New Labour Code to enter into force in May - Romanian workers

Amendments to the Labour Code were published on 31 March 2011.

According to the new law, the provisions of the job description will become paramount in assessing the professional performance of any employee, which will prevent abuses from employers. Also, the new Labour Code stipulates that professional performance will prevail in case of disposals made due to the economic situation of a company, thus replacing the old provisions that social criteria had to be taken into consideration first when undertaking disposals.

The most important changes include:

1. Conclusion and execution of individual labour agreements

· Written form is mandatory for the valid conclusion of an individual labour agreement.

· The employer is obliged to give the employee the individual labour agreement before they start working.

2. Evaluation of employee performances

· Employer has the right to insert in the individual labour agreements individual performance objectivesand evaluation criteria regarding fulfillment of such objectives.

· Criteria and process of professional evaluation of employees are to be inserted in the internal regulations of the employer and shall be the main criteria of shooutout in case of redundancies due to economic conditions.

3. Liabilities

· Consideration for damages caused by employees may be retained by the employer from the wage with the consent of the employee but may not exceed the limit of five national minimum gross monthly salaries.

· People caught working without an individual labour agreement will be fined.

· Having more than five workers without individual labour agreements and repeatedly establishing wages under the level of the national minimum guaranteed wage in the country both represent criminal offences.

The new provisions will enter in force on 1 May 2011. See: Law no. 40/2011 published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No. 225 of 31 March 2011