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Romania: New Covid measures adopted by the Romanian government

20.01.2022

A new Government Decision no. 34/2022 on the extension of the “state of alert” (stare de alertă) was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 34 on 6 January 2022.

Through the above decision, the Government has extended the state of alert for another 30 days, starting with on 8 January 2022 and adopted new protective measures.

These measures will impact the labour market, especially with regard to the reorganisation of employers’ activities, and impose new obligations on employers.

I. Teleworking and working from home

The above Government Decision expressly provides that employers have to arrange for at least 50% of employees to work from home or do teleworking, where the specific nature of their activities allows it, under the conditions set out in the Labour Code.

Furthermore, if the activities cannot be carried out from home or by teleworking, i.e. if the above obligation cannot be met from an objective perspective, employers with more than 50 employees have to organise their working hours on a flexitime basis, with staggered hours starting at 7.30 am and 10.00 am or divided into groups/shifts.

II. Private office buildings

Starting on 8 January 2022, economic operators functioning in private office buildings where 50 or more persons work simultaneously are to no longer allow access to visitors/clients, unless they:

  • prove that they have been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and 10 days have passed since the full vaccination scheme was completed;
  • present a negative result for a RT-PCR test performed in the last 72 hours;
  • present a negative result for an antigen test performed in the last 48 hours; or
  • are between the 15th and 180th day since an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus was confirmed.

III. Employers have to consider the degree of vaccination at the workplace

A new rule has been introduced by Government Decision no. 34/2022 stating that  workplace activities must be organised in compliance with the legal provisions issued by the competent authorities designed to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (as is currently the case), although employers are also now obliged to determine:

  • the degree of vaccination attested by the certificate of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 virus presented by employees for which 10 days have passed since completion of the full vaccination scheme;
  • how many employees are between the 15th and the 180th day after confirmation of infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus and who hold and present to the employer a certificate issued by their GP (medicul de familie).

During the state of alert, employers have to review the organisation of employees’ workplaces in order to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2. This means that employers could, for example, take social distancing measures or, if this is not possible, increase the frequency of tests for employees.

Furthermore, it is advisable for employers to introduce new internal procedures in order to comply with the requirements provided for in Annex 3 to Government Decision no. 34/2022.

IV. Further recommendations 

Government Decision no. 34/2022 establishes a general obligation for employers to organise the workplace also based on/considering the degree of vaccination of employees at the workplace, without specifying in which way this organisation is to take place.

In other words, employers are obliged to be aware of the degree of vaccination or prior infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and have to consider these aspects when organising and planning their activities.

Given the rather general character of the above provisions, employers are encouraged to assess their workplace on a case-by-case basis, while trying to identify and document what protection measures ultimately ensure compliance with the latest legal requirements.