OFFICIAL! The procedure for granting support payments for re-employing unemployed people (Order 456/2020) has been approved

Order no. 456/2020 approving the Procedure for granting the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020 establishing active support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and amending certain normative acts, was published in the Official Gazette, Part I, no. 484 of 9 June 2020.

The act came into force on 9 June 2020 and approves the procedure for granting support payments to companies that re-employ people aged over 50 or people aged between 16 and 29.

We remind you that Ordinance no. 92/2020 provided for payment of up to 50% of the employee's salary, but no more than 2,500 lei, for a period of 12 months, for each re-employed person who was registered as unemployed with the county employment agencies.

To receive these amounts, employers must conclude an agreement, in the form set out in Annex no. 1 to this procedure, with the county employment agency (or the Bucharest municipality agency) in whose area their registered office is located, no later than 31 December 2020.

To conclude the agreement, employers must submit by electronic means of remote transmission an application in the form set out in Annex no. 2 to this procedure, accompanied by the following documents:

a) a statement on own responsibility, given by the legal representative, showing that they are not in any of the situations provided for in Art. VI of the emergency ordinance, in the form set out in Annex no. 3 to this procedure;

b) a copy of the identity document;

c) a copy of the document on the basis of which they were employed.

The amounts are granted to employers where the persons in the categories mentioned in these paragraphs are registered as unemployed with the county employment agencies, or the Bucharest municipality agency.

Employers who hire people who meet both the conditions set out in Art. III para. (1) or (2) of the emergency ordinance and the conditions set out in Art. 80, 85 and 934 of Law no. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and the stimulation of employment, as subsequently amended and supplemented, may, for those people, optionally benefit from only one of the employment stimulation measures provided for in those articles.

To have the monthly amount verified and granted, employers must submit, by 25th of the month following the month for which they claim the amount (inclusive), by electronic means of remote transmission in accordance with legal provisions, using a qualified certificate issued under Law no. 455/2001, republished, as subsequently supplemented, to the county employment agency (or the Bucharest municipality agency) in whose area their registered office is located, a nominal table prepared in the form set out in Annex no. 4 to this procedure, accompanied by the timesheet and the payroll extract for that month, in a copy certified by the employer as true to the original.

Extract from Order no. 456/2020:

Having regard to the provisions of Art. VII para. (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020 establishing active support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and amending certain normative acts,

pursuant to the provisions of Art. 22 para. (3) of Law no. 202/2006 on the organisation and functioning of the National Agency for Employment, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented,

the President of the National Agency for Employment issues the following order:

Art. 1. –
The Procedure for granting the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020 establishing active support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and amending certain normative acts, set out in the annex which forms an integral part of this order, is hereby approved.

Art. 2. –
This order shall be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, and shall enter into force on the date of its publication.

PROCEDURE for granting the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020 establishing active support measures for employees and employers

Art. 1. –
This procedure regulates the manner in which the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 92/2020 establishing active support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and amending certain normative acts, hereinafter referred to as the emergency ordinance, are granted from the unemployment insurance budget.

Art. 2. –

(1) To receive the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance, employers must conclude an agreement, in the form set out in Annex no. 1 to this procedure, with the county employment agency (or the Bucharest municipality agency) in whose area their registered office is located, no later than 31 December 2020.

(2) The deadline provided for in para. (1) is a forfeiture deadline for the right to benefit from the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance.

Art. 3. –

(1) To conclude the agreement provided for in Art. 2 para. (1), employers must submit by electronic means of remote transmission, in accordance with legal provisions, using a qualified certificate issued under Law no. 455/2001 on electronic signatures, republished, as subsequently supplemented, an application in the form set out in Annex no. 2 to this procedure, accompanied by the following documents:

a) a statement on own responsibility, given by the legal representative, showing that they are not in any of the situations provided for in Art. VI of the emergency ordinance, in the form set out in Annex no. 3 to this procedure;

b) a copy of the identity document;

c) a copy of the document on the basis of which they were employed.

(2) The documents required in copy, as provided for in para. (1), are certified by the employer as true to the original.

(3) If the documents submitted under para. (1) are illegible or the employer has not submitted all the documents, the county employment agency (or the Bucharest municipality agency) asks the employer to resubmit them, or to submit the missing documents, within 5 days of receiving the request, and the documents submitted following this request are considered to have been submitted on time.

(4) If the employer does not resubmit the illegible documents or does not submit all the documents within the 5-day period provided for in para. (3), they may claim the entitlements provided for in Art. III para. (1) or (2) of the emergency ordinance by submitting the documents provided for in para. (1) within the deadline provided for in Art. 2 para. (1).

