The practice of gambling in 2021
Carrying out the activity of traditional gambling, during the alert state, in the context of the current national regulations
Article from the series “Gambling practice“, by Anchidim Zăgrean, president of ROMBET
As a result of the successive measures to extend the state of alert throughout the country, established by government decisions, the organizers of traditional gambling can implement a series of practical measures in order to mitigate the economic and social consequences and to protect businesses.
Below we summarize the restrictions imposed on the activity of traditional gambling in Romania, how to implement them, as well as some legal measures in order to minimize the losses generated by government measures.
1. Measures regarding the organization of the activity of traditional gambling, during the alert state:
a) it is ordered the organization of work at home or in telework regime, where the specificity of the activity allows, under the conditions of art. 108-110 of Law no. 53/2003 – Labor Code, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, as well as those established by Law no. 81/2018 regarding the regulation of the telework activity, with the subsequent modifications and completions;
b) in the situation when the activity cannot be carried out by the employees, in the regime of telework or work at home, in order to avoid the congestion of the public transport and if they have a number of more than 50 employees, it is obligatory to organize the work schedule so that the staff is divided into groups to start or end the activity, at a difference of at least one hour;
c) the organization of the activity at the workplace shall be carried out, in compliance with the legal provisions issued by the competent authorities regarding the prevention of contamination with SARS-CoV-2 virus and for ensuring the safety and health at work of workers, taking into account the degree of vaccination of employees at that workplace, certified by the vaccination certificate against the SARS-CoV-2 virus presented by employees for whom 10 days have passed since the completion of the complete vaccination schedule, as well as by the number of employees between the 15th and 180th day after confirmation of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and holding and presenting to the employer a certificate issued by the family doctor;
d) observance of the Joint Order, of the Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism and of the Minister of Health, no. 1088 of 16 June 2020, approving the Regulations on the establishment of specific measures to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus for the organization and conduct of activities in betting rooms as well as for the establishment of specific measures for gambling locations , in safe conditions;
e) observance of working hours with the public as well as the restrictions established by decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations, at the proposal of the Technical-Scientific Support Group on the management of highly contagious diseases in Romania or of the county or Bucharest committee for emergency situations;
f) compliance with the obligation to scan the QR code, on the digital certificate of the European Union on COVID-19, using the section “Verification of internal rules” in the mobile application “Check DCC”, in order to establish the authenticity, validity and integrity of the certificate, without retains no data or information in the verified document.
2. The manner of carrying out the activity of traditional gambling, during the alert state, depending on the degree of incidence cumulated at 14 days:
a) The cumulative degree of incidence is less than or equal to 3 per 1,000 inhabitants
The activity with the public of the economic operators licensed in the field of gambling is allowed, up to the maximum capacity of the space, in all counties as well as in all localities.
b) The cumulative degree of incidence is greater than 3 and less than or equal to 6 per 1,000 inhabitants
The activity with the public of the economic operators licensed in the field of gambling is allowed up to 50% of the maximum capacity of the space in all counties or in all localities provided that all the persons participating in this activity have:
– have been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and for which 10 days have elapsed since the completion of the complete vaccination schedule;
– shows the negative result of an RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 virus infection not older than 72 hours or the certified negative result of a rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 virus infection not older than 48 hours;
– is in the period between the 15th and 180th day after confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.
c) The cumulative degree of incidence is higher than 6 per 1,000 inhabitants
The activity with the public of the economic operators licensed in the field of gambling is allowed up to 50% of the maximum capacity of the space, in all counties and all localities, provided that all the persons participating in this activity have:
– have been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and for which 10 days have elapsed since the completion of the complete vaccination schedule;
– is in the period between the 15th and 180th day after confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.
3. Some measures of gambling organizers in order to mitigate the economic and social consequences and to protect business:
a) during the alert period and until December 31, 2021, if the organizer temporarily suspends the individual employment contract of employees, the benefits they receive are set at 75% of the basic salary corresponding to the job occupied and are borne by the insurance budget for unemployment, but not more than 75% of the average gross earnings provided by the Law on the state social insurance budget for 2021. These measures benefit the employees of employers who reduce or temporarily interrupt the activity totally or partially according to a declaration on their own responsibility employer. The indemnity calculated by the employer is subject to taxation and payment of compulsory social contributions and the calculation, withholding and payment of income tax, state social insurance contribution and social health insurance contribution is made by the employer from the indemnities received from the unemployment insurance budget;
b) temporary reduction of working time, during the alert state, as well as for a period of up to 3 months from the date of termination of the last period in which the alert state was established, employers have the possibility to reduce the working time of employees with not more than 80% of the daily, weekly or monthly duration provided for in the individual employment contract, by decision of the employer, for a period of at least 5 working days, included in the period of 30 calendar days, starting with the first day of effective application of measure. During this period, the employees benefit from an indemnity of 75% of the gross monthly basic salary related to the hours of reduction of the working hours. The reduction of working time is also applied in the case of the shift work schedule, as well as in the case of the unequal work schedule;
c) the recalculation and adjustment of excise duties, as a result of the fact that they represent taxes on services and as a consequence of the fact that these budgetary obligations must be paid as a result of the delivery of those services, as provided for in EU Regulation 549 of 2013, mandatory to be applied in all Member States, as well as following the implementation of the provisions of GEO 106/2020.
We return, in the following issues of the magazine, with other opinions on the activity of gambling…
