After the increase in local taxes, Kelemen Hunor challenges yet another decision of the Bolojan Government, of which he is a part: “I don't know where it came from, honestly”

The president of UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, claimed, on Wednesday, in an interview for PRO TV newsthat the Government must return to the decision by which employees are no longer paid the first day of sick leave.

In the context in which the UDMR asked the Government to reconsider the decision to increase local taxes and fees, the moderator of the interview asked Kelemen Hunor if there are other decisions on which he thinks the coalition should reconsider.

“Something should also happen with the first day of unpaid sick leave. Again, I don't know where it came from, honestly. I don't want to say… But for sick people, the first day of sick leave must be paid, the solution must be found,” said Kelemen Hunor.

“They're not huge things, they're not sophisticated things. So they can be fine-tuned very, very quickly,” he added.

The decision of the Bolojan Governmentcontested also by a parliamentarian from the PNL

The measure that the first day of sick leave is no longer paid also affects the pension contribution period, PNL senator Nicoleta Pauliuc said on Wednesday, who also submitted an amendment that provides for the exemption of patients with chronic conditions from this regulation.

“We did an evaluation of this legal text – GEO 91/2025 – and we saw that, in fact, we do not sanction those who take sick leave only by not paying the first day. We also sanction them by the fact that their pension is affected”, says Nicoleta Pauliuc, PNL parliamentarian, party that is part of the Government coalition and that gives the prime minister.

“If a person has 20 unpaid days of sick leave per year, the retirement age is postponed accordingly by the number of days of unpaid sick leave, and the amount of the pension also decreases accordingly. A person who has an unpaid day of sick leave does not have any pension contribution period for that day,” explained Nicoleta Pauliuc on Wednesday, at an event dedicated to the World Cancer Day.

The government decided, through an Emergency Ordinance approved in the last meeting last year, that the first day of sick leave for an episode of illness will no longer be paid. The measure targets medical leaves that will be issued between February 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027, and the Minister of Health claimed, at the time, in a statement to HotNews, that the goal is to “discourage fictitious leaves.”