Art. 4. –

The amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are granted to employers where the persons in the categories mentioned in these paragraphs are registered as unemployed with the county employment agencies, or the Bucharest municipality agency.

Art. 5. –

Employers who hire people who meet both the conditions set out in Art. III para. (1) or (2) of the emergency ordinance and the conditions set out in Art. 80, 85 and 934 of Law no. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and the stimulation of employment, as subsequently amended and supplemented, may, for those people, optionally benefit from only one of the employment stimulation measures provided for in those articles.

Art. 6. –

(1) The amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are granted to employers monthly, from the date the agreement provided for in Art. 2 para. (1) is concluded, in proportion to the time actually worked in that month by the persons employed under the conditions set out in those paragraphs.

(2) The amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are also granted for the period of annual leave.

(3) During the period in which the employment or service relationships of the persons employed under the agreement provided for in Art. 2 para. (1) are suspended, the amounts provided for in Art. III para. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are not granted.

(4) The period of suspension of employment or service relationships does not form part of the period for which the stimulation measures are granted.

Art. 7. –

(1) To verify and grant the monthly amount provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance, employers must submit, by the 25th (inclusive) of the month following the month for which they claim this amount, by electronic means of remote transmission in accordance with the legal provisions, on the basis of holding a qualified certificate issued under Law No. 455/2001, republished, as subsequently amended, to the county employment agency, or that of the municipality of Bucharest, in whose area their registered office is located, a nominal table drawn up according to the model provided in Annex No. 4 to this procedure, accompanied by the timesheet and payroll for the month in question, extracted, in a copy certified by the employer as true to the original.

(2) For any month for which employers do not submit the documents by the deadline provided for in para. (1), or complete them otherwise than in accordance with the legal provisions or with erroneous data, the monthly amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are not granted. Derogations (1)

(3) By way of exception to the provisions of para. (2), the monthly amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are granted for the month for which the documents provided for in para. (1) are corrected and submitted by the last day of the month following the month for which the grant of these amounts is requested.

(4) The period for which the monthly amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are not granted, for the reasons set out in para. (2), forms part of the period for which these amounts are granted.

(5) Where the documents submitted on time under para. (1) are illegible or the employer has not submitted all the documents, the county employment agency, or that of the municipality of Bucharest, asks the employer to resubmit them, or to send the missing documents, within 5 days of receiving the request, and the documents sent in response to this request are considered to have been submitted on time.

(6) For any month for which employers do not resubmit the documents by the date provided for in para. (5) following the request of the county employment agency, or that of the municipality of Bucharest, the monthly amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are not granted, and this period forms part of the period for which these amounts are granted.

Art. 8. –

(1) The 5-day period provided for in Art. 3 para. (3) and Art. 7 para. (5) expires at 24:00 on the 5th day, calculated from the date of receipt of the request sent by the employment agency for the resubmission of illegible documents, or for the submission of missing documents.

(2) Where the deadlines calculated in accordance with para. (1) expire on a non-working day, they are extended until the end of the next working day, at 24:00.

Art. 9. –
The monthly amounts due under Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are granted by the county employment agencies, or that of the municipality of Bucharest, from the unemployment insurance budget, within 15 working days of the 1st of the month following the expiry of the deadline for submitting the documents required to verify and grant these amounts.

Art. 10. –
The establishment and termination of employers' rights to benefit from the amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance are made on the basis of decisions issued by the executive directors of the county employment agencies, or that of the municipality of Bucharest.

Art. 11. –
The county employment agencies, or that of the municipality of Bucharest, carry out, in accordance with the Procedure on control activity, the fulfilment of precautionary measures and the enforcement of debts arising from non-compliance with Law No. 76/2002 on the unemployment insurance system and the stimulation of employment, as subsequently amended, approved by Order of the President of the National Employment Agency No. 279/2004, as subsequently amended, checks on:

a) the fulfilment of the legal conditions for concluding the agreements provided for in Art. 2 para. (1), their implementation and the granting of the amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance;

b) employers' compliance with the obligations assumed by concluding the agreements provided for in Art. 2 para. (1), with the emergency ordinance, and with the other normative acts adopted for its implementation.

Art. 12. –
Debts arising from the finding by the county employment agencies, or that of the municipality of Bucharest, that the legal conditions for granting the amounts provided for in Art. III paras. (1) and (2) of the emergency ordinance, or the obligations assumed by employers by concluding the agreements provided for in Art. 2 para. (1), have not been met, are recovered in accordance with Art. 47 of Law No. 76/2002, as subsequently amended.