Print This PostClarifications on Commercial Relationships
As for the fate of the other commercial agreements where one of the parties cannot perform its obligations because of the disruptions caused by the volcanic eruptions in Iceland, one must first analyze how the parties regulated the Force Majeure concept. The parties to an agreement are free to precisely stipulate the circumstances which are included in this concept, as well as the implications of the application thereof to commercial covenants.
If the parties did not expressly regulate this concept, the legal definition of Force Majeure shall become applicable. In the latter case, the principle governing the parties’ relations will be that an obligation that cannot be executed because of a Force Majeure event will remain suspended during its interval of occurrence (in the case of contracts that envisage an extensive timeframe), or even cease to exist (in case execution has become impossible, or inadequate at the moment the Force Majeure event has elapsed). As a result, the debtor of such obligation will not be able to request the execution of the creditor’s corresponding obligation, nor will the creditor be able to claim damages for the non-performance of such obligation from the debtor.
Clarifications on Employer – Employee Relationships
The eruptions of the Icelandic volcano also raised controversies as regards the relations between employers and their employees trapped on various airports:
In principle, the Romanian Labor Code provides that any individual employment agreement is suspended de jure throughout the existence of a Force Majeure case. If we apply this provision directly, we reach the conclusion that, during the employee’s absence from work because of his/her total and objective impossibility to travel, both his/her obligation to work and the employer’s obligation to pay him/her are suspended. If the employee refuses, for unjustifiable or unreasonable grounds, to use other transportation means in order to reach his/her place of work, his/her absence may become unauthorized, and may entail sanctions for breach of discipline;
The expenses incurred by the employees caught by the Icelandic volcano eruption while traveling on duty (i.e. accommodation cost, transport cost, daily allowance) are to be handled, in principle, by the employer. However, these expenses must also comply with the “reasonability” criterion, and they could end up being charged to the employee when the impossibility to travel is no longer absolute, and the employee unreasonably refuses to travel back to his/her place of work.
