1. Implementation norms for recent legal amendments concerning medical leaves
On 27 February 2026, Order no. 521/500/2026 ("Order 521/500/2026") for the amendment and completion of the Implementation Norms of the provisions of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 158/2005 ("GEO 158/2005") on medical leaves and social health insurance indemnities ("Implementation Norms of GEO 158/2005") entered into force. Among others, this normative deed regulates the implementation manner of the specific provisions for medical leave certificates issued between 1 February 2026 and 31 December 2027 and corresponding social health insurance indemnities, introduced by means of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 91/2025 on the establishment of certain measures within the healthcare system ("GEO 91/2025").
Specifically, Order 521/500/2026 introduced a new Chapter VII into the Implementation Norms of GEO 158/2005, according to which the following were established:
Calculation manner of the daily average of the calculation basis for social health insurance indemnities
The daily average of the calculation basis for social health insurance indemnities is determined as the ratio between the sum of insured income, both with and without the payment of a contribution, depending on the specific types of income according to GEO 158/2005, earned in the last 6 months prior to the month in which the medical leave certificate was granted, and the total number of days within this period, as follows:
Mzbci = Σ V : NTZ
Mzbci = daily average of the calculation basis for indemnities
Σ V = sum of insured income from the last 6 months
NTZ = total number of days worked in the last 6 months
The number of days in which insured persons earned insured income cannot exceed the number of working days corresponding to each month within the period taken into account for the calculation basis, according to the Labor Code.
The exception is represented by insured persons in certain special situations provided by GEO 158/2005, who benefit from temporary work incapacity indemnities without insurance period conditions, if the insurance period is less than 6 months. In such cases, the law provides for a different indemnities’ calculation basis, as appropriate.
Calculation manner of the amount of social health insurance indemnities
The amount of social health insurance indemnities is equal to the product of the daily average and the percentages provided by law, multiplied by the number of working days within the medical leave minus one day, as follows:
Ci = Mzbci x . . . . . . . . . % x NZLCM
Ci = amount of social health insurance indemnities
Mzbci = daily average of the calculation basis for social health insurance indemnities
NZLCM - 1 = number of working days within the medical leave minus the first working day
NOTE: The legal provisions regarding the temporary non-payment of the social health insurance indemnity for the first day of medical leave corresponding to the medical leave certificates issued between 1 February 2026 and 31 December 2027, introduced by GEO 91/2025, are currently being reviewed by the Constitutional Court of Romania, following a plea of unconstitutionality raised by the Ombudsman, the case file being in the report stage.
2. Calculation manner of the statute of limitations for the monetary claims arising from unused rest leave days
In the meeting dated 9 March 2026, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, through the Panel for the Resolution of Civil Law Matters, ruled that:
By interpreting the provisions of art. 268 para. (1) let. c) in relation to the provisions of art. 146 para. (2) and (3) of the Labor Code, the 3-year statute of limitations, provided by art. 268 para. (1) let. c) of the same normative deed, in case of monetary claims arising from unused leave days until the termination of the employment/service relationships, deriving from a current right, shall commence on the termination date of the employment relationship.
For the period exceeding the 18-months carry-over term provided by art. 146 para. (2) and (3) of the Labour Code, the right to obtain monetary compensation for the rest leave days subsists where the employer has not effectively granted the employee the possibility to exercise this right and, respectively, does not exist where the employee refrained from taking the paid annual leave despite having been granted such possibility.
Until the present time, the High Court of Cassation and Justice has not published the reasoning underlying the solution presented above. This may contain additional details relevant for the interpretation of the analysed matters, including with regard to the mentioned employer's obligations.
