Romania’s changes to sick leave pay are compared globally, showing varied European approaches to discouraging abuse.
🔗 Read the article on hotnews.ro
[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]
In Romania, employees were previously not paid for the first day of sick leave due to a government ordinance from February, with some exceptions introduced in June. This measure has drawn criticism, particularly from patient associations, although similar measures exist in various European countries. The analysis compares sick leave policies across nine European nations, noting differences in payment percentages and rules. In Romania, employees lost pay for the first day of each consecutive medical certificate until June 1st; since then, compensation is paid except for one day, with five specific categories of employees exempted from this rule. Furthermore, a separate measure reduced sick leave indemnification rates for common illnesses based on duration. Other European countries have different rules, some not paying the first few days (e.g., Spain, Italy, France), while others guarantee full pay from day one (e.g., Austria, Lithuania). Some nations are implementing stricter controls to combat fraudulent sick leave, such as medical inspections in Italy and restrictions on activities during leave in Poland. Patient advocates argue that these measures disproportionately burden seriously ill individuals and discourage necessary preventative care.
