ROMANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Oana Palita and Camelia Meirosu, Eversheds Sutherland Romania
involve testing the employee, reviewing their past per - formance, analysing failed Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), etc. Employees terminated on inadequa - cy grounds are entitled to a notice period, but there is no statutory severance. Elimination of the Job Position/Redundancy Eliminating a job position following an internal restruc - turing is a lawful reason for dismissal, provided it is unrelated to individual employees who are ultimately impacted and is based on a genuine business need (Romanian law requires that any redundancy be based on a real and serious cause). This decision must be supported by internal documents, such as assess - ments that justify the elimination and detail how it will benefit the company. The process usually includes: • preparing a business case; • deciding which positions to cut; • notifying affected employees; and • finalising termination after the notice period. Redundancies can be individual or collective; collec - tive redundancies require additional steps, including notifying local authorities and consulting with unions or employee representatives. Employees terminated following redundancies are entitled to a notice period, but no statutory severance is due. Collective Redundancies In addition to the requirements mentioned above regarding the underlying causes and justifications of terminations due to redundancies or role eliminations, collective dismissals imply a comprehensive informa - tion and consultation process. Unions or employees’ representatives are required to be consulted before a collective dismissal decision is formally taken. To allow meaningful consultation with the union or employees’ representatives, the employer must pro - vide them with all the information and notify them in writing. Additionally, the employer is legally required to inform the territorial labour authority regarding the planned collective redundancies, as part of the formal notification procedure. The trade unions/employees’ representatives are then allowed a reasonable period of time to analyse the
information provided by the employer and to suggest potential remedial actions or measures that can be made to mitigate the impact. Once a proposal from the employees’ representative bodies is received, the employer has an obligation to respond to each point, to properly consider it and to submit a formal response to the employees’ col - lective negotiation bodies. Only after the information and consultation process is finalised can the employer proceed with implementing the collective dismissal. 7.2 Notice Periods Notice periods in Romania can be seen from two per - spectives: • notice period upon resignation – this is a maximum of 20 working days for execution positions and 45 working days for management positions; and • notice period upon dismissal by the employer (not - ing that not all dismissal cases require that a notice be given) – this is a minimum of 20 working days. Payment in lieu of notice is not possible. The employer can waive the notice period in the case of an employee’s resignation. 7.3 Dismissal for (Serious) Cause Dismissal for serious cause falls under the discipli - nary dismissal process mentioned previously (see 7.1 Grounds for Termination ). An employee can be dismissed on disciplinary grounds either for serious breaches or for repeated breaches of contract or employment rules, as regu - lated in internal regulations or policies applicable at the employer’s level. The list of situations that justify this type of dismissal is not prescribed by Romanian law, so it is left to the employer’s assessment whether a particular incident occurred in circumstances that are severe enough or produced consequences negative enough to justify a termination on disciplinary grounds. While the discipli - nary investigation is an internal process, it is subject to appeal, directly before the court of law. The court of law has the authority to re-evaluate the case and to
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