In addition to the basic salary, many Romanian employees also receive bonuses. These bonuses are granted either to employees who work overtime or to those who work at night, on weekends, or during holidays. Depending on the type of bonus, employees can earn up to double their basic salary for work performed during regular working hours.

Below, we present a series of bonuses provided for in the Romanian Labor Code:

Overtime Bonus

According to the Labor Code, overtime is compensated by paid time off within the next 90 calendar days after it is performed. If compensation through paid time off is not possible, overtime will be paid to the employee by adding a bonus to the salary corresponding to the duration of the overtime.

It should be noted that the overtime bonus is established through negotiation within the collective labor agreement or, as the case may be, the individual labor contract and cannot be less than 75% of the basic salary.

Night Work Bonus

According to legal provisions, work performed by an employee between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. is considered night work. Therefore, employees who work during this time period for at least 3 hours of their daily work time or those who perform night work for at least 30% of their monthly working time are entitled, according to the Labor Code, to either a work schedule reduced by one hour compared to the normal working day, without decreasing the basic salary, or a bonus of 25% of the basic salary.

Weekly Rest Bonus

According to the Labor Code, the weekly rest period is 48 consecutive hours, usually on Saturday and Sunday. If rest on Saturdays and Sundays would harm public interest or normal activity, the weekly rest can be granted on other days as established by the applicable collective labor agreement or by the internal regulations. In this case, employees will receive a bonus to their salary as established by the collective labor agreement or, as the case may be, the individual labor contract.

In the case of employees whose weekly rest is granted cumulatively after a continuous period of activity not exceeding 14 calendar days, with the authorization of the territorial labor inspectorate and with the agreement of the trade union or, as the case may be, employee representatives, they are entitled to double the due compensation. In this situation, the bonus for overtime is established through negotiation within the collective labor agreement or, as the case may be, the individual labor contract and cannot be less than 75% of the basic salary.

Holiday Work Bonus

According to Article 142 of the Labor Code, employees who work in healthcare units and public catering units, to ensure medical assistance and the supply of the population with essential food products, as well as at workplaces where the activity cannot be interrupted due to the nature of the production process or the specificity of the activity, are compensated with equivalent time off in the next 30 days.

If, for justified reasons, no time off is granted, employees are entitled, for work performed on legal holidays, to a bonus to the basic salary that cannot be less than 100% of the basic salary corresponding to work performed during regular working hours.

In addition to these bonuses provided by the Labor Code, there are also a number of other bonuses found in Law 153/2017 regarding the remuneration of personnel paid from public funds, updated in 2021.