A health federation announces that the GEO by which the Government cuts the payment of the first day of sick leave is “attackable from the perspective of its unconstitutionality”
Doctor. Credit: – / Wavebreak / Profimedia
The “Health Solidarity” Federation in Romania announces that the draft Emergency Ordinance (EOG) by which the Government established that the first day of leave of an employee will not be paid was not debated in the Economic and Social Council (CES). This makes the Ordinance easily open to challenge in terms of its constitutionality, according to the Federation.
The representatives of the “Health Solidarity” Federation from Romania (FSSR) say that yesterday at 16:00 they were summoned by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to a meeting of the Social Dialogue Commission.
“During the meeting of the CDS MS, the representative of the FSSR supported all the proposals submitted in written form, including the proposal to eliminate the right to pay the first day of CM (with a criticism of unconstitutionality). As can be seen from the comparison of the two forms of the normative act (the draft and the final form) with the proposals of the FSSR, a series of proposals were formulated (…). We appreciate the support of the Minister of Health on this issue”, according to the Federation.
“However, the government did not appropriate the FSSR's requests and observations regarding the non-payment of the first day of CM, assuming full responsibility for the consequences of this measure”, they state.
Romanians will no longer be paid for the first day of sick leave, the Government decided in the last meeting of this year. The measure targets “fictitious leaves”, says the Minister of Health
Why the GEO could be unconstitutional
The Federation explains, however, that the draft GEO was not debated in the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (CES), which is mandatory.
“Consequently, the draft GEO is attackable from the perspective of its unconstitutionality, considering the fact that the CCR has clearly established that the promotion of a normative act without the opinion of the CES violates the constitutional rules”, announces the Federation.
An emergency ordinance, adopted on Tuesday, in the last government meeting of 2025, established that the first day of sick leave will no longer be paid. The authorities reasoned that they want to reduce the phenomenon of fictitious sick leaves.
The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, explained that the measure of excluding the first day of medical leave from payment is “transitional, initially thought for 2 years. But, if the phenomenon of fictitious medical leaves decreases significantly, it can be reduced and canceled at any time, it is not a definitive measure”.
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