Hiring in Romania

You can hire directly through a Romanian entity; eligible foreign employers can also use ANAF’s registration and reporting pathways, subject to applicable social-security coordination rules and the agreed allocation of filing duties.

An employer of record supplying workers under your direction must follow Romanian temporary-agency rules; contracting fits work performed with genuine independence.

The national minimum base salary is RON 4,325 / month gross since 1 July 2026, excluding supplements and additions.

For independent service work, 4dev.com is a contractor platform working with contractors in Romania. Its Contractor Platform brings contracts and closing documents into one register, verifies contractor documents at onboarding and operates through one platform agreement.

Three ways to hire in Romania

Use employment for supervised roles and contracting for independently delivered work. The employing entity owes the salary and employment contributions.

Route	Legal employer	What you pay on top of salary	How you end it
Your own entity	Your Romanian entity	Ordinary employer CAM: 2.25%; additional obligations depend on the role and applicable terms	At least 20 working days for specified dismissals; other exit rules differ
Employer of record	The authorized agency signing the employment contract	Ordinary employer CAM: 2.25%, plus the separately quoted agency service fee	At least 20 working days for specified dismissals; ending the client agreement or mission can differ from ending employment
Contractor	No legal employer in a genuine independent relationship	Agreed service price; the contractor’s own taxes apply, rather than employee salary plus CAM	Service-contract terms; reasonable notice for indefinite arrangements

The 20 working days dismissal minimum applies to specified incapacity, professional-unsuitability and redundancy grounds, subject to the probation exception. See termination rules for other exits.

The Fiscal Code’s independence test requires at least four of seven criteria for an individual activity. Contract terms must reflect actual independence; labour-law analysis separately examines work, salary-form remuneration and subordination.

Direct employment without a Romanian subsidiary

ANAF describes pathways for foreign employers without a Romanian headquarters, permanent establishment or representation where European social-security rules or an applicable social-security agreement require Romanian contributions.

Whether employer and employee sign a qualifying payroll agreement determines the allocation of ANAF filings.

Before committing to direct employment, establish the applicable tax pathway, employment-contract requirements and labour-law registration obligations for the proposed employer and worker.

Client duties under agency employment

Check the employing legal person’s authorization. You direct the assigned work, remain responsible for working conditions and must promptly notify the agency of accidents or occupational diseases.

The agency ordinarily pays salary and handles taxes and contributions. You may have to cover unpaid obligations under two distinct rules:

• Under the Labour Code, if the agency fails to perform salary, tax and contribution obligations within 15 calendar days of their due date, you pay at the temporary worker’s request.
• Under Government Decision 1256/2011, if the agency lacks funds or its guarantee is insufficient within 15 calendar days of the obligations’ due date, you pay on the worker’s written request or the labour inspector’s request.

Review mission limits, authorization and the guarantee alongside the provider contract. Assess Romanian permanent establishment separately under the relevant facts and treaty; neither direct foreign employment nor an EOR establishes its absence.

The labour market

Start your search in Romania’s startup hubs and use role-specific salary ranges to prepare offers. The national gross average gives a broader budget reference.

Cities and digital specialisms

Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Iași are prominent startup hubs in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s July 2025 country profile.

Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Oradea attract substantial investment, according to the US International Trade Administration’s June 2026 market overview. This describes general investment, not an IT-city ranking.

VEDP’s profile lists these Romanian ICT areas of focus:

• Fintech.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML).
• Internet of Things (IoT).
• Cybersecurity.
• Healthcare technology.
• E-commerce.

Assess candidates’ experience individually: these descriptions establish neither city-specific skills nor local salary discounts.

Salary reference points

For senior software roles, Hays Romania’s Salary Guide 2026 provides gross monthly full-time base salary ranges drawn from its 2025 recruitment operations. The figures exclude bonuses and other benefits.

National average gross earnings, July 2026	RON 9,709 / month	News.ro / Goldring
Senior Java developer, gross monthly base	RON 31,300–46,900; optimum RON 35,300	Hays Romania
Senior DevOps engineer, gross monthly base	RON 34,100–47,800; optimum RON 43,900	Hays Romania

News.ro reported the national INS figure, republished by Goldring. A nationwide monthly average cannot price a particular role, seniority or city.

For a matching senior role, use the Hays range and budget contributions separately. Its optimum is a recruitment reference, not a mean, median or current salary observation.

