The ordinance was published in the Official Journal on December 10, 2010 and entered effect on January 1, 2011. It says mothers can choose to stay on maternity leave for two years and receive a monthly benefit of 600 to 1,200 lei (EUR142 – EUR284), or they can stay on maternity leave for just one year and get a monthly child rearing benefit of up to RON3,400.
The act also states that mothers who choose to return to work before the end of one year’s maternity leave receive a monthly benefit of RON500 until the end of the two-year period they could have spent on leave.
The Senate tacitly adopted the law approving the ordinance in February. The Chamber of Deputies adopted the law on May 24, but social democrat and liberal MPs challenged its constitutionality. On June 15, the Constitutional Court cleared the law.
(EUR1=RON4.2192)