Tax changes concerning part-time individual employment contracts

G.O. no. 16/20221 introduced a number of changes to the tax regime applicable to certain categories of wage income, the most important of which concerns part-time individual employment contracts.

Hence, starting with the salary income corresponding to the month of August 2022, the social security contribution payable by persons employed on the basis of a fulltime or part-time individual employment agreement may not be lower than that applied to the minimum gross basic wage in force in the month for which it is due (currently RON 2,550).

G.O. no. 16/2022 also provides some exceptions to this obligation (e.g., for pupils, students, apprentices etc.).

It is important to highlight that the difference is borne by the employer/income payer on behalf of the employee/income recipient. Thus, the part-time employee's salary will not be affected and the employer will bear the increase.

However, we believe that overcharging part-time individual employment contracts will not achieve its ultimate goal of increasing budgetary revenues, as this measure is likely to entail the dismissal of part-time employees in order to ensure that the budget for revenue and expenditure envisaged by employers for 2022 is met.

Increasing the maximum value of meal vouchers

According to Law no. 187/20222 , the maximum amount of a meal voucher increases from RON 20.17 to RON 30 lei from 1 July 2022.

The increase of the value of the meal voucher is not mandatory for employers, as this new value marks the maximum limit of the meal voucher.

Thus, the rule that employers, together with employee representatives, will agree on the value of meal vouchers remains applicable.

Reduction of the retention period for payroll statements

According to Law no. 195/20223 , from 1 January 2023, payroll statements may be kept for only 5 (five) years if the employer submits, for the income concerned, the information statement on withholding tax on income recipients or the statement on the obligations to pay social contributions, income tax and the nominal record of insured persons. Thus, the amendment brings good news for employers by reducing the retention period for payroll statements from 50 years to 5 years. This change also has implications in the area of personal data protection, in particular with regard to policies on the retention of personal data.

New regulations on domestic providers

G.D. no. 822/20224 approves the Methodological Norms for the application of the provisions of Law no. 111/2022, the latter regulating the manner in which individuals may carry out domestic activities in return for remuneration granted in the form of domestic activity vouchers. It should be noted that this law enters into force on 1 January 2024.

The most important provisions concern:

  • in order to carry out paid domestic work, both domestic beneficiaries and domestic providers should register by creating a personal account in the electronic platform for the registration of domestic work, managed by the National Agency for Employment;
  • legal relationships for the provision of domestic activities may be established between a domestic beneficiary and one or more domestic providers or between a domestic provider and one or more domestic beneficiaries, by agreement of the parties, without a written form;
  • the domestic activity voucher may be used in accordance with the law only for the purpose of remunerating the domestic activities carried out by the domestic provider or by persons occasionally working as babysitters.

The extension of the Kurzarbeit mechanism until 31.12.2022

By G.E.O. no. 73/20225 , the Romanian Government approved the extension, until 31 December 2022, of the application of the financial support measure for the reduction of working time, intended for both employers and other economic entities facing a reduction in production as a result of the international economic crisis caused by rising inflation and falling purchasing power, as well as in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine.

Furthermore, Order no. 964/20226 approved an affidavit allowing employers to apply for this aid if production in the month for which the measure is requested has decreased by at least 10% compared to the same month in 2019 or compared to the average monthly production in 2019.

CJEU ruling on dismissal of a data protection officer without serious reason

In its judgment of 22 June 20227 , the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") ruled that the second sentence of Article 38 para. 3, of the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), on the prohibition of dismissal of a data protection officer for the performance of his or her tasks, does not preclude national legislation from extending this protection by allowing dismissal only for a serious reason, even if the dismissal is unrelated to the performance of the officer's tasks.

According to the CJEU, the second sentence of Article 38 para. 3 of the GDPR protects the data protection officer against any decision that would terminate his or her employment, cause him or her a disadvantage or constitute a penalty, where such a decision relates to the performance of his or her duties. On the other hand, this provision is not intended to regulate globally the employment relationship between a controller or a processor and its staff members, who may be affected only incidentally, to the extent strictly necessary to achieve these objectives.

Footnotes

1. Government Ordinance no. 16/2022 on the amendment and completion of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, abrogation of certain normative acts and other financial and fiscal measures, published in the O.G. no. 716 of 15.07.2022.

2. Law no. 187/2022 on the amendment and completion of Law no. 165/2018 regarding the granting of value vouchers, published in O.G. no. 613 of 22.06.2022.

3. Law no. 195/2022 supplementing Article 25 of the Accounting Law no. 82/1991, published in O.G. no. 668 of 04.07.2022.

4. G.D. no. 822/2022 for the approval of the methodological norms for the application of the provisions of Law no. 111/2022 on the regulation of the activity of the domestic provider, published in O.G. no. 631 of 27.06.2022.

5. G.E.O. no. 73/2022 supplementing G.E.O. no. 132/2020 on support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and to stimulate employment growth, published in O.G. no. 536 of 31.05.2022.

6. Order no. 964/2022 approving the model of the affidavit provided for in art. 31 para. (3) of G.E.O. no. 132/2020 on support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as to stimulate employment growth, published in O.G. no. 596 of 20.06.2022.

7. Judgment of 22 June 2022, rendered in Case C-534/20, Leistritz AG v LH.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.