Registering as an employer, step by step

Register the employer, establish its reporting duties and complete the employee’s contract, medical and REGES-ONLINE prerequisites before work starts.

For a new societate cu răspundere limitată (SRL, limited liability company), minimum subscribed capital is RON 500. Capital is separate from incorporation or administration service costs.

Step	What happens	Takes
Prepare the Romanian company filing	Choose the legal form; reserve the name; establish the registered office; prepare constitutive documents, the operating-conditions declaration and any legally required prior permits	Timing not established
Obtain registration	The registrar decides a qualifying application; the registration certificate carries the Trade Register number, CUI (unique fiscal registration code) and EUID (European unique identifier)	One working day from filing if legal requirements are met, or from completion of required formalities/documents; registry entry within 24 hours of the order
Arrange the legal person’s account	Open and maintain a payment account in Romania or at a State Treasury unit	Newly established legal persons: within 60 working days of establishment
Set up employer tax reporting	Determine the employer’s tax registration, salary-tax and contribution declaration responsibilities	Timing not established
Complete employee prerequisites	Sign the written Romanian employment contract and establish medical fitness under the applicable Labour Code rules	Contract by the day before work starts; medical fitness generally required for employment, with the foreign-worker signing exception subject to fitness by start
Obtain registry access and submit start data	Arrange authorized REGES-ONLINE access and transmit the employee’s required contract details	Access time not established; start data by the day before work begins
Run recurring declarations	Apply the reporting calendar for the chosen tax pathway	Foreign-employer pathways below: generally the 25th of the following month
Total	Company registration and employee readiness have separate prerequisites	No established end-to-end total; prerequisites and filing completeness determine it

The foreign-employer ANAF pathways

Use these ANAF reporting branches where European social-security rules or an applicable social-security agreement make Romanian contributions due for the foreign employer without Romanian headquarters, permanent establishment or representation.

No employer–employee payroll agreement	Employer registers on form 015 and reports social contributions through D112; employee reports salary tax through D224	ANAF
Qualifying employer–employee agreement	Employee registers using form 020/030, as applicable, and reports salary tax and both parties’ contributions through D112; submit the agreement with its Romanian translation	ANAF
Monthly reporting and payment	Generally due by the 25th of the following month for these pathways	ANAF

Assign each filing before the first payroll cycle. The agreement allocates administration under this procedure; the relationship’s labour-law prerequisites require a separate assessment.

REGES-ONLINE and the employer’s responsibility

Arrange REGES-ONLINE access before the first start submission following the Revisal transition. The employer remains responsible for complete, timely and accurate records even when someone else enters the data.

The registry rules set different deadlines for each event:

Employee start data	By the day before work begins	ITM Vaslui / Romanian Government
Salary changes	Generally within 20 working days of the change	ITM Vaslui / Romanian Government
Role, contract type/duration, workplace or working-time changes	Generally by the day before the change	ITM Vaslui / Romanian Government
Court-ordered changes to those terms or salary	Within 10 working days of the employer learning the judgment’s content	ITM Vaslui / Romanian Government
Suspension or its end	Generally by the previous day; medical-certificate cases within 3 working days of the employer registering the certificate; unjustified absence/force-majeure cases within 3 working days of suspension	ITM Vaslui / Romanian Government
Contract termination	By termination or the date the employer learns of the legally relevant terminating event	ITM Vaslui / Romanian Government

D&B David și Baias’s 29 May 2026 analysis reported a first-instance REGES annulment. The final judicial outcome remains unconfirmed. The coauthors distinguish that litigation from the underlying recordkeeping duty:

The recordkeeping obligation has a broader legal basis, including in the Labour Code.

— Sonia Bălănescu, Managing Associate, and Cosmina Mieilă, Associate, D&B David și Baias (translated from Romanian)

Hiring and onboarding

Agree probation, telework and software-rights terms alongside salary and hours, and complete the pre-start checks below.

Contract form, probation and fixed terms

The Labour Code requires a written Romanian employment contract no later than the day before work starts. Medical fitness is generally required for employment; the foreign-worker exception permits signing before the certificate, which must be obtained by start.

Ordinary probation maxima are 90–120 calendar days: up to 90 for non-management roles and 120 for management. Either party may end the contract during or at probation’s end by written notification, without notice or reasons.

Fixed-term employment is available only on permitted grounds and cannot exceed 36 months. Its probation limits use working days and depend on contract duration; temporary-agency missions have a separate regime.

