Law no. 283/2024 on the amendment and completion of certain normative acts

Law no. 283/2024 on the amendment and completion of certain normative acts, for the establishment of adequate minimum salaries ("Law 283/2024") was published in the Romanian Official Gazette no. 1139 of 14 November 2024 and entered into force on 17 November 2024.

Law 283/2024 transposes Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the EU and amends the provisions of the Labour Code and several other laws.

Amendments to the Labour Code

Law 283/2024 introduces several new provisions, among which are the following:

• The employment relationship is defined as the arrangement where a natural person, called a worker, performs an activity for and under the authority of another natural or legal person in exchange for remuneration.
• A new provision states that the base salary is the fixed part of the employee’s gross remuneration paid for the work performed during a calendar month, excluding bonuses, allowances, and other additional payments. 
• The minimum gross base salary is the minimum amount  an employee must be paid for their work,  established by normative act or collective bargaining agreement.  
• Rules are introduced as regards the procedure for setting and updating the national minimum gross base salary, evaluated according to its ratio to gross average earnings.
• The government will approve an action plan to promote collective bargaining, with deadlines and steps to gradually increase its coverage to improve working and living conditions for employees.
• Fines for not paying the minimum gross base salary according to normative acts or collective bargaining agreement have been increased to RON 3,000 - 5,000 (approx. EUR 600 - 1,000) per affected employee, up to a total of RON 200,000 (approx. EUR 40,000).

Beyond these amendments, Law 283/2024 requires the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity to report, among others, to the European Commission on the national collective bargaining coverage, the national minimum gross base salary, and the percentage of employees receiving it.

For more information, please contact Băncilă, Diaconu și Asociații SPRL team.