Guide to the exceptions from the unpaid first day of sick leave in 2026 (Legea 64/2026, OUG 91/2025): the exempt categories, the per-episode rule and correct marking of the certificate.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
The rule introduced in 2026 — the first day of sick leave is not paid — does not apply to everyone. There is a set of exceptions for which the employee remains paid from the first day. Classifying a case wrongly means either deducting a day that was due, or paying one that should not have been paid. Here is who falls under the exceptions and how they are marked correctly.
The rule on the unpaid first day was introduced by OUG 91/2025 (Emergency Ordinance 91/2025) and approved, with additions, by Legea 64/2026 (Law 64/2026). It applies to certificates issued within a determined interval (in principle February 2026 – December 2027). Legea 64/2026 was the act that extended the list of exceptions, so these categories in particular have to be read carefully.
Application is phased: the deduction of the first day starts from the beginning of the interval, while some exceptions and clarifications came into force along the way (for example from 1 June 2026). Every date has to be checked against the official text, because the sequence OUG → approving law produced several moments of entry into force.
One principle that avoids errors: the unpaid first day is deducted only once per illness episode, not for each certificate. If a period of sick leave continues through “continuation” certificates for the same episode, the employee loses a single day, at the start of the episode. A day is not deducted at every extension.
The following remain paid from the first day, as exceptions to the rule:
For these categories the first day is paid as normal — the deduction does not apply. The concrete way the exceptions are applied is set out in a joint order of the Minister of Health and the President of CNAS (the National Health Insurance House), issued on the basis of Legea 64/2026.
Falling under an exception depends on the code and the markings on the medical certificate (for example membership of a national health programme). If the certificate is not marked accordingly, the system treats it as ordinary sick leave and deducts the first day — even though the case was in fact exempt. The consequence: the employee loses the indemnity for the first day without justification, and correcting it afterwards is laborious.
The people most affected are employees with conditions that fall under the exceptions, but whose certificates reach the employer without the correct marking. The employer’s role is to check the type of leave and the code before running it through payroll, not afterwards. A wrong classification is not just an accounting problem — it means less money for an employee who is often in a difficult medical situation.
The Leave module in Workly works with multiple types of sick leave and classifies each certificate deterministically by its code. When a code falls under the exceptions, the first day is not deducted; when it does not, the rule applies — once per episode. Payroll picks up the correct classification, and the risk of losing the indemnity through manual marking errors drops sharply. For questions such as “is the first day paid for code X?”, the internal assistant Modi answers from the rule, not from guesswork.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not medical, tax or legal advice. The list of exceptions and the application dates may be changed by subsequent legislation — always check the text in force at the official source (CNAS, ANAF, Monitorul Oficial) or consult a specialist before taking a decision.
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