Contact US
10 Dumbrava Roşie Street, District 2, Bucharest, 020463, Romania
P: (40-21) 408 8900, F: (40-21) 408 8911, E: office@bulboaca.com
By means of the Government Decision no. 394/2020, on May 18, on the entire territory of Romania, the state of alert has been established, for a period of 30 days. Thus, employers are forced to take certain measures to ensure that they safely perform their activities, measures which will be further detailed in subsequent orders.
Moreover, article 71 paragraph (2) of Law no. 55/2020 provides that the measures to be applied during the state of alert will be adopted by order of the relevant ministers, at the proposal of the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations (CNSSU).
The relevant orders in this matter are:
1. Order 3577
1.1. Measures regarding the reorganization of the activity and the prevention of occupational risks
Order 3577 provides for an extensive list of obligations incumbent on the employer, to ensure that workplace activities are undertaken in conditions of health and safety. The order applies to all employers, in both the public sector and the private sector. The definition of employer is given by Law no. 319/2006 regarding the conditions of safety and health at the workplace: a natural or legal person who is in employment or service relations with the respective worker and who has the responsibility of the enterprise and/or unit.
With respect to the obligations of employers provided in Order 3577, the Order also provides correlative obligations for employees to comply with the required measures, to wear masks at work, to accept temperature check etc.
Thus, employers are required to:
1.2. Measures regarding the informing of employees
Employers are required to:
1.3. Measures limiting persons’ access to the workplace
In order to fulfil their obligations, employers are required to:
1.4. Measures to prevent infection and to protect employees:
To prevent employees’ infection with COVID-19, employers must:
1.5. Speacial measures for people who are suspected/confirmed as being infected
If an employee has respiratory symptoms and/or a body temperature higher than 37.3 degrees and/or altered general health condition, he/she will be immediately isolated from the rest of the staff and sent to his home or to the medical unit, depending on the severity of the situation.
The subsequent measures to be taken depend on the period of time that has elapsed since the last contact with the person concerned. If less than 7 days have elapsed since the last contact with the person concerned, the rooms where he/she has stayed in for more than 20 minutes must be closed down, the room must be mechanically ventilated and the office must only be disinfected after a period of 24 hours has passed.
If more than 7 days have elapsed since contact with a person suspected/confirmed as being infected, no additional hygiene or disinfection measures are required.
Moreover, in both cases, the employer must notify the people who had contact with that person for a period longer than 20 minutes, without respecting the recommended physical distance of 1.5 m and without wearing a facial mask, and these people must be isolated at home for 14 days.
1.6. Optional measures
Order 3577 also establishes certain optional measures, for which compliance is not mandatory. For example, employers can create certain spaces which are specially designated for employees who are part of a vulnerable category (e.g. suffer from chronic diseases or are over 65 years old). Similarly, employers can provide specific personal protective equipment (such as facial masks and gloves) meant to protect against the spread of the virus.
Regarding the work schedule, Order 3577 mentions that employers can individualize the schedule of employees working in closed offices, so as to reduce the physical contact between people as much as possible. If there are more than 50 employees, the schedule can be individualized so that there is a minimum of one hour between them at the beginning and the end of the work schedule, for at least three hours, in groups of at least 20% of personnel. It is important to note that the individualization of the program, in both cases, must not affect the normal work schedule.
2. Order 1731
Some measures to protect employees have also been adopted by Order 1731/832/2020 of the Minister of Economy, Energy and the Environment, which, in Article 2, approves a series of recommendations regarding workplace activities in offices with common areas (open spaces).
Employers are required to:
3. Order 874
With regard to own staff, the screening is performed by measuring the temperature with a non-contact thermometer and by observing respiratory signs and symptoms. If the person's temperature is higher than 37.3 degrees, it is recommended to repeat the measurement after a rest period of 2-5 minutes. If the temperature remains above 37.3 degrees and/or the person has other respiratory symptoms, the employee will be sent to the general practitioner for a medical consultation. In addition, each person in charge of each unit is required to ensure the observational screening of directly subordinated employees. The monitoring of the employee's health will be performed by the occupational medicine doctor.
With regard to visitors, their entry into the premises is only allowed if necessary. As in the case of employees, the epidemiological screening will be performed by measuring body temperature with a non-contact thermometer, multiple times if necessary, and by observing respiratory signs and symptoms. The person with a temperature higher than the indicated threshold and/or who has other respiratory symptoms is not allowed to enter the premises. Otherwise, he/she will enter the premises only accompanied by a person from the office, after the place where he/she will go has been registered.
In addition, Order 874 establishes the obligation for employees to wear a protective mask in the workplace, in accordance with the general hygiene instructions contained in the annex to the order. By means of that annex, the employer is obliged to develop its own procedures based on the risk assessment for each employee, depending on the work schedule, the specifics of the activity carried out, the organizational structure, the structure of the premises. The risk assessment and the establishment of the conditions under which the mask will be worn will be performed by the occupational doctor.