EXCLUSIVE: Amended Romanian Labor Code Lengthens Employment Trial Period

According to the document, an individual work contract is drafted by the employer, with both parties’ consent, in writing and in Romanian. The contract must be prepared before work begins. The employer is allowed to set individual performance objectives, as well as criteria for their evaluation.

Future employees are required to present a medical certificate confirming they are able to work before signing the contract. They may not hold more than two full-time positions with the same employer.

The employer may request information about a prospective employee from their previous managers, but only as regards the employee’s activity and only with their prior notice.

The trial period for new employees will be defined in the contract and may last as long as 45 days (at the moment, 30 days) for rank-and-file employees and up to 120 days (up from 90) for management positions. The professional qualifications of employees with disabilities may also be evaluated in a trial period of no more than 30 days.

The document repeals provisions limiting the length of the trial period to five days for unskilled workers and to six months for graduates, as well as one forbidding an employer from hiring more than three people for the same position, all on trial, one after the other.

When drafting the individual work contract, or while it is in effect, the parties may negotiate and add a non-compete clause, through which the employee agrees not to engage in competition against the employer, either for the employee’s own interest, or that of a third party, in exchange for a monthly indemnity paid by the employer. The indemnity will be negotiated directly, can be deducted by the employer from the profit tax and is considered taxable income for the beneficiary. The employer may independently discontinue paying this indemnity, as long as the employee receives one month notice.

The document includes similar provisions dealing with a work contract’s confidentiality clause.

The amending act repeals a provision whereby the parties may use other means to prove that contractual obligations have been undertaken and fulfilled, in case a work contract has not been prepared in writing. The act also forbids the signing of employment contracts concerning the performance of illegal activity, without reference to „immoral” activity, as per current legislation.

Discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual preference, genetic traits, age, nationality, race, color, ethnicity, religion, political views, social origin, disability, family status or responsibility, union affiliation or activity, is prohibited.

According to the document, the selected candidate must be informed about the position’s specific risks, standard duration of work, clauses on notice and leave and performance objectives and assessment criteria. Any change to these elements while the contract is in effect will require signing an additional act, within 15 business days of the change, including cases when the change follows from legislation or the collective contract. Under the current Code, this obligation does not apply in instances when the change results from law or the collective contract.

The employer will be required to issue a document stating a current of former employee’s activity, seniority in the position, field and specialization, on the latter’s request.

Foreign citizens and stateless persons may be hired through an individual labor contract on the basis of a work authorization.