Romania’s Govt. ponders kurzarbeit model for limited period

Romania's Government will try to implement the part-time labor model known as kurzarbeit, prime minister Ludovic Orban announced on June 21, Profit.ro reported.

Under the model, the employer pays part of the wage proportional to the work hours used, and the state tops the payments to employees up to their full-time employment wage.

The model still has to be detailed. Its design must avoid bureaucracy but provide clear implementation guidelines and prevent companies that do not necessarily need such support to use it as a source of revenues, PM Orban explained.

The logic of the model is that the top-up payment from the state budget is smaller than the unemployment benefit, and the arrangement is more flexible for employers.

The financing for the program will come from the EU's SURE program, which allows Romania to use up to EUR 5 billion for mitigating the effect of the coronavirus crisis on workforce and employment.

Romania will use this program for a limited time during the economic recovery period.

(Photo: Frank Harms | Dreamstime.com)