Limitation in the matter of disciplinary liability. Calculation of the time limit in case of non-registration of the disciplinary investigation report at the company’s registration office

DREPTUL MUNCII ŞI DREPTUL SECURITĂŢII SOCIALE

Abstract

The provisions of Art. 252 para. (1) of the Labour Code, according to which the employer orders that a disciplinary sanction be applied by a decision issued in written form, within 30 calendar days after taking note of the disciplinary offence, but no later than 6 months after the act is committed, provide only a partial employee protection mechanism for the concrete assumption in which the employer omits, intentionally or culpably, to register the final report of the preliminary disciplinary investigation at the company’s registration office. In the case of diligent registration of the disciplinary committee’s report at the company’s registration office immediately after completion, the employee protection is ensured by a system of two limitation periods (30 days and 6 months, respectively), which, by correlation, significantly shorten the uncertainty of disciplinary liability and meet the requirements for work relations stability. On the contrary, in the case of omission of registration of the disciplinary committee’s report at the company’s registration office, the employee’s protection is ensured by only one limitation period (6 months), with the employee protection mechanism being functional and effective but, unlike the previously analysed assumption, only partial.