Sheltered Enterprise

A Sheltered Enterprise [UPA] undertakes to integrate to work disabled persons partially or totally active in making the products and providing the services they promote.

The legal framework established a set of obligations regarding the employment of the disabled persons. Thus, according to the provisions of article 78 paragraph (2) of Law no. 448/2006 republished, the public authorities and institutions and the legal entities in the public or private field, who have at least 50 employees, except for the public institutions of national defence, public order and national security are under the obligation of hiring disabled persons for at least 4 % of the total number of employees.

The public authorities and institutions, the private or public legal entities which do not hire disabled persons under the conditions mentioned above, may choose to fulfil one of the following obligations:

• to pay monthly to the state budget an amount representing 50% of the minimum gross base salary by country multiplied by the number of jobs for which they have not employed disabled persons;
• to purchase products and services made by the own activity of the disabled persons employed by Sheltereds Enterprises, on partnership basis, on an amount equivalent to the one owed to the state budget.

In the meaning of the current legislation the own activity of the disabled person employed by the authorized Sheltered Enterprise, represents all the activities partially or totally performed by the disabled person in order to obtain the sellable product or to provide the service. The account 447 is called "Special social solidarity fund for the disabled persons", created Government Emergency Ordinance no. 102/1999, amended [abrogated] by Law 448/2006.

Which are the necessary documents for deduction?

A state or private-owned company which benefits from services or products from an UPA needs the following documents in order to deduct them from the disability fund:

• the commercial agreement
• the partnership agreement
• the authorization to operate as UPA
• the order to operate as UPA