President Klaus Iohannis passed on Monday, December 18, the Emergency Ordinance on leave and monthly allowance for childcare, which introduces a maximum ceiling of RON 8,500 (some EUR 1,800) for the monthly child raising allowance.

The Chamber of Deputies approved this Emergency Ordinance in November. The capping applies starting September 2017.

The ordinance, which the Government adopted in early-August this year, also maintains the minimum ceiling of 85% of the country’s gross minimum wage.

Labor minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu said in early-September, during the debates in the Senate’s labor committee on this topic, that the EUR 1,800 cap on the child raising allowance is “sufficient” for Romania, adding that she could have removed it at all or reduced it to EUR 100.

Last year, the Parliament decided to remove the cap on the maternity leave and prolong the period during which parents get the full benefits, from one year to two years. The President passed the law in April last year.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com