In the context of ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, the Government has adopted three draft laws to amend (i) the Labor Code, (ii) Law no. 319/2006 on health and safety at work, and (iii) Law no. 108/1999 on the establishment and organization of the Labour Inspectorate, all of which are currently registered with the Senate. Below is a summary of the most relevant amendments.
- The draft amendment to the Labour Code covers the most extensive changes, including:
- the introduction of the concepts of “violence and harassment in employment relationships”, which define behaviours/practices that harm dignity or create a hostile environment, and list the situations and places where they may occur (including during travel, events, accommodation, work-related communications, and on the way to/from work), as well as the fact that they can be exercised by superiors, subordinates, colleagues, or third parties;
- in the employer’s obligations, the introduction of letter k) in Article 40 on informing, instructing, and training employees and other participants in accessible formats, regarding risks and measures, and the establishment of Article 40¹, which requires the protection of victims and complainants against abuse and pressure, respect for confidentiality, the possibility of temporarily changing the place/type of work with the employee’s consent in case of imminent danger, as well as the granting of paid leave when the change is not possible;
- the introduction of the obligation to designate at least one employee to be responsible for preventing harassment/violence in the workplace;
- the obligation to adopt rules at ROI level for preventing and combating violence and harassment in the employment relationships;
- the introduction of a penalty fine ranging from RON 30,000 to RON 50,000 for failure to comply with the obligation to protect victims of violence and harassment and for failure to comply with the obligation to grant days off when it is not possible to change the place or type of work to prevent an imminent/serious danger to the life, health, or safety of employees due to violence and harassment.
- The draft law amending Law no. 319/2006 establishes explicit obligations for employers to adopt, in consultation with trade unions or workers’ representatives, an anti-violence and anti-harassment policy that includes an internal confidential reporting mechanism, to integrate rules on the prevention of such acts and psychosocial risks into internal regulations, to identify hazards and assess risks (including from third parties), and to provide accessible information and training on risks, prevention/protection measures, and the rights/obligations of the parties. Failure to comply with these obligations would be punishable by a fine ranging from RON 3,500 to RON 7,000.
- The draft law amending Law no. 108/1999 introduces paragraph (2) to Article 18, providing that, as an exception to the confidentiality of the complainant’s identity established in paragraph (1) letter c), in cases of harassment in the workplace, labour inspectors are not required to maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the person who made the complaint if that person gives their prior consent, in order to allow the necessary checks to be carried out in the workplace.
The drafts are to be analysed under the emergency procedure, as requested by the Government, which is why we anticipate that the legal provisions will be adopted as soon as possible.