Fixed term under 3 months	Maximum probation: 5 working days	Labour Code
Fixed term 3–6 months	Maximum probation: 15 working days	Labour Code
Fixed term over 6 months, non-management	Maximum probation: 30 working days	Labour Code
Fixed term over 6 months, management	Maximum probation: 45 working days	Labour Code

Onboarding checklist

Before authorizing work:

• Identify the legal employer and the person signing its contract; assess whether actual work conditions require employment or permit independent contracting.
• Agree the job, gross salary, working hours and any probation period within the applicable limits.
• Sign the written employment contract by the day before work begins.
• Hand the employee a copy of the employment contract before work begins (Labour Code, article 16(3)).
• Obtain the medical fitness certificate under the applicable rule. Foreign workers may sign before obtaining it, but must have it by the start date.
• Ensure the required start data reaches REGES-ONLINE by the previous day.
• Include the express telework agreement and required operational terms where the employee will telework.

Remote work and software rights

Agree telework expressly in the employment contract or an addendum, covering:

• Periods or days spent at an employer-organized workplace.
• The schedule and method for checking the employee’s work.
• Recording working hours.
• Safety and health responsibilities for the work locations.
• Transport of work materials where applicable.
• The employer’s information duties and the employee’s obligations concerning data protection.
• Measures against isolation, including regular opportunities to meet colleagues.
• Conditions for employer-covered telework expenses.

Unless agreed otherwise, economic copyright in software belongs to the employer when an employee creates it while performing job duties or following employer instructions.

Where a provider is the legal employer, check how rights pass onward to your business in the EOR arrangement. For independently supplied work, review the contractor’s IP terms separately.

Collective agreements and training

Collective negotiation is mandatory in workplaces with at least 10 employees or workers; concluding an agreement is not compulsory. Check any applicable agreement’s pay, leave and severance terms.

Budget employer-funded vocational-training participation for all employees at the frequency required for your headcount:

Employer with at least 21 employees	Training participation at least every 2 years; employer bears the cost	Labour Code, article 194
Employer with fewer than 21 employees	Training participation at least every 3 years; employer bears the cost	Labour Code, article 194

Foreign workers and start-date checks

Confirm the worker’s immigration route and its availability before agreeing a start date. Signing an employment contract or completing provider onboarding does not establish permission to work.

Apply the Romanian-contract rule and the foreign worker’s applicable language requirements. The medical exception permits signing before the fitness certificate, which must be obtained by start.

On 15 September 2026, the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) announced temporary disabling of selected WorkInRomania workflows following the court-ordered suspension of the shortage-occupation list order. The affected flows were:

• Employer registration.
• Employer authorization.
• Submission of the single application for a D/AM2 long-stay employment visa.

Unaffected functions remain available. IGI gave no resumption date for the disabled flows, and current resumption is unconfirmed; check the route your employer and worker need.

IGI said it was analysing already-submitted applications and would adapt procedures to the applicable framework. It gave no individual decision timetable.

For an EOR hire, assign immigration responsibilities to the provider, worker and client separately from commercial activation and employment-document preparation.

Minimum wage

RON 4,325 / month is the national minimum gross base salary since 1 July 2026, excluding supplements and additions. Your contractual base salary must meet the applicable floor independently of those extras.

The decree states an hourly equivalent of RON 25.949 for an average 166.667 hours per month. That is the decree’s reference schedule, rather than the number of hours actually worked in every month.

The preceding general floor was RON 4,050 from 1 January 2025 through 30 June 2026. Selected effective-date changes in gross monthly base salary are:

From 1 January 2022	RON 2,550 / month	Romanian Government, HG 1071/2021
From 1 January 2023	RON 3,000 / month	Romanian Government, HG 1447/2022
From 1 October 2023	RON 3,300 / month	Romanian Government, HG 900/2023
From 1 July 2024	RON 3,700 / month	ANAF Vrancea
From 1 January 2025	RON 4,050 / month	Labour Code
From 1 July 2026	RON 4,325 / month	Romanian Government, HG 146/2026

These are statutory monthly levels at their effective dates, not annual averages.

The construction-sector minimum is separately set at RON 4,582 gross per month from 1 January 2025, excluding allowances, supplements and additions. Check the applicable sector before using the general floor in an offer.

