Gov't approves Emergency Ordinance offsetting wage difference for IT professionals, disabled persons, others

The Government approved in Thursday's sitting the emergency ordinance regarding measures to protect the revenues of certain employee categories, IT, R & D and innovation professionals, seasonal workers, employees with severe disabilities but also part-time employees, Nelu Barbu, spokesperson of the Executive announced. 

"Romania's Government introduced and adopted on the agenda of today's sitting an emergency ordinance regarding measures to protect the revenues of certain categories of employees. (...) The employees in discussion belong to four domains, four categories: the IT area, where they create computer software, those working in research&development, innovation, those who carry out seasonal activities as well as employees with severe or significant disabilities. The measure is enforced to revenues obtained in 2018 and it assures, it is very important to say, the same level of revenues from salaries and assimilated to salaries achieved in 2017, so that their employers do not have to make an additional financial effort," Nelu Barbu told a press conference at Victoria Palace, at the end of the Gov't sitting. 

He specified that "granting these facilities is conditioned (...) by the augmentation of the gross salary by at least 20 percent compared to the 2017 level, given the transfer of the tax burden of social contributions from employer to employee." 

The Executive's spokesperson mentioned that another provision of the GEO "ensures at least the same net income for both public and private employees working part-time." 

"More specifically, as of January 2018, the persons with a part-time individual labour contract will have their social contributions and health social contribution retained in proportion to their gross monthly income, and the difference to the level of contributions corresponding to the minimum income will be incurred on behalf of the employee by the employing budget institution or by the private employer - because you know very well there have been those discussions regarding the fact that certain people might not have had the possibility to pay those contributions prescribed for the gross minimum income for people who work part-time. Certainly, this will not be an issue ant more through this amendment," Barbu affirmed. 

He further said that the OUG introduces yet another measure "for protecting the revenues of people on sick leave and those who collect unemployment benefits, so that their income is not affected." "For these people, the social contributions will be calculated against their gross income, that is the unemployment benefits, let's say, and not against the average income, as the previous legislation established," Nelu Barbu specified.

AGERPRES