According to GD no. 217/2020, in case of suspension of courses or temporary closure of the educational units, according to Law no. 19/2020 and Decree no. 195/2020 regarding the establishment of the state of emergency on the territory of Romania, are established as paid free days for one of the parents the working days until the end of the decreed emergency situation, except for the working days during the school holidays.

 By parent it is understood, according to GEO no. 30/2020:

• The natural parent, according to the Civil Code;
• Adopter;
• The person who has the child/children in foster care for adoption;
• The person who has guardianship or fosters children;
• The designated person, according to the provisions of Law no. 272/2004;
• The parent or legal representative of the adult person with a disability enrolled in an educational establishment.

According to GEO no. 30/2020, also the following categories will benefit from paid free days for the supervision of children:

• The parent or legal representative of the child with a serious disability not enrolled in school, who has opted for the allowance under the conditions of Law no. 448/2006 republished, only in the conditions in which the activity of the day service is suspended due to unfavourable weather conditions or other extreme situations decreed by the competent authorities with attributions in the field.
• The parent or legal representative who in care, supervision and maintenance of the adult person who has a certificate of the disability degree or a certificate of the disability degree with a personal assistant for which he/she has opted for the allowance under the conditions of Law no. 448/2006, republished, only if he/she benefits from day services, whose activity was suspended as a result of adverse weather conditions or other extreme situations decreed by the competent authorities with attributions in the field.

Who can’t benefit from free days for child supervision?

The person/parent who is in the following situations does not benefit from free days for the supervision of children:

• Is on leave to raise the child up to 2 years, respectively 3 years, in the case of the disabled child;
• Opted for leave without pay as a result of the other parent’s request for a period of at least one month from the total period of childcare leave;
• Is on leave for the care of the child with disabilities up to the age of 7 years;
• Is the personal assistant of one of the dependent children;
• Is on vacation leave or leave without pay;
• Has the labour relations suspended due to temporary interruption of activity of the employer or his/her spouse is in this situation, according to the Labour Code republished;
• The other parent does not make income from wages and assimilated to wages, income from independent activities, income from intellectual property rights, income from agricultural activities, forestry and fish farming, subject to income tax.

What is the procedure for granting free days?

 Free days are granted at the request of one of the parents, deposited at the employer of the person who will supervise the child during the period when the competent authorities decide to close the educational units;

The request must be accompanied by an affidavit on the other parent’s own responsibility, stating that he/she did not request at his/her place of work free days that would suit him/her according to Law no. 19/2020, respectively that is not in vacation leave or leave without payment or in another situation provided by law.

This condition does not apply to the single person in the single-parent family, respectively the granting of the right will be made only on the basis of request.

The application must also be accompanied by a copy of the birth certificate/certificates of the child/children.

The employees from the following units can also benefit from free days, but only with the agreement of the employer:

• The national energy system, from the operating units from the nuclear sectors;
• Units with continuous fire;
• The sanitary and social assistance units;
• Telecommunications, public radio and television;
• Railways;
• Units that provide the public transport and the sanitation of the localities;
• The supply of the population with gas, electricity, heat and water;
• Food trade;
• Production and distribution of medicines and sanitary equipment;
• Fuel distribution;
• The personnel of the pharmaceutical units.

The employers in these fields of activity grant the free days under the conditions of the present law, only after the options provided by the legal regulations in force for carrying out the activity are exhausted and with the obligation to ensure the continuity of the activity, respectively through individual work programs, shift work, work at home and teleworking.

What is the amount of the allowance for free days?

The allowance for each free day is 75% of the basic salary corresponding to a working day, but not more than 75% of the national gross average wage.

The allowance is subject to taxation and payment of social insurance contributions under the conditions provided by the Fiscal Code.

According to Law no. 19/2020, the compensation paid by the employer will be borne by the guarantee fund for the payment of the salary claims.

How can employers settle the amounts paid as allowances?

The employers may request reimbursement only for the amounts representing the net allowance actually received by the parent, as stipulated in GEO no. 30/2020.

Regarding the taxes and social insurance contributions related to the allowance, according to the GEO 30/2020, these are supported from the employer’s budget, under the conditions provided by the Fiscal Code.

Considering the provisions of the GD no. 217/2020, for the settlement of the amounts, the employer must submit to the agencies for the employment of the county, respectively of the municipality of Bucharest, in whose territorial area the employer or its branch/working point is, as the case may be, the following documents:

1. A request, dated and signed by the legal representative, which will contain the following elements:
   1. Employer identification data, including e-mail address
   2. The bank account
   3. The name of the legal representative of the employer
   4. The total amount requested
   5. The number of employees for whom the amount was requested
2. The list of employees who have benefited from the free days, as well as the allowance granted during this period
3. Copies of payroll files which establish the indemnity granted
4. The affidavit on the own responsibility of the legal representative of the employer, attesting that the list provided with the employees who have benefited from free days contains the persons who fulfil the conditions regulated by Law no. 19/2020 (the model of the declaration is to be approved by order of the president of the National Agency for Employment, which is published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I)
5. Proof of payment of contributions and taxes for the month in which the allowance was paid.

The documents are transmitted by electronic mail to the address communicated by the employment agencies of the county, respectively of the municipality of Bucharest, within no more than 30 days from the date of the payment of the contributions and taxes related to the compensation.

The employment agencies of the county, respectively of the municipality of Bucharest, have the obligation that, within 24 hours from the receipt of the documents, to communicate the registration number of the request to the employer.

In case the documents cannot be transmitted by electronic mail, they will be transmitted by any other means of communication.

The settlement of the amounts paid by way of allowance is made within 60 calendar days from the date of registration of the documents.

The provisions of Law no. 19/2020 apply to all employees from the public and private sectors.