Employers demand suspension of taxes for temporarily layoffs

Cristian Parvan, CNPR’s Director told Business Standard that employers should be encouraged not to lay off their employees, but to hold on to them for a longer period of time by paying them only a percentage of their regular salary.

“Companies are making a huge financial effort when they lay off their employees only temporarily, paying them 75-85 percent of their salary. Paying fees and taxes to the state is also a financial effort, especially since these employees are no longer producing anything,” Parvan said. He added that the state should support this measure, because in this way employers will no longer lay off employees permanently.  In this way, unemployment will not continue to rise, and when the situation improves, companies will be able to resume production at full-speed.

To protect the workforce, trade unions are proposing extending the period for paying unemployment compensation and state subventions for continuing professional training. “We have 10,000 training operators in Romania but the problem is who covers the costs. A 170-hour European standard course costs an average €200 per individual,” said Bogdan Hossu, President of Cartel Alfa trade union.