Roxana Abrasu, NNDKP: The situation in employment law is dynamic and changes quickly

Roxana Abrasu, Partner and Head of the Employment Practice at NNDKP provides valuable information on the post-pandemic employer-employee relation in a discussion with Business Review. Abrasu discusses the remote and office work dynamics and the efficiency measures companies adopted in 2023.

Shifting Work Dynamics: Navigating the Changing Landscape of Remote and Office Work

For Roxana Abrasu it is clear that compared to pre-pandemic years, now employers show greater concern for employees. “While not long ago we were thinking about how to best implement hybrid and remote work, we have recently had two very large clients tell us they want to reintroduce 100 percent office work, a major change from how things were during the pandemic and immediately after. Things have not yet returned to normal and we still have a lot of work to do, but what is clear is that employers are now showing greater concern for employees than before the pandemic,” said Abrasu, Partner, Head of Employment Practice at NNDKP.

Embracing Remote Work Opportunities and Ensuring Well-being

“Working from home is of great interest to candidates and will continue to be so in the future. Yes, remote work comes with its inevitable challenges, but companies are also now finding different ways to counteract the negative effects that this type of work can have. Remote work creates a series of responsibilities for the employer in the sense that companies have to take care that everything that happens outside their own premises does not pose any H&S or social risks. Also, the new changes to the labor code have brought more flexibility to the way of working.”

Empowering Work-Life Balance: Navigating Remote Work Collaboration and Managerial Adaptations

Employees have some leverage in their relationship with the employer, and a good work-life balance can be achieved through dialogue, taking into account the interests of each party. Of course, a lot also depends on the manager with whom the employee is talking. Remote work will remain a reality of our lives for a long time to come, and employers need to find the best solution to keep everyone happy.

Efficiency Measures in Focus in 2023

At NNDKP, we have noticed that employers are taking efficiency measures due to the general global context, with clients implementing reorganization processes in all sectors of activity. “They are not necessarily generated by negative financial results, but rather the desire to be cautious and to make processes as efficient as possible in relation to the workforce. There will be collective layoffs at large companies and large employers. Actually this is already happening as we speak. From a legal point of view, we should keep in mind that reorganization measures cannot be implemented in the absence of real business reasons, otherwise they will not withstand a legal process,” continued Roxana Abrasu.

Balancing Legal Compliance and Business Rationality in Workforce Reorganization

“Beyond these, there are several steps that must be taken, the unions must also be involved, and all the provisions of the labor code must be observed. In our country, employees enjoy protection before the courts, even when there are genuine reasons for companies to initiatereorganization measures. But there are still judges who lack vision or do not want to have one and do not understand the business rationale for such a decision. The situation is dynamic and changes very quickly; if last year we had clients who were making expansion plans, this year they suddenly stopped hiring and moved to the point-by-point reorganization of each department.” – concluded Roxana Abrasu, Partner, Head of the Employment Practice at NNDKP.