FTC regulated: Yes

Remarks

Arts. 12 LC, arts. 80-86 LC.

Valid reasons for FTC use: objective and material reasons

Remarks

Art. 81 LC provides that FTC can only be concluded in the following instances:
a) replacement of an employee when his/her work contract has been suspended, unless that employee participates in a strike;
b) temporary increase of the employer's activity;
c) performance of a seasonal activity;
d) when it has been concluded under legal provisions issued in order to temporarily benefit certain categories of unemployed persons;
d1) employment of a person who, within 5 years from the date of employment, fulfils the old age retirement conditions;
d2) filling in an elective position within trade unions, employers' organizations or non-governmental organizations, during the mandate;
d3) employment of retired persons who, under the terms of the law, may cumulate the retirement benefit with the wage;
e) in other cases expressly provided for in special laws or for the achievement of works, projects, programs, under the terms established in the collective work agreement concluded at national level and/or at branch level.

Maximum number of successive FTCs: 3

Remarks

Art. 80(3) and (4) LC:
(3) An individual employment contract of limited duration may be extended beyond its original end date, with the written agreement of the parties, but only within the deadline provided for in Article 82 [24 months] and no more than two times consecutively.
(4) The same parties may successively conclude at most 3 individual employment contracts of limited duration, but only within the deadline provided for in Article 82 [24 months].

Maximum cumulative duration of successive FTCs: 24month(s)

Remarks

Arts. 80 and 82 LC:
Maximum duration of one single FTC or maximum cumulative duration of successive FTCs: 24 months.
In the case of an FTC concluded for the replacement of an employee whose individual employment contract has been suspended, the contract shall end when the reasons determining the suspension of the contract of that employee have ceased to exist.

% of workforce under FTC: 1.1

Remarks

Source: Eurostat, annual average for 2010.
The figure refers to the percentage of employee with a contract of limited duration (= temporary job) of total number of employee aged 15-74 years.
Eurostat data are based on the following definition:
"A job may be considered temporary if employer and employee agree that its end is determined by objective conditions such as a specific date, the completion of a task or the return of another employee who has been temporarily replaced (usually stated in a work contract of limited duration). Typical cases are: (a) persons with seasonal employment; (b) persons engaged by an agency or employment exchange and hired to a third party to perform a specific task (unless there is a written work contract of unlimited duration); (c) persons with specific training contracts."

Maximum probationary (trial) period (in months): 3 month(s)

Remarks

Art. 31 LC:
- maximum 30 days for operational positions;
- maximum 90 days for managerial positions.
(In addition, specific rules applies to certain categories of workers:
- persons with disabilities: maximum 30 days;
- unskilled workers: maximum 5 working days;
- higher-education graduates: maximum 6 months.)


- Art. 83 LC also establishes statutory probationary periods for employees hired under a fixed-term contract, as follows:
- 5 working days, for a FTC of less than 3 months;
- 15 working days, for a FTC between 3 and 6 months;
- 30 working days, for a FTC exceeding 6 months;
- 45 working days, in the case of employees holding management positions, hired under a FTC for more than 6 months.

Obligation to provide reasons to the employee: Yes

Remarks

- Dismissal related to the employee's (subjective reasons):
the decision shall be issued in writing and shall specify the grounds for dismissal (art. 62 LC, see also art. 268(2) LC).
- Dismissal not related to the employees' person (objective reasons): obligation to indicate the reason leading to the dismissal in the dismissal decision: art. 74 LC.

Valid grounds (justified dismissal): worker's capacity, economic reasons, worker's conduct

Remarks

- Under the LC, a dismissal may be ordered for reasons related to the person of the employee or for reasons not related to the employee (art. 58(2) LC).
- Art. 61 LC provides for an exhaustive list of valid reasons which related to the person of the employee (subjective reasons). These are: serious or repeated disciplinary offences, preventive custody for more than 30 days, established physical or mental incapacity, professional inadequacy, meeting of retirement conditions and not applying for it .
- Art. 65 LC allows terminations of an individual employment contract caused by the suppression of the employee's positions, for one or several reasons not connected to employee's person as long as the elimination of the employee's position is effective and has a real and serious cause.
Such dismissals are either individual or collective.

