A Law amending and supplementing the Labour Code was promulgated in the State Gazette, No. 85 of 10.10.2023, introducing an electronic employment record (electronic labour book) as well as an employment register. The amendments shall enter into force on 1 June 2025.
They digitise the employment record book, which will remove the administrative difficulties for employers and employees in using paper employment record books by providing permanent access to electronic records for both the employee and employers.
1. A unified electronic employment record
The employment record book on paper shall, as from 1 June 2025, be replaced by an electronic document to be known as the “unified electronic employment record”.
The unified electronic employment record is an electronic document which contains data and circumstances related to the employment of an employee and is an official certifying document. It will form part of the new employment register.
Every employee will have full access to his or her unified electronic employment record. The employee will also have information on the persons who have accessed his electronic employment record and the access history will be visible to him, except in cases where access is carried out by the pre-trial proceeding authorities under the Criminal Procedure Code and the State Agency for National Security.
Another important change is that employers will have the right to access data on their employees entered by previous employers, with the exception of information on the amount of wages and most benefits received by the employee.
The minimum amount of data to be submitted by employers to the employment register includes information on the employee’s name; the employer’s identifier and name; the date of conclusion of the employment contract, etc., and the employer is also obliged to record any changes to these in a timely manner. Among the new particulars to be recorded is information on the amount of paid annual leave agreed and the days of paid annual leave taken in the year of termination of the employment relationship.
The provisions governing the obligation to present the employment record book on commencement of employment and on termination of employment; the employer’s obligation to issue an employment record book to an employee who enters employment for the first time; the provisions concerning the reissue of a lost employment record book are repealed.
2. Electronic employment register
In the State Gazette, No. 65 of 02.08.2024, was promulgated a Decree No. 267 of 29.07.2024 on the adoption of an Ordinance on the entry in the employment register. It establishes the terms, manner and procedure for the entry and storage of data in the employment register, as well as the conditions and procedure for access to the data in it. The register will be maintained by the National Revenue Agency (“NRA”).
Pursuant to the Ordinance, the entry, correction and deletion of data from the unified electronic employment record shall be carried out by (1) the employer or an official authorized by the employer; (2) the appointing authority or an official designated by the appointing authority; and (3) an official of the Executive Agency “General Labour Inspectorate”. (“GLI”). All three categories of persons shall submit applications for entry, correction and deletion of data in the unified electronic employment record with a qualified electronic signature through the electronic services portal of the NRA, or on electronic media with a cover letter in accordance with an approved form.
In case a control body of the GLI or a revenue body of the NRA finds a discrepancy between what is entered in the unified electronic employment record and, respectively, in the register, and the actual situation of the employment relationship, the employer shall carry out the entry, correction or deletion within three days from the establishment of the discrepancy. As stated above, the GLI itself may make entries in the Register ex officio in certain circumstances specified in the Ordinance – for example, in the event of the ex officio termination of the employment relationship due to the termination of the employer’s activity.
The Ordinance enters into force on 1 June 2025, i.e. on the same date as the related amendments to the Labour Code.
3. Completion of employment record books
The adopted amendments provide an obligation for employers to complete the employment record books of their employees by 1 June 2026 (or upon termination of employment in the period from 1 June 2025 to 1 June 2026), whereby the employment record book shall record in numerals and words the length of service rendered by the employee with the relevant employer as of 1 June 2025, shall be signed by the chief accountant and the employer, and shall be stamped with the latter’s seal, if available.
Once the employment record book has been completed, it shall be returned immediately to the employee, who shall be obliged to keep it, since paper employment record books issued before the entry into force of these changes will retain their character as official documents of the circumstances recorded in them.