Employees who have children up to the age of 11 can request 4 days per month of home/mobile work.

Law 241/2023 was published in the Official Gazette on 21 July 2023, supplementing the Labour Code with a provision to grant 4 days per month of home/telework for the care of children up to the age of 11.

What are the conditions for permission to work from home 4 days/month?

• on request, employees with dependent children up to the age of 11 shall be granted 4 days per month of home-working or teleworking, except where the nature or type of work does not allow such working conditions;
• where both parents or legal guardians are employed, the application shall be accompanied by an affidavit from the other parent or legal guardian stating that he or she has not simultaneously applied for home-working or teleworking for the same period;
• if the parent/legal representative is in one of the situations referred to in Article 3 of Law No 277/2010 on family support allowance, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions, the affidavit of the other parent or legal representative is not required;
• employees who apply to work from home under the new law are required to have all the means necessary to carry out their duties according to their job description.

Note that it is not enough for the employee to apply to work four days a month in telework/homework, even if the type of work would allow working from home. The employee and the employer must also conclude an additional agreement to the individual employment contract on teleworking/homeworking. The lack of an express provision on the provision of a teleworking activity is sanctioned by Law 81/2018 with a fine of 10,000 lei per person.

The new law amending the Labour Code came into force on 24 July 2023.