According to Art. 229 para. (1) of the Romanian Labour Code, the collective labour agreement is the written convention between the employer or the employer’s organisation, on one hand, and the employees, represented by trade unions or by any other form of representation provided by law, on the other hand, setting out clauses regarding the working conditions, wages and other rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship.
Collective negotiations are mandatory, unless the employer has less than 10 employees. By law, it is only mandatory to start the collective negotiations and not to conclude and sign such an agreement.
The collective agreement will be signed and negotiated by an employee representative, who will be elected by at least half of the employer’s workers, for a period of 2 years and will defend the interests of the employees within the collective negotiations.
The law does not establish a number of necessary employee representatives and the decision on this topic belongs to the employees, who may also choose a single representative.
There are 6 mandatory steps to be followed by a company found in the situation described above, namely:
- The display of the intention of opening collective negotiations and of the intention to sign a collective agreement.
- The election of the employee representatives who will defend the interests of employees within the negotiations.
- The convening of the elected employee representatives. Employee representatives must be convened at least 15 days before the first meeting with the employer.
- The actual negotiations between the parties. Collective negotiations cannot last more than 45 days, except when both parties agree to extend this term.
- The signing the collective labour agreement and related documentation. If the parties do not reach a consensus, the collective agreement is not signed.
- The registration of the collective agreement, if the parties reach a consensus, at the competent Territorial Labour Authority.
For further information and assistance during the implementation of the collective employment agreement in your unit, give us a call: (+40) 756 348 899
