Judicial overtime pay: work performed under incomplete staffing scheme excluded from Labor Code overtime definition

The High Court of Cassation and Justice, in its Full Composition for Resolving Legal Issues, issued a mandatory ruling binding on lower courts, determining that the work performed by judges in the context of an incomplete staffing scheme does not constitute overtime work under Article 120(1) of the Labor Code. This decision resolved a preliminary question referred by the Bucharest Tribunal – Civil Section I, concerning the labor law classification of judicial duties performed due to understaffing. By establishing that such activities fall outside the legal definition of overtime, the court clarified the remuneration and working time framework for judicial personnel, specifically addressing the dispute over whether these specific conditions of service trigger the higher pay rates and rest periods mandated for extra hours.