Prohibited grounds: marital status, pregnancy, maternity leave, family responsibilities, temporary work injury or illness, race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion, social origin, nationality/national origin, age, trade union membership and activities, performing military or civil service, parental leave, participation in a lawful strike, genetic information, ethnic origin

Remarks

- Art. 59 LC prohibits dismissal on the following grounds:
a) criteria such as gender, sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, age, national origin, race, colour of the skin, ethnic origin, religion, political option, social origin, disability, family status or responsibility, trade union membership or activity;
b) the exercise, under the terms of the law, of their right to strike and trade union rights.

In addition, art. 60 LC prohibits the employer from dismissing an employee in the following cases:
- for the duration of a temporary disability (i.e illness), as certified by a medical certificate;
- for the duration of the quarantine leave;
- during the pregnancy of an employee, insofar as the employer took knowledge of it prior to issuing the dismissal decision;
- during the maternity leave;
- during the parental leave for children under two years of age or, in the case of a disabled child, up to the age of three years;
- during the parental leave for children under seven years of age or in the case of a disabled child, for intercurrent diseases, up to the age of eighteen years;
- during the compulsory military service;
- during the exercise of an elective office in a trade union, except for the case where the dismissal is decided for serious or repeated disciplinary offences of that employee;
- during the annual leave.
This prohibition does not apply in the case of dismissal due to reasons related to the legal reorganization or bankruptcy of the employer.

Workers enjoying special protection: workers' representatives, pregnant women and/or women on maternity leave, workers with family responsibilities, workers performing military/alternative service, workers on temporary leave following an occupational disease or a work injury

Remarks

Art. 60 LC prohibits the employer from dismissing an employee in the following cases:
- for the duration of a temporary disability (i.e illness), as certified by a medical certificate;
- for the duration of the quarantine leave;
- during the pregnancy of an employee, insofar as the employer took knowledge of it prior to issuing the dismissal decision;
- during the maternity leave;
- during the parental leave for children under two years of age or, in the case of a disabled child, up to the age of three years;
- during the parental leave for children under seven years of age or in the case of a disabled child, for intercurrent diseases, up to the age of eighteen years;
- during the compulsory military service;
- during the exercise of an elective office in a trade union, except for the case where the dismissal is decided for serious or repeated disciplinary offences of that employee;
- during the annual leave.
This prohibition does not apply in the case of dismissal due to reasons related to the legal reorganization or bankruptcy of the employer.
The prohibition of dismissal concerning employee's representatives is further specified in arts. 223(2) and 229 LC. According to these provisions, the representatives elected in the trade union management bodies may not be dismissed during their term of office and two years after its end, for reasons not related to the person of the employee, for professional unfitness or reasons related to the fulfilment of the mandate received from the employees in the organization (art. 229(3) LC)
The same prohibition applies to the employees' representatives during their entire mandate period (art. 229 LC)

Notification to the worker to be dismissed: written

Remarks

- Dismissal for objective reasons: art. 62 LC (on disciplinary dismissal, see also art. 268 on the procedural requirements applicable to disciplinary dismissals).
- Dismissal for subjective reasons:art. 74 LC.

Notice period:

Remarks

See art. 73 LC:
When the dismissal is based on the following grounds:
- physical or mental inability to work;
- professional inadequacy;
- redundancy (objective reasons);
the employees hall have the right to a notice of at least 15 working days.
This does not apply to the dismissal of worker under a probationary period, when the dismissal is based on professional inadequacy.
No notice shall be observed when the dismissal is based on disciplinary grounds.

tenure ≥ 6 months:

  • All: 15 day(s).

tenure ≥ 9 months:

  • All: 15 day(s).

tenure ≥ 2 years:

  • All: 15 day(s).

tenure ≥ 4 years:

  • All: 15 day(s).

tenure ≥ 5 years:

  • All: 15 day(s).

tenure ≥ 10 years:

  • All: 15 day(s).

tenure ≥ 20 years:

  • All: 15 day(s).

