period of 90 days starting from the end of the state of emergency.
Employers with more than 50 employees are obliged to implement individualised working schedules, with no need to obtain the employee’s consent, so as to ensure one-hour gaps between groups of employees arriving at and leaving the workplace at the start and end of the working schedule, all within a three-hour interval.
Individualised working schedules and their staggering over different days are to be stipulated in addendums to individual employment contracts or via administrative acts issued by the head of the institution or public authority, as the case may be.
During the state of alert, the employer may decide, with the consent of employees, to implement teleworking or homeworking, or to change the place of work or the duties of its employees.
3. TRANSPORT
As of 18 May 2020, all persons entering Romania from abroad must enter quarantine/isolation at home together with the family members/relatives they live with, while for those for whom this is not a possibility there exists the option of institutionalised quarantine.
However, several categories of people are exempted from this measure, including:
- drivers of goods vehicles with a maximum authorised capacity greater than 2.4 tonnes;
- the representatives of foreign companies with subsidiaries/branches/representative offices in Romania, provided that upon entering the country they do not present any symptoms associated with Covid-19 and are able to demonstrate contractual relations with the economic entities in Romania in question.
Source: Emergency Ordinance no. 70/2020 on the adoption of various measures starting 15 May 2020 in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the extension of certain time periods, and the amendment and supplementation of Law no. 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code, Law no. 1/2011 on National Education, as well as other normative acts, as published in the Official Gazette no. 394 on 14 May 2020; Law no. 55/2020 on some measures to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, published in the Official Gazette no. 396 of 18 May 2020; and Government Decision no. 394/2020 on the declaration of the state of alert and the measures to be adopted while it remains in force in order to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
