As of March 30, Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2020, which amends and supplements Government Emergency Ordinance No. 30/2020, has come into effect, establishing new social protection measures and the conditions for granting technical unemployment in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
Additionally, as of March 31, Order No. 741/2020 for approving the model documents provided for in Article XII paragraph (1) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 30/2020 also took effect.
What are the latest legislative provisions regarding technical unemployment?
The provision stating that only employees of the two categories of employers mentioned below will be able to benefit from the technical unemployment allowance has been amended:
1. Those who completely or partially suspend their activity based on decisions issued by competent public authorities and hold a State of Emergency Certificate.
2. Those who reduce their activity as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic and do not have the financial capacity to pay all their employees’ salaries.
Therefore, employees of employers who temporarily reduce or suspend their activity, either fully or partially, as a result of the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic, are eligible for the technical unemployment allowance during the declared state of emergency.
To obtain the necessary funds for paying the allowance, employers will submit, via email, to the county employment agencies, as well as to the municipality of Bucharest, a request signed and dated by the legal representative, accompanied by a self-declaration and a list of individuals who will benefit from this allowance.
Attention! The obligation to present the State of Emergency Certificate has been eliminated.
The specified documents should be submitted in the current month for payment of the allowance from the previous month.
Payment from the unemployment insurance budget for technical unemployment allowances is made within a maximum of 15 days from the submission of the documents.
The technical unemployment allowance is paid to the employee within a maximum of 3 working days from the receipt of the funds by the employer.
What happens to employees with multiple employment contracts?
– If an employee has multiple individual employment contracts, and at least one full-time contract is active during the state of emergency, they are not eligible for the technical unemployment allowance.
– If an employee has multiple individual employment contracts and all are suspended due to the state of emergency, they are entitled to the technical unemployment allowance corresponding to the individual employment contract with the most advantageous salary rights.
The period of technical unemployment caused by the current state of emergency constitutes a contribution period without the payment of contributions to the health social insurance system for the leaves and benefits provided by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 158/2005 regarding social health insurance leaves and benefits.
To establish and calculate the medical leave allowances, the minimum gross salary guaranteed in payment, in effect during the period of technical unemployment caused by the current state of emergency, is used.
If the contribution period achieved according to the above is equivalent to a fraction of a month, the minimum gross salary guaranteed in payment, in effect during that period, corresponding to the fraction of the month, will be used.
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For complete information on this topic, as well as to download the request that must be submitted by the employer, the self-declaration, and the model list of employees who will enter technical unemployment, download Smart Update April No. 3, 2020, and share it with your colleagues.