Pay in lieu of notice: No

Notification to the public administration: No

Remarks

No general obligation to notify the administration.
However, notification is requested in some specific cases as provided by art. 64 LC:
Before carrying out a dismissal based on professional inadequacy or on mental or physical disability, the employer must offer the employee other vacant positions within the company, which are compatible with his/her professional background or, with the work capacity, as established by the occupational health doctor. When no such vacancy is available, the employer must inform the competent territorial employment agency an request its support for redeploying the employee.

Notification to workers' representatives: No

Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: No

Approval by workers' representatives: No

Definition of collective dismissal (number of employees concerned): Dismissal within a 30-day period for one or several reasons not related to employee's person, concerning at least:
- 10 employees in undertakings with more than 20 employees, but less than 100 employees;
- 10% of the employees in undertakings with at least 100 employees, but less than 300 employees;
- 30 employees in undertakings with at least 300 employees.
When establishing the actual number of employees under collective redundancy, the employees whose individual employment contracts ceased on employer's initiative, on one or several reasons not related to employee's person, shall also be taken into account, provided that at least five dismissals exist

Remarks

Art. 68 LC.

Prior consultations with trade unions (workers' representatives): Yes

Remarks

Art. 69 LC:
"(1) When the employer contemplates a collective redundancy, it shall initiate, in good time and with a view to reaching an agreement, under the terms provided for in the law, consultations with the trade union or, as the case may be, with the representatives of the employees, at least on the following issues:
a) methods and means to avoid the collective redundancies or to reduce the number of employees to be dismissed;
b) mitigation of the collective redundancy consequences by relying on social measures aiming, among others, at the vocational training or retraining of the dismissed employees.
(2) During the consultations, according to paragraph (1), with a view to allowing the trade union or the representatives of the employees to draft proposals in good time, the employer shall provide all relevant information and notify them in writing of the following:
a) the total number and categories of employees;
b) the reasons leading to the considered collective redundancy;
c) the number and categories of employees to be affected by dismissal;
d) the criteria taken into account, according to the law and/or collective labour agreements, for ranking the dismissals;
e) the measures considered with a view to limiting the number of dismissals;
f) the measures to reduce the consequences of the collective redundancy and the compensations to be granted the dismissed employees, according to the legal provisions and/or the applicable collective labour agreement;
g) the starting date or the period of the dismissals;
h) the deadline for the proposals of the trade union or, as the case may be, of the representatives of the employees, to avoid or reduce the number of dismissed employees."

Notification to the public administration: Yes

Remarks

- Art. 70 LC: a copy of the notification sent to the trade union during the consultation process containing the required information (e.g., number and categories of employee concerned, reasons for the collective redundancy, the selection criteria, measures considered with a view to limiting the number of dismissals and to reducing their consequences, redundancy pay..) shall be sent the territorial labour inspectorate and the local public employment office on the same date it has been forwarded to the trade union.
- In addition, art.71-1 LC provides that when, following the consultation process the employer decides to apply the collective redundancy measure, he/she shall notify in writing the territorial labour inspectorate and the local public employment office, at least 30 calendar days before issuing the dismissal decisions.
The notification shall include all relevant information concerning the intended collective redundancy and the outcome of the consultations with the trade union or the representatives of the employees, in particular the reasons of the dismissals, the total number of employees, the number of employees affected by dismissal and the starting date or the period of the dismissals.

Notification to workers' representatives: Yes

Remarks

Art. 69(2) LC: During the consultations, with a view to allowing the trade union or the representatives of the employees to draft proposals in good time, the employer shall provide all relevant information and notify them in writing of the following:
a) the total number and categories of employees;
b) the reasons leading to the considered collective redundancy;
c) the number and categories of employees to be affected by dismissal;
d) the criteria taken into account, according to the law and/or collective labour agreements, for ranking the dismissals;
e) the measures considered with a view to limiting the number of dismissals;
f) the measures to reduce the consequences of the collective redundancy and the compensations to be granted the dismissed employees, according to the legal provisions and/or the applicable collective labour agreement;
g) the starting date or the period of the dismissals;
h) the deadline for the proposals of the trade union or, as the case may be, of the representatives of the employees, to avoid or reduce the number of dismissed employees.
- In addition, art. 71-1(3) LC provides that a copy of the notification sent to the territorial labour inspectorate and the local public employment office, at least 30 calendar days before issuing the dismissal decisions, shall also be forwarded on the same date to the trade union or the representatives of the employees.

Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: No

Remarks

The LC does not require the approval of the collective redundancy by the administration. The administration can, however, decide to increase or reduce the timeframe for issuing the dismissal decision according to art. 71-1(5) LC and art. 71-2 LC which read as follows:

Art. 71-1 LC [notification of collective redundancy]:
"(5) At the reasoned request of any party, the territorial labour inspectorate, after receiving the opinion of the local public employment office, may order the reduction of the period provided for in paragraph (1), without prejudice to the individual rights concerning the notice period.
(6) The territorial labour inspectorate shall notify in good time the employer and the trade union or the representatives of the employees, as the case may be, of the reduction of the period provided for in paragraph (1), and of the reasons of such decision."

- Art. 71-2 LC [postponement of collective redundancy]
"(1) [During the 30-day period following the post - consultation notification], the local public employment office shall explore solutions for the issues raised by the intended collective redundancy and notify them in good time to the employer and the trade union or, as the case may be, the representatives of the employees.
(2) At the reasoned request of any party, the territorial labour inspectorate, after consulting the local public employment office, may order the postponement of the decision with maximum 10 calendar days, in case the issues related to the collective redundancy envisaged may not be solved within the deadline set in the collective redundancy notification provided for in Article 71-1 (1)[max. 30 days] as the date of the dismissal decisions.
(3) The territorial labour inspectorate shall notify in writing the employer and the trade union or the representatives of the employees, as the case may be, of the postponement of the dismissal decisions, and of the reasons of such decision, before the end of the original period provided for in Article 71-1 (1)[max. 30 days]."

Approval by workers' representatives: No

Remarks

Art. 69(1) only provides that consultations shall be undertaken with a view to reaching an agreement but no approval is required.
Art. 71-1(3) LC allows the trade union forward their potential opinions to the territorial labour inspectorate following the post-consultation notification , at least 30 days before the dismissal decisions are issued.

Priority rules for collective dismissals (social considerations, age, job tenure): No

Remarks

No mandatory selection criteria listed in the LC. Art. 69(2)(d) LC only provides that the employer's notification on collective dismissal to the trade union should indicate "the criteria taken into account, according to the law and/or collective labour agreements, for ranking the dismissals".

Employer's obligation to consider alternatives to dismissal (transfers, retraining...): Yes

Remarks

Art. 69(1) LC: Consultations with the trade union or with the representatives of the employees shall cover at least: - methods and means to avoid the collective redundancies or to reduce the number of employees to be dismissed and;
- mitigation of the collective redundancy consequences by relying on social measures aiming, among others, at the vocational training or retraining of the dismissed employees.
See also art. 71 LC:
"(1) The trade union or, as the case may be, the representatives of the employees, may propose the employer measures to avoid the dismissals or to reduce the number of dismissed employees, within 10 calendar days after receiving the notification.
(2) The employer shall give a written and grounded answer to the proposals prepared according to the provisions of paragraph (1), within five calendar days from their reception".

Priority rules for re-employment: Yes

Remarks

See art. 72 LC:
"(1) An employer deciding a collective redundancy may not employ new personnel for the workplaces of the dismissed employees for a period of nine months from the date of their dismissal.
(2) If, during this period, the activities whose interruption led to the collective redundancy are resumed, the employer shall send the dismissed employees a written communication for this purpose and employ them again in the same workplaces as before, without any examination, contest or probationary period.
(3) The employees shall have a deadline of maximum 10 working days from the notification of the employer, according to the provisions of paragraph (2), to express their written agreement on the proposed workplace.
(4) If the employees entitled to be employed again according to paragraph (2) do not agree in writing within the deadline provided in paragraph (3) or refuse the workplace provided, the employer may employ new personnel for the vacant positions".