The deadlines behind a minimum-wage offer

A minimum-wage offer needs three separate reviews: when the national floor changes, when the contract reaches its minimum-pay limit and when the tax allowance changes or expires.

National floor	Apply the decree’s salary level from its effective date	Romanian Government, HG 146/2026
Individual contract	Maximum 24 months at the national minimum from contract conclusion; then base salary above the current national minimum	Labour Code
Tax allowance	Check the period’s amount, exact-minimum base, full-time main-job status and remuneration ceiling	ANAF Galați

When the national floor changes

The July 2026 decree changed the general gross base floor to RON 4,325 from 1 July. Apply that government date to covered salaries regardless of when a particular employment contract was concluded.

24 months from contract conclusion

The Labour Code’s individual limit runs for a maximum of 24 months from contract conclusion. After it expires, the employee’s base salary must exceed the national minimum applicable at that time.

A national increase does not restart the contract clock. The rule requires base pay above the current minimum, without prescribing a percentage increase.

Allowance eligibility and expiry

The qualifying exemption from salary income tax and mandatory social contributions is:

• January–June 2026: RON 300 per month, with eligible monthly gross remuneration no higher than RON 4,300.
• July–December 2026: RON 200 per month, with eligible monthly gross remuneration no higher than RON 4,600.

All these eligibility conditions must be met:

• Full-time employment at the employee’s main job.
• Contractual gross base salary equal to the national minimum in force for the relevant month, excluding supplements and additions.
• Monthly gross salary and salary-equivalent income from that contract within the applicable ceiling, excluding legally granted meal tickets, holiday vouchers and food allowance from this ceiling calculation.

Prorate the exemption for the part of the month with base at the minimum, new employment, the relevant earnings period or termination.

Once the contract limit requires base pay above the current national minimum, the allowance’s exact-minimum condition fails.

The allowance ends on 31 December 2026 under the enacted measure. Its expiry is separate from the national floor and contract clock; these rules alone do not establish net pay.

Taxes and contributions

Budget gross salary plus ordinary employer CAM of 2.25%. Employee pension, health and salary-tax deductions come out of gross pay.

Employee salary income tax	10% of taxable salary after compulsory employee contributions and applicable deductions	ANAF, Fiscal Code
Employee pension/social insurance, CAS	25% of the applicable monthly gross salary base	ANAF, Fiscal Code
Employee health insurance, CASS	10% of the applicable monthly gross salary base	ANAF, Fiscal Code
Employer work insurance, CAM	2.25% of the applicable monthly gross salary base	ANAF, Fiscal Code

Income tax applies after compulsory employee contributions and applicable deductions. Calculate each charge on its own statutory base.

Statutorily defined workplace categories carry additional employer CAS: 4% for condiții deosebite and 8% for condiții speciale. These are alternative category-specific additions, excluded from the ordinary office-employment calculation below.

Salary payment

Pay salary in money at least once a month, on the date set in the individual employment contract, applicable collective agreement or internal rules.

The salary due date is separate from the foreign-employer ANAF reporting and tax-payment deadline, generally the 25th of the following month.

Deductions, part-time contributions and the former IT exemption

At the main job, the basic personal deduction is available for qualifying gross earnings up to RON 2,000 above the national minimum. Its amount depends on earnings and dependants; supplementary deductions have separate conditions:

• A deduction of 15% of the national minimum for employees aged up to 26 whose salary income meets the basic-deduction earnings ceiling.
• RON 100 monthly per child aged up to 18 enrolled in education, available to the qualifying parent, with the required documents and restrictions on duplicate claims.

The software-sector salary exemption ended in January 2025. Salary income of people with severe or accentuated disability remains income-tax exempt. Qualifying research, development and innovation work has a separate conditional exemption.

For the R&D exemption, check membership of a qualifying project team with defined results, distinctly budgeted project personnel expenditure, and separate project salary records. A software job title alone does not establish those conditions.

Below the statutory contribution floor, CAS and CASS may use the minimum base even on a part-time contract, adjusted for active working days. The employer bears the difference above contributions calculated on actual pay.

Document any applicable exception to that floor, including:

• Students aged up to 26.
• Apprentices under 18.
• Eligible workers with disabilities or statutory reduced working hours.
• The specified old-age pensioner categories.
• Multiple employment contracts whose aggregate contribution base reaches the minimum.

Assess eligibility for temporary 2026 contribution-base adjustments separately. The minimum-pay exemption has its own conditions and expiry.

