Romania: New law to regulate internships

According to Law no. 176/2018 the internship programs have to focus on the training of the interns under the supervision of an employee that is selected by the Company to act as a supervisor. Companies with fewer than 20 employees can implement an internship program for 2 interns at the most, while Companies with more than 20 employees can implement internship programs for a number of interns that should not exceed 5% of the number of employees. Each internship period should not exceed 6 months per intern, even if the intern is involved in more than one internship program. The interns are to be paid an internship indemnity that should not be less than 50% of the national minimum wage. The interns will have a working schedule of no more than 40 hours/week if they are over 18 years, or of no more than 30 hours/week, without exceeding 6 hours/day if they are under 18 years. At the end of the internship program the supervisor will evaluate the activity of the intern according to a procedure established by the same law and the Company will use this evaluation in order to decide if they will employ the former intern. The internship contract is not an employment contract, however the intern has some of the rights that employees have, such as the right to medical leave, that suspends the internship and the right to have the internship period recognized as seniority under the public pension system.