Severance pay:

Remarks

No statutory severance pay.

tenure ≥ 6 months: 0 day(s)

tenure ≥ 9 months: 0 day(s)

tenure ≥ 1 year: 0 day(s)

tenure ≥ 4 years: 0 day(s)

tenure ≥ 5 years: 0 day(s)

tenure ≥ 10 years: 0 day(s)

tenure ≥ 20 years: 0 day(s)

Redundancy payment:

Remarks

No statutory redundancy pay in the Labour Code
However, the National Collective Agreement for 2007-2010 provides that employees shall be entitled to a payment equal to at least one month's salary upon dismissal for reasons not related to the employee (art. 78 LC). This applies to private employers.

On employee in State-owned companies, see: "Doing business in Romania" by the legal firm "Musat & Asociatii" (link provided below under "scope of additional information"):
"The notion of collective dismissal or redundancy was initially regulated by the Emergency Government Ordinance no. 98/1999 on social protection of person's subject of redundancy, as further amended and completed. Since March 1st, 2003, the provisions of the new Labor Code on redundancy came into force, which differ from the previously instituted rules certain respects as the minimum number of dismissed persons, notification terms and security measures. Consequently, the provisions of EGO no. 98/1999 complete the provisions of the Labor Code and, if contrary to such provisions, they are considered as repealed[...]
Employees with individual contracts for unlimited durations, who are laid off through collective dismissals, during the company restructuring or reorganization processes, during partial or total closure of the activity or during the privatization or liquidation, may benefit of social protection measures regulated by EGO no. 98/1999. The social protection measures afforded by EGO no. 98/1999 consist of compensatory payments, collective pre-dismissal services (counseling, informing, vocational orientation, placement) and active measures meant for limiting unemployment. At the same time, companies operating collective lay offs within restructuring programs may request and receive funding to support measures for economic revival.
It is worth mentioning that such measures (compensatory payments) mainly aim at State-owned companies, nominated by Government decision. Nevertheless, the State cannot afford to pay compensatory salaries in all cases.
The amounts granted as compensatory payments will be established according to the law, depending on the employee's seniority. In order to receive compensatory payments, the employees should have worked for at least 6 months with that employer within the last 12 months before their dismissal."

tenure ≥ 6 months: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 9 months: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 1 year: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 2 years: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 4 years: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 5 years: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 10 years: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 20 years: 1 month(s)

Notes / Remarks

Notes

There are no provisions in the Labour Code on severance/redundancy pay.

Compensation for unfair dismissal - free determination by court: Yes

Compensation for unfair dismissal - Legal limits (ceiling in months or calculation method): If the dismissal was not well-founded or illegal, the court must invalidate it and order the employer to pay an indemnity equal to the indexed, increased or updated wages and the other entitlements the employee would have otherwise benefited from.

Remarks

Art. 78(1) LC.
Note that art. 76 LC stipulates that a dismissal decision infringing the procedure provided for in the law shall be null and void.

Reinstatement available: Yes

Remarks

Art. 78(2) LC provides that the court may order reinstatement only if expressly requested by the employee.

Preliminary mandatory conciliation: Yes

Remarks

On the first hearing, the court is obliged to attempt to settle the dispute by conciliation (art. 76 of the Law no. 168/1999 regarding labour disputes resolution).

Competent court(s) / tribunal(s): labour court

Remarks

Based on Law No. 304/2004, specialised sections or panels for settling cases regarding labour disputes and social insurance were established at the tribunals and the courts of appeal.
(The jurisdiction of those sections/panels cover dismissal cases - see art. 281 LC and Act No. 168/1999 on labour disputes resolutions)

Existing arbitration: No

Remarks

The Law no. 168/1999 regarding labour disputes resolution only provides for arbitration as a mean of settlement of conflicts of interests (which do not cover dismissal cases). Dismissal cases which fall within the category of conflicts of rights are settled by the courts.

Length of procedure: 10day(s) (statutory)

Remarks

Cases regarding labour disputes falling within the category of conflicts of rights (which cover dismissal cases) must be adjudicated according to urgent proceedings which may not exceed 10 days. Appeals against the court's decision can be lodged within 10 days form the date of the communication of the decision to the parties (arts. 74 and 80 of the Law No. 168/1999 regarding labour disputes resolution)