Romanian Senators Tacitly Pass New Sick Leave Bill

The Senate's plenary assembly failed to tacitly adopt or reject the emergency ordinance amending regulating sick leaves and health insurance indemnities.

The ordinance says employer representatives must check to see if their employees stay at home and observe doctors' orders while on sick leave. If necessary, company representatives are to be assisted by Police officers.

During debates, certain senators said the ordinance did not receive the approval of the Committee on Legal Matters, the Health Committee and the Human Rights Committee. Minority Hungarian senator Gyorgy Frunda proposed that the bill be resent to these committees and that the deadline for adopting it be extended by 60 days. However, the assembly rejected Frunda's proposal.

Liberal senator Minerva Boitan said her fellow liberal senators will not endorse an ordinance which places sufferers "on house arrest". Labor Committee chair Cristian Radulescu stressed that the verifications will not infringe upon the citizens' constitutional rights and liberties. According to Radulescu, the checkups will be conducted by the staff of the national health insurance authority, most of whom are qualified doctors.

Democrat liberal senator Iulian Urban said the only way to control the phenomenon of unlawful sick leaves is to sanction the doctors who fraudulently release medical certificates. According to Urban, the verification system proposed by the draft ordinance will entail public spending without actually solving the problem.

The draft ordinance did not garner a sufficient number of votes to be either rejected or adopted. As the deadline for tacit approval is Wednesday, the bill will be sent to the Chamber of Deputies, which will take the final decision in this matter.

Romania's Health Minister Cseke Attila said late April that authorities will issue two orders to enforce the Government emergency decree regulating medical leave. At the time, Cseke said that, in 2006, 3% of the Health Ministry's budget was allotted to pay social security benefits for the leave period, adding that, in 2009, the ratio hit 9% and is currently on the rise. Cseke highlighted that authorities believe many of the medical leave certificates have no medical grounds.

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