FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG LEGISLATING A RIGHT TO DISCONNECT 2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN ROMANIA In Romania labour legislation is very restrictive and protective as regards employees' working time. The Romanian Labour Code lays down maximum working times and minimum rest times ¹⁰. All provisions regarding working times and rest times are mandatory. Moreover, the Labour Code expressly states that employees may not waive the rights recognised by law and that any arrangement that seeks to waive the rights recognised by law to employees or limit these rights is null and void. Working time is defined as any period during which employees perform work, are available to the employer and perform their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the provisions of the individual employment contract, the applicable collective labour agreement and/ or the legislation in force. LIMITATION OF THE WORKING WEEK The maximum legal working time may not exceed 48 hours per week, including overtime. As a result of the transposition of European legislation in the area of organisation of working time, as an exception, total working time, including overtime, may be extended beyond 48 hours per week provided that average working hours calculated over a reference period of 4 calendar months do not exceed 48 hours per week ¹¹. In addition, employees are entitled to a weekly rest period of 48 consecutive hours, generally Saturday and Sunday. LIMITATION OF DAILY WORKING TIME Normal working time is limited to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Usually, working time is equally distributed- 8 hours per each working day. However, depending on the specifics of the company or the work performed, an unequal distribution of working time is also possible, but with the normal working time of 40 hours per week being abided by. There is also a maximum limit for daily working time, applicable in all cases(i.e. unequal daily distribution of working time, performance of overtime): employees have a right to a rest period that must not be less than 12 consecutive hours between two working days. Moreover, the daily working time of 12 hours is to be followed by a rest period of 24 hours. Thus, daily working time cannot exceed 12 hours, but exceeding an 8-hour working day cannot become the rule since the total overtime within the week is also limited, as described above. 10 Art. 111-119, 135, 137 of the Romanian Labour Code – Law no. 53/2003, as amended and supplemented. 11 Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time. Other exceptions are allowed as well, but only within the limits of this Directive. LIMITATION OF OVERTIME The maximum limit of the working week(48 hours) means, as a rule, a total number of 8 overtime hours per week. It is to be noted that in case of part-time labour contracts, performance of overtime is prohibited by the Labour Code. Thus, overtime is allowed only for full-time workers and it is limited to 8 hours per week. Overtime is defined by the Labour Code as work performed above and beyond normal weekly working time. Overtime work may not be performed without the consent of the employee, except in cases of force majeure or for urgent work intended to prevent accidents or to remove the consequences of an accident. Thus, the employee cannot be obliged to perform work above and beyond the normal weekly working time. CONTROL AND SANCTIONS The employer has the obligation to keep at the workplace a record of working hours performed on a daily basis by each employee, with the beginning and ending time of the work schedule being recorded, and to submit this record for review by labour inspectors if so requested. On the other hand, in the event of any breach by an employer of any of the above-mentioned rules, employees have the right to submit a complaint to the employer or directly to the labour 4