12.07.2022
I. Context
Technology is evolving faster and faster and the consequences are also reflected in the legal field. In this article, we will present the legislative changes in the field of labor law. These changes are relevant to employers, employees, and former employees alike.
The new legal provisions, which we will present below, have and will have the effect of simplifying the procedure for obtaining data from the general register of employees.
II. About the general register of employees[1] and the procedure for obtaining the data recorded in it by the employee or a former employee
a) Prior to the entry into force of Law No 144/2022 of May 23, 2022, on the amendment and completing of Article 34 of Law No 53/2003 - Labour Code:
"The Labour Code regulates, in relation to the individual employment contract, a formalism of information or evidence, indicating in Article 34 the employer's obligation to register it in the general register of employees, which he is required to set up".[2]
Article 34 of the Labour Code lays sets out the rules for the operation of Revisal. Thus, paragraph (1) stipulates that every employer must establish a general register of employees.
The general register of employees shall be registered in advance to the competent public authority, according to the law, in whose territorial area the employer's residence or headquarter is located, respectively, and from which date it becomes an official document.
The general register of employee records shall also be completed and sent to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate in the order of employment and shall include:
The Government Decision No 905/2017 on the employee register is also important here, establishing the methodology for setting up and completing the registration. Article 3 sets out the details to be included in the employee register.
Article 4 of the Government Decision also sets the deadlines by which the registration must be sent to the territorial labor inspectorate, which differ depending on the mentions concerned. For example, the data referred to in Article 3 paragraph 2 shall be transmitted at the latest on the day before the date of suspension/the date of termination or suspension, except in the case of unmotivated absences when the transmission in the register is made within three working days from the date of suspension.
Further, the register is kept at the employer's residence or headquarters and made available to the labor inspector or any other authority that requests it, according to the law.
The release of a document, certifying the activity carried out by the employee or former employee, the duration of the activity, the salary, the seniority in work, in the profession, and in the specialty is obtained at the request of the employee or former employee. This request corresponds to the employer’s obligation to issue the requested document.
In the event of the employer no longer working, the register shall be submitted to the competent public authority, in accordance with the law, in whose territorial area the employer's headquarter or place of residence is located.
If the employer is in insolvency, bankruptcy, or liquidation proceedings in accordance with the legal provisions in force, the receiver or liquidator is obliged to issue a document to the employees certifying the work carried out by them, to end and transmit the termination of their individual employment contracts to the general register of employees.
b) After the entry into force of Law No 144/2022:
The amendments introduced by this law concern mentions in the general register of employees and the right of employees and former employees to access the register online.
Thus, in addition to the mentions already enumerated in Article 34 paragraph 3 of the Labour Code, a mention of the level and specialty of studies completed has been introduced.
At the same time, an important and interesting amendment is that the general employee register is accessible online for employees or former employees, as regards the data concerning them. The right of access is limited to viewing, downloading, and printing this data, as well as generating online and downloading an extract from the register.
Proof of seniority in work and/or specialty can also be provided by the extract from the register.
Article II established that within 60 days from the date of entry into force of this law, by Government Decision, shall be established: the procedure of online access of employees or former employees to the data in the register, the way of generating and downloading the extract, as well as the conditions under which the extract can prove the seniority in employment and/or in the specialty.
Thus, from now on, employees will no longer have to appeal to either their employer or the territorial labor inspectorate to obtain this data, as they did before.
Until now, the procedure was governed by Article 7 paragraph 6 of Government Decision No. 905/2017, respectively, at the written request of the employee or a former employee, employers are obliged to issue an extract from the register, dated and certified for conformity, or a certificate attesting the activity carried out, the duration of the activity, the salary, the seniority in work and in the specialty, as it appears from the register and the personal file, no later than 15 days from the date of the request.
If the employer is unable to issue an extract from the register, the employee or former employee may apply to the territorial labor inspectorate for the issue of an extract from the register proving the activity carried out as an employee. The territorial labor inspectorate shall issue the document, on the basis of the electronic register submitted by the employer, within a maximum of 15 days from the date of the request.
The employer's failure to issue the documents in accordance with the law constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine from 300 RON to 1,000 RON.
III. The draft Government Decision on the procedure for online access, how to generate and download the extract, and the conditions under which the extract can prove seniority in work and/or specialty
On 4 July 2022, the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity launched a public debate on the draft Government Decision on the procedure for online access by employees or former employees to the data in the general register of employees, the method of generating and downloading the extract, and the conditions under which the extract can prove seniority in work and/or specialization, as introduced by Law No 144/2022.
Article 2 states that, in order to ensure online access to the data in the register, the employee or former employee may present him/herself in person at the territorial labor inspectorate or through a mandatary, in order to obtain a username and password, as follows:
a) at the territorial labor inspectorate in whose territorial district the employer has his residence or headquarters;
b) at the territorial labor inspectorate in whose territorial district the employees of the establishments without legal personality that has been delegated competence for the establishment, completion, and transmission of the register are/were working;
c) the territorial labor inspectorate in whose territorial area the employee/former employee is domiciled if the employer's registered office was/is in a place other than the place of residence of the employee/former employee.
Also, those who have an electronic signature, advanced electronic signature, or qualified electronic signature, in order to obtain the user name and password, can contact the territorial labor inspectorate by email using this signature.
In order to obtain the username and password, the following documents are required: a written request for the issuance of the username and password, an original or scanned identity card, a special proxy, for requests made by the authorized person, in original, or duplicate of the original document.
At the same time, it was established that seniority in work or in the specialty can be proved with the online generated extract from the register assumed by the employer by signature, which attests to the activity carried out, the duration of the activity, salary, seniority in work and specialty, according to the documents kept by the employer.
Until the date of acquisition of the new IT system that will allow people to access the data in the register online, the territorial labor inspectorates are obliged to issue, at their written request, an extract from the register within 15 days from the date of registration of the request.
The procedure regulated by the draft government decision will enter into force once the IT system for the general register of employees, which is being implemented under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, is operational.
IV. Conclusions
In conclusion, the amendments introduced by Law No 144/2022 were necessary to make it easier for employees and former employees to obtain an extract from the general register of employees in a shorter period of time.
Being able to access this register online is an expected and much more beneficial way for employees or former employees who need personal data for a new job or for various other situations.
As set out in the explanatory memorandum[3], this legislative initiative aims to simplify, de-bureaucratize, and digitize the procedure for obtaining an extract from the employee register. The register becomes accessible online at any time to any employee/former employee.
In conclusion, access is now simplified and unconditional on the consent of employers or the territorial labor inspectorate.
MAXIM/ Associates
Av. Diana Fechete
13.07.2022
[1] ReviSal
[2] F. Roșioru - ,, Individual labor law ’’, Universul Juridic Publishing House, Bucharest, 2017, p.322
[3] http://www.cdep.ro/pls/proiecte/upl_pck2015.proiect?nr=458&an=2021
Folosim tehnologii precum cookie-urile de pe website-ul nostru pentru a personaliza reclamele pentru tine. În felul ăsta, tu vezi reclame mai relevante. Prin acceptarea cookie-urilor, ne ajuți să folosim aceste tehnologii în continuare pe site.
Îți mulțumim pentru acest accept și îți reamintim că îți poți schimba oricând opțiunea printr-o simplă revenire pe site!