ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Oana Palita and Camelia Meirosu, Eversheds Sutherland Romania
• method and frequency of payments; and • matters related to working time and rest time (ie, working hours, flexible hours, shifts, additional days off, weekly rest, etc). In negotiating the CBA, the employer is represented by its corporate body/bodies, whereas employees are represented by elected representatives, trade unions or trade union federations/confederations. Either party (employer or employees) can initiate the negotiation of a CBA. To keep the process concise and to promote a close dialogue, the overall period of negotiation of a CBA should not exceed 45 days (this period can be extended with both parties’ agreement). Signed CBAs are subject to registration requirements – once the parties agree on the CBA’s final version, the contract will be registered with the territorial labour authority, though in principle a CBA agreed only at the level of a particular company will not be publicly avail - able to anyone outside the employer’s organisation (other than the labour authorities). Only one CBA can be concluded and registered at the level of the same employer. Once registered, the CBA will be applicable to all employees within the employ - er, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with the trade union that was involved in the negotiation or whether they participated in the election of the employees’ representatives. Aside from company-level registered CBAs, there is also the possibility for applicable sector-level CBAs and national-level CBAs. Romania does not currently have a national-level applicable CBA, but there is an ongoing trend towards having sector-level applicable CBAs (ie, banking sector-level CBAs). 7. Termination 7.1 Grounds for Termination Romania is not an employment-at-will country. The immediate effect of this is that any termination of employment must be documented and must fall within one of the specific situations in which termination is allowed.
When the employer decides on the unilateral termi - nation of the employment relationship, the dismissal decision must be issued in writing and motivated – both on legal and factual grounds. Depending on the reason for dismissal, the dismissal decision must include specific provisions – otherwise, it may be annulled by a Romanian court of law. Depending on the legal grounds for the dismissal, dif - ferent procedures and rules must be followed. The most common types of dismissals are outlined in the following. Disciplinary Dismissal Disciplinary dismissal is possible if the employee is found guilty of either gross misconduct or several repeated (less severe) misconducts. The dismissal on disciplinary grounds is the most severe discipli - nary sanction an employer may apply and, although Romania law does not expressly impose a gradual/ progressing disciplinary system, the authors note that employment courts tend to factor in this principle whenever they are asked to rule on the proportionality of a particular sanction. A disciplinary termination decision can be issued only after a disciplinary investigation is carried out. The dis - ciplinary investigation is an internal process, carried out by the employer, but with the participation of the employee. The employee must be allowed the right to: • defend themselves against any allegation; • provide evidence to support their position; and • have legal representation throughout the process. Employees who are terminated on disciplinary grounds are not entitled to notice or severance. Termination for Professional Inadequacy Professional inadequacy is also an available (but not very frequently used) basis for the unilateral termina - tion of an employee’s contract. The employer must demonstrate, based on objective evidence, that an employee is not able to meet the professional require - ments of the position – ie, that the employee lacks the skills needed for the job. Before proceeding with dismissal on these grounds, the employer is required to conduct a prior adequacy evaluation, which can
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