State aid to freelancers affected by the corona virus crisis

The Government Ordinance no. 32/2020 has introduced some changes regarding the payment of compensation to freelance professionals (as regulated by the Article 3(2) of the law 287/2009 on the Civil Code) which had to stop the activity due to the effects of SAR-Cov-2 coronavirus.

In short, the new previsions are reformulating the following new rules:

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The Government Ordinance no. 32/2020 has introduced some changes regarding the payment of compensation to freelance professionals (as regulated by the Article 3(2) of the law 287/2009 on the Civil Code) which had to stop the activity due to the effects of SAR-Cov-2 coronavirus.

In short, the new previsions are reformulating the following new rules:

The Government Ordinance no. 32/2020 has introduced some changes regarding the payment of compensation to freelance professionals (as regulated by the Article 3(2) of the law 287/2009 on the Civil Code) which had to stop the activity due to the effects of SAR-Cov-2 coronavirus.

In short, the new previsions are reformulating the following new rules:

  • The conditions for granting the allowance are less stringent than the previous onces, and are paid to professionals who stop working due to the effects of SAR-coronavirusCov-2 during the state of emergency established by the decree 195/2020 on the creation of a state of emergency in Romania. Under the old regulation, only professionals who were not employers and who had been wholly or partially interrupted by the decisions issued by the entitled public authorities had the right to the payment of compensation. The new regulations no longer specify whether the activity is partially or totally interrupted, but we understand that the interruption of the activity must be complete in order to receive payment of the allowance.

  • The amount of the monthly allowance to which the freelancer is entitled during the period of interruption of his activity has increased, and equals to the 75% of the average gross remuneration provided by the Law of the State Social Insurance Budget for 2020 n. 6/2020, i.e. the sum of 5,429 lei. Under the old regulation, an allowance equal to the minimum gross wage per guaranteed country was granted in the payment for 2020 and 2,230 lei respectively.

  • Payment of the allowance shall be subject to the submission of an application and self-declaration together with a copy of the identity card by the Payment and Social Inspection Agencies in the counties and in Bucharest. We are still waiting for the application model and the self-declaration, which will be drawn up by the Ministry of Labour, even if, starting tomorrow, these requests can be submitted to the competent authorities.

  • The time limits within which applications may be submitted and the allowances paid shall be fixed. An application together with the above documents shall be sent to the territorial agencies within the 10th of the current month for the payment of the previous month’s allowance, its payment must be made at the latest 10 days after the submission of the documents relating to the emergency period established by Decree 195/2020 on the definition of the state of emergency in Romania in the previous month. Payment shall be made to a bank account and no cash payments shall be made.

  • The compensation is the subject to taxation and payment of social security and health insurance contributions, under the conditions laid down in Law 227/2015 on the tax code, as amended and supplemented.