The negotiation of the collective labor contract is an essential process for defining and strengthening the working relationships between employers and employees. Its purpose is to balance the interests of employers with the rights and needs of employees, by establishing clear provisions regarding working conditions, salaries and other benefits granted.

Law no. 367/2022 defines collective bargaining as representing all forms of negotiation that take place between the employer on the one hand and the trade union or the elected representatives of the employees, as the case may be, on the other hand, who seek to regulate the employment or service relations between the parties, to establish working conditions and any other agreements on matters of common interest.

According to the legislation in force, collective labour agreements can be negotiated at the level of units, groups of units, sectors or at national level, but collective bargaining is not mandatory at each level.

The collective labour contract is the agreement concluded in written form between the employer or the employer’s organization, on the one hand, and the employees, represented by unions or otherwise provided by law, on the other hand, which sets out clauses on working conditions, wages, and other rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship.

The collective labor contracts shall also include the agreements between the signatory parties to the collective labor contracts, which settle collective labor disputes, as well as the arbitration decisions in this matter, from the date of their pronouncement.

Employers are obliged to initiate collective negotiations for the conclusion of a collective labor agreement, unless the employer has less than 10 employees. It is only the obligation to initiate collective bargaining, not the obligation to conclude a collective bargaining agreement – the conclusion of a collective bargaining agreement cannot be imposed.

The initiative of negotiating the collective labor contract may belong to both the employer and the employees, who may be represented by unions or by other forms provided by law.

Although the initiative of negotiations may belong to any of the social partners, only the employer can be sanctioned for refusing to negotiate. 

If there is a collective labor contract in force, the party initiating the negotiations, as mentioned above, it may start them at least 60 calendar days before the expiry of the collective labour agreement or the period of applicability of the clauses provided for in the additional acts, either at unit level, group of units, either at the level of collective bargaining sector.

The duration of the negotiation is a maximum of 45 days. The maximum duration can be exceeded only by the agreement of the parties.

The employer must inform the employees of the obligation to bargain collectively, in relation to the number of employees, and present them with the options for organizing: either by forming a trade union or by electing representatives and to send a written notice/invitation of the intention to start collective bargaining at least 15 days before the start of collective bargaining.

The parties entitled to participate in the negotiations shall confirm in writing receipt of the invitation and their acceptance or refusal to participate in the negotiations, irrespective of which party initiated the negotiations. The absence of a written reply, corroborated by the presentation of proof of invitation to negotiate, shall be interpreted as a refusal to participate in the negotiations.

In the negotiations, employees will be represented either by the trade unions constituted at the level of the unit or, in their absence, by duly elected and mandated representatives. These representatives have the role of defending and promoting the interests of the employees during negotiations.

The collective agreement shall be concluded for a fixed period, which may not be less than 12 months and not more than 24 months, except where the collective agreement is concluded for the duration of the performance of a specific task.

The parties may decide to extend the application of the collective agreement, once only, for a maximum of 12 months.

Collective employment agreements shall apply from the date of their registration with the competent authority or from a later date, as agreed by the parties.

The registration of collective agreements is an essential and obligatory step which the signatory parties are obliged to respect. Unjustified refusal to register the contract will be sanctioned by the competent authorities with a fine of between 5.000 and 10.000 RON, applicable to each party that refuses registration.

Employers who fail to fulfill their obligation to initiate collective bargaining risk fines of between 15.000 and 20.000 RON, and ignorance of the law cannot be used as an excuse. Even if negotiations are unsuccessful, they must resume after a certain period of time.

Author: Atty. Felicia Cioflan