Law no. 111/2022 sought to eliminate undeclared work in the sector of domestic activities carried out against payment for other persons. The law aims to regulate and formalise domestic work, providing domestic service provider with a legal framework to ensure their rights and protection, thus contributing to reducing the underground economy and increasing transparency in this area.

The domestic service provider is a natural person who can carry out domestic activities in one or more households, in return for remuneration granted exclusively in the form of domestic activity vouchers. 

The domestic service provider cannot be a member of the family of the domestic beneficiary, but can be an informal carer who is not a member of the family of the domestic beneficiary and who does not have a contract for informal care with the public social assistance service. A person can be a domestic service provider only if they are at least 16 years old.

The law also establishes the notion of domestic activity, defining it as the occasional, unskilled activity carried out by a domestic service provider in the household of the domestic beneficiary, at the home of the domestic service provider or in another place necessary for its performance. 

The domestic activity does not have a commercial purpose and is not carried out for the benefit of third parties. It may be carried out in the household of the domestic beneficiary, at the home of the domestic provider or in any other place necessary for its performance.

The list of activities that may be provided includes cleaning/hygienic services, washing/ironing, food preparation services, meal serving, pet care services, gardening, feeding or supervision of the dependent domestic beneficiary, etc. At the moment, this list includes 34 domestic activities.

A legal relationship is established between the domestic service provider and the domestic beneficiary by agreement of the parties, without having a written form, for the provision of domestic activities. The daily duration of domestic activities for a domestic beneficiary may not exceed 12 hours, or 6 hours for domestic providers aged between 16 and 18.

Domestic service provider can be remunerated exclusively by household activity vouchers, not by cash or bank payments. These vouchers can be purchased from employment agencies, post offices or the dedicated platform. The nominal value of a household activity voucher is 15 lei. Household activity vouchers are not transferable, cannot be used for the purchase of other goods or services and can only be used by the household provider whose details are entered on them.

The domestic service provider may redeem the household activity vouchers for cash no later than 12 months after receiving them. The conversion can be made in cash at any of the employment agencies, at the universal service provider or, where applicable, by payment order/transfer to the bank account indicated by the domestic service provider through the Electronic Household Activity Recording Platform.

Domestic service providers will have income tax and pension contributions deducted from the vouchers they receive. Health insurance will also be possible. Specifically, if the domestic service provider is not insured under the health system, he will become insured, without paying contributions, and will be entitled to the basic health care package from the date on which he applied for the redemption of at least 85 household activity vouchers.

The domestic service provider is not considered an employee, as the employment relationship is not formalised by an employment contract but by a simple verbal agreement between the parties. This means that there is no typical contractual commitment, with all the rights and obligations provided for in the Labour Code, but a more flexible and informal arrangement for the provision of domestic services.

Disputes between the domestic beneficiary and the domestic service provider which are not settled amicably are settled by the competent court in whose territorial area the domestic beneficiary is domiciled.

Author: Atty. Felicia Cioflan