New Forms of Leave and Allowances Granted to Employees in Special Family Situations

The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has produced numerous consequences and transformations at the level of labor legislation. Medical emergencies and the establishment of quarantine were likely to trigger real personal and family crises from the need to provide personal care or support to a relative or other infected person. Considering that the Romanian legislation in force only gave the employee very few options to provide help to close people in such situations (apart from unpaid leave and leave for taking care of the sick child), it became obvious that it was necessary to modify it and introduce new forms of leave. Thus, the right of employed parents to leave for taking care of a sick child has been extended until the child reaches the age of 12, and other possible cases of suspension of the individual employment contract at the initiative of the employee have been regulated, respectively: carer’s leave or the right to be absent from the workplace in unforeseen situations, determined by a family emergency caused by illness or accident, which make the immediate presence of the employee indispensable, provided that the employer is informed in advance and with the recovery of the absent period until the full coverage of the normal duration of the employee’s work schedule.