New Regulation of Carer’s Leave in the Labour Code

The new regulation of carer’s leave in the Labour Code means that employees who need to care for relatives or those they live with for serious illnesses will be able to do so, and employers are obliged to offer this type of leave to employees.

Brief clarification:

Carer’s leave has recently been regulated in the Labour Code and is defined as leave of a maximum of five days to be granted in situations where an employee needs to care for a relative or other person in their household who is seriously ill. It also covers the case of a person who is not a relative or spouse, but who lives in the same household as the employee, in which case documents showing the same domicile or residence are required, at least for the duration of the care leave.

According to the law, within 30 working days of the written request, the employee must provide the supporting documents. The most important of these documents is the medical document, which attests to the serious medical problem of the third party and may include a discharge note. The list of serious medical conditions for the granting of carer’s leave contains several categories of illnesses, from oncological to neurological, digestive, cardiovascular or psychiatric.

If the employers refuse to grant this leave, they risk fines of between 4,000 and 8,000 RON. Unlike sick leave, there is no minimum period of seniority in the company or at work for this type of leave and the time spent on carer’s leave does not affect the duration of the annual leave. Employers will not be able to dismiss an employee while on carer’s leave.

This may result in a situation where the employer will pay increased taxes following the carer’s leave, when the employee on minimum wage requests such leave, his or her salary entitlements for that month may be below the guaranteed gross national salary, and the amount of contributions and tax that the employer must calculate, withhold and remit will be below the level set.

If you need legal support regarding the procedure for granting this type of leave, as well as for updating the company’s Internal Regulations, you can confidently contact Grecu Partners specialists at office@grecupartners.ro or by phone 031.426.0745.