In this article we explain the applicable rules for taking rest leave in Romania if you have just been employed with a Romanian company. More specifically, we clarify the conditions under which a new employee can take rest leave from his/her Romanian employer, and after how much time is the employee allowed to do so.
Number of annual rest leave days allowed
The Romanian Labor Code provisions say that each employee can receive at least 20 days of rest leave per year our of the total annual working days. The number of rest leave days may be higher if the employee agrees so with the employer, but may not be less than 20 days.
The Romanian employment law stipulates that the number of rest leave days the employee can take annually must be established in the individual’s employment contract, and in compliance with the employment law and the collective labor contract applicable at company level, if such one exists.
The same employment law establishes that the days of rest leave must be scheduled based on a collective decision taken on the basis of consulting the employees’ union or the employees’ representatives – if such exist in the company – or, if not, simply by consulting with each employee, in the case of individual appointments.
Scheduling of employees’ rest leave for next year must be made by the end of the current year. Even if the employees are consulted, in the end, it is the employer’s final decision on when to schedule the annual rest leaves, and not the employees’ decision.
How long after employment start can an individual take rest leave?
The Romanian employment law provisions do not condition an employee for benefitting of annual rest leave with the passing of a certain period or number of work days from start of employment. Actually, such a rule does not exist in the Romanian labor law. Therefore, any employee, irrespective if he is under permanent employment or during probation period, has the right to take days off. So, any new hires have the same rights as old employees in what regards the right to benefit of rest leave.
Thus, although the applicable legislation does not regulate the granting of rest leave after a certain minimum period of time worked, the days of rest leave taken by each employee must be proportional to the period actually worked in the company.
Rules for scheduling annual rest leave days
As general rule, scheduling of employees’ rest leave for next year must be made by the end of the current year.
With regard to the scheduling of rest leave in Romania for new employees during the year, the law does not impose any other conditions on scheduling. However, if the employer wants to establish a series of rules on taking days off, either for long-term employees or for new hires in the company, they can impose them by internal regulations. But the company’s internal regulations must always be in compliance with the provisions of the Romanian Labor Code.
Actually, it is recommended that the employer includes in its internal regulations provisions regarding applicable rules of taking rest leaves, as it has the obligation to inform employees about the content of the document.
If employees request days off outside the periods previously scheduled through consultation with the employer, their requests may be denied by the latter. Moreover, if an employee decides to go on leave outside the scheduled period and without the consent of the employer, he risks disciplinary actions that can be taken by the employer.