What an employee actually costs you

For ordinary full-time office employment above the minimum-pay allowance ceiling, gross salary plus employer CAM gives these monthly costs:

National average gross, July 2026	Gross RON 9,709.00 + CAM RON 218.45 = RON 9,927.45 / month	News.ro / Goldring; ANAF, Fiscal Code
Senior Java developer, Hays 2026 optimum	Gross RON 35,300.00 + CAM RON 794.25 = RON 36,094.25 / month	Hays Romania; ANAF, Fiscal Code
Senior DevOps engineer, Hays 2026 optimum	Gross RON 43,900.00 + CAM RON 987.75 = RON 44,887.75 / month	Hays Romania; ANAF, Fiscal Code

The salary references are the July 2026 national gross average reported by News.ro/Goldring and Hays 2026 full-time base-salary optima from 2025 recruitment operations, excluding bonuses and benefits.

Benefits, commercial administration and special-workplace charges are excluded.

Benefits, fees and contractual extras

Budget voluntary benefits, payroll-administration or provider fees according to your arrangements. Include obligations under applicable collective terms and employer-funded vocational training.

Include bonuses or additional salary instalments promised in the employment contract or applicable collective agreement.

For contractors operating as a PFA or SRL, assess independent-income tax, company tax, owner distributions and personal contributions on their separate bases. The salary-plus-CAM model covers employment.

Working time and overtime

Normal full-time work is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week; scheduling overtime also requires employee consent, compliance with the averaging limit and the applicable compensation.

Normal full-time schedule	8 hours/day; 40 hours/week	Labour Code
Working time including overtime	Normally no more than 48 hours/week; longer weeks permitted if the average over 4 calendar months stays within 48 hours/week	Labour Code
Daily rest	At least 12 consecutive hours between working days	Labour Code
Shift-work rest exception	At least 8 hours between shifts	Labour Code
Weekly rest	48 consecutive hours, normally Saturday and Sunday	Labour Code

For certain activities or professions, the applicable collective agreement can extend the reference period beyond four months, up to six months.

Overtime requires the employee’s consent, except in force majeure or urgent work to prevent accidents or remove their consequences. An ordinary deadline or staffing need does not itself establish one of those exceptions.

Compensate overtime in this order:

• Grant paid time off within 90 calendar days after the overtime is worked.
• If that is not possible within the deadline, pay the overtime in the following month with a supplement negotiated in the applicable agreement, at least 75% of base salary corresponding to those hours.

The overtime supplement is additional to ordinary salary for those hours.

Where Saturday–Sunday rest would prejudice the public interest or normal operations, rest can fall on other days under the applicable agreement or internal rules. The associated salary supplement is set by the collective or individual employment agreement.

Night work and public-holiday work

Qualifying night workers receive a shorter working day or a supplement under the conditions below:

Shorter-day option	One hour below the normal working day without reducing base salary, on days with at least 3 hours of night work	Labour Code
Night-supplement option	25% of base salary for night work where at least 3 night hours fall within normal working time	Labour Code
Work lawfully performed on a statutory holiday	Corresponding time off within 30 days	Labour Code
Holiday time off unavailable for justified reasons	Supplement of at least 100% of base salary corresponding to the work performed during normal working time	Labour Code

Holiday compensation requires legally permitted holiday work. Holiday supplements, night-work entitlements and overtime compensation have separate triggers.

Leave, sick pay and parental leave

Employees receive annual leave and statutory holidays separately. For sickness and parental benefits, check eligibility, the calculation basis and who funds each entitlement.

Annual leave and public holidays

The annual-leave minimum is 20 working days. The employment contract sets the actual entitlement subject to law and applicable collective terms; statutory holidays and collectively agreed paid days off are separate.

Annual leave	At least 20 working days, paid by the employer	Labour Code
Justifiably unused leave	With the employee’s agreement, grant within 18 months starting in the following year	Labour Code
Payment instead of unused leave	Permitted only when employment terminates	Labour Code
Leave-pay basis	Daily average of base salary, allowances and permanent supplements over the preceding 3 months, multiplied by leave days; not below the corresponding contractual entitlements	Labour Code
Payment deadline	Employer pays at least 5 working days before leave starts	Labour Code

The Labour Code lists 17 statutory days:

• 1 and 2 January; 6 January, Epiphany; 7 January, St John the Baptist; and 24 January, Union of the Romanian Principalities.
• Good Friday and the first and second days of Easter.
• 1 May and 1 June.
• The first and second days of Pentecost; the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.
• 30 November, St Andrew; 1 December; and the first and second days of Christmas.

