written by The work schedule is set by each employer and is included in the internal regulation and is posted at the unit entrance. The normal work duration is included, as a mandatory element, in the individual labor contract and it is presented as hours/day and hours/week (article 17, paragraph 2, letter l) from the Labor Code), but the work program is not usual stipulated for full-time contracts.
It is the employer prerogative to establish the work schedule. There may be several situations in terms of changing the work program:
- If the program will be a permanent change for all the employees, it is necessary to change the internal regulation with the new program. The new schedule has to be also showed at the entrance of the company. The only legal condition you have to fulfill is that to make sure all your employees work 40 hours per week according to the new schedule. The employee that doesn’t comply with the new work schedule may be guilty of disciplinary misbehavior.
- If the employer wishes to modify the work program on certain periods (campaigns), the specific details mus be mention in the internal regulation. The new schedule should be posted at the entrance and the same rule of 40 hours/week has to be fulfilled.
- If the new program is available only for certain employees, the work schedule changing will be stipulated in addendums for them and be registered in Revisal. Also, this amendment should be included in the interal regulation, where all the details of the change must be specified.
Unequal Work Schedule
If the regular working program turns in shifts or an unequal work schedule, it it mandatory the issuing of addendums to the labor contract.
The article 113 of the Labor Code specifies in paragraph (2) that, depending on the specific of the unit or of the performed work, the employer can opt for an unequal distribution of working time, respecting the normal duration of the working time of 40 hours per week. Article 115 provides:
(1) For certain sectors, organizations or professions may be set by collective or individual negotiations or through legal acts a daily working time more or less than 8 hours.
(2) the daily working time of 12 hours must be followed by a rest period of 24 hours.
On the other hand, the unequal work schedule can only function if it is expressly stated in the labor contract, according to art. 116 (2).
Thus, given that the employer wishes to change the work schedule in an unequal one, this change requires, besides updating the internal regulation, an addendum to the contract.
Since the labor contract is concluded under the consent of the parties and thus cannot be unilaterally addendum, an employer has no legal means to constrain an employee to change their normal working hours in shifts.
The employee may require the modification of the program?
The Labor Code provides, in Article 118, the possibility of establishing individualized work schedule with the consent or at the employee request. Obviously, this program must meet the maximum limit of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week or a maximum of 48 hours in case of overtime.
The work schedule in the part-time contract
The specific of the part-time contract are precisely defined by the working hours and hence the allocation of the work program. The article 105 of the Labor Code provides just the individual obligation of inclusion in the part-time contract also of the following elements:
a) the work duration and the allocation of the work schedule; b) the conditions that may change the work program; c) prohibition of overtime, except the cases of force majeure or for other urgent works to prevent accidents or removing the consequences thereof.
Thus, the modification of the work schedule in case of part-time contract involves, besides changing the internal regulation, the issue of an addendum to the contract and its registration in Revisal.
