Employment contracts may be signed electronically

The need to rationalize working relationships, simplify human resources procedures, as well as the need to adapt to new technologies, determined the Ministry of Labor to initiate a legislative proposal regulating the employer’s ability to use qualified electronic signature at the conclusion of the individual employment contract and subsequently of the additional acts.

The draft emergency ordinance which was published by the Ministry of Labor for public debate in 14.10-23.10.2020, states that Law 53/2003 – the Labor Code will be complemented by a set of provisions allowing the use of electronic signatures at the conclusion of the individual employment contract and amendments.

This means that employees can obtain the electronic signature through authorized service providers, which they will use in relation to the employer.

Therefore, according to the project, “the parties to the individual employment contract may choose to use the qualified electronic signature to draw up all the documents in the field of employment relationships resulting from the conclusion of the individual employment contract, during its execution or at the termination of the contract, under the conditions laid down in the individual employment contract, in the internal regulations and/or in the collective employment contract applicable under the law.

This provision is optional, so the parties can, if they wish, remain faithful to the existing bureaucratic system.

The filing by the employer of documents resulting from the employment relationship may be carried out in electronic or paper format, in compliance with the rules on the confidentiality of personal data.

Employers will certainly take advantage of this opportunity, especially in areas where telework is used. As for the filing of documents generated in electronic employment reports, only of the best. It remains to be seen what we will be able to do with the documents currently in force in paper form.

The draft decree also includes some additions on telework (details here) and on the law on safety and health at work (details here).

We hope that this proposal of the Ministry of Labor will be implemented as soon as possible in the decree approved by the Romanian government, and employers will be open to implement the new solutions, even if they will require some effort on their part.