For employees belonging to a legally recognised Christian denomination, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost follow that denomination’s dates. Employees taking both their own denomination’s dates and another Christian denomination’s dates recover the additional days under an employer-set schedule.

Members of legally recognised non-Christian religions receive two days for each of three annual religious festivals. Employers grant those days separately from the statutory holiday dates and annual leave.

The 17 entitlements do not guarantee 17 additional working days because of weekends and overlaps. In 2026, Pentecost Monday coincides with 1 June, so that date counts once when planning coverage.

Sick pay

Ordinary sickness benefits require a qualifying insurance record. The ordinary minimum is 6 months during the 12 months preceding the medical-leave month; statutory exceptions and assimilated periods must also be considered.

For employees, the benefit basis averages relevant gross earnings over 6 of the previous 12 months, capped at 12 national minimum gross monthly salaries. Apply the percentage to that statutory basis, rather than automatically to the current salary.

Ordinary illness or non-work accident: episode up to 7 days	55% of the statutory benefit basis	OUG 158/2005
Episode of 8–14 days	65% of the statutory benefit basis	OUG 158/2005
Episode over 15 days	75% of the statutory benefit basis	OUG 158/2005

For an episode lasting exactly 15 days, obtain the applicable confirmed payroll treatment before calculating the benefit.

For covered certificates issued from 1 February 2026 to 31 December 2027, the benefit is reduced by one day. Ordinary temporary-incapacity funding follows this allocation, subject to the isolation-certificate exception:

Days 2–6 of ordinary temporary incapacity, inclusive	Employer funds the benefit	OUG 158/2005 implementing norms
From the following day until incapacity ends or retirement	National health insurance fund, FNUASS, funds the benefit	OUG 158/2005 implementing norms

For a continuous illness episode or its complications, apply the one-day reduction only once, regardless of the number of certificates. The reduction has stated exemptions for:

• Maternity leave and maternal-risk leave.
• Leave to care for an oncology patient.
• Illness covered by national health programmes.
• Certificates for patients receiving hospital treatment.

Check the certificate category before applying either the reduction or the ordinary employer-funded period.

Maternity, paternal and childcare leave

Maternity benefit uses the statutory gross-income basis; childcare benefit uses relevant average net income. Paternal leave is paid at the corresponding salary.

Maternity leave	126 calendar days; benefit is 85% of the statutory basis, fully funded by FNUASS	OUG 158/2005
Paternal leave	10 paid working days; employer pays the corresponding salary; an infant-care course certificate adds 5 working days	Law 210/1999
Childcare leave	Until the child reaches age 2, or age 3 for a child with disability; qualifying income record required	OUG 111/2010
Monthly childcare benefit	85% of relevant average net income; maximum RON 8,500; minimum 2.5 times the social reference indicator, ISR	OUG 111/2010

Maternity leave normally comprises 63 calendar days before birth and 63 afterwards. The periods can be reallocated according to the physician’s recommendation and the beneficiary’s choice, while retaining at least 42 calendar days after birth.

The employed father requests paternal leave within 8 weeks of birth, with the birth certificate establishing fatherhood. Keep the infant-care course certificate with the request for the additional five working days.

Childcare eligibility requires at least 12 months of qualifying taxable income during the 2 years before birth. The benefit uses average net income from the relevant 12 months within that period, subject to its statutory minimum and ceiling.

When both parents qualify, at least 2 months are reserved for the parent who did not initially claim childcare leave. If that parent does not take the reserved period, the initial claimant cannot use it instead.

The social payments agency collects 10% CASS on childcare benefit. The benefit percentage and ceiling therefore do not represent guaranteed net receipts.

Caregiver leave and family emergencies

Caregiver leave is paid leave for a qualifying serious medical problem. An unforeseen family emergency instead allows an absence whose time must be recovered under an agreement with the employer.

Caregiver leave	Employer grants 5 paid working days per calendar year, separate from annual leave; written request to care for a relative or cohabitant with a serious medical problem	Labour Code
Unforeseen family emergency	Up to 10 working days per calendar year for illness or accident requiring immediate presence; inform the employer beforehand and agree how to recover all absent time	Labour Code

Special legislation or the collective agreement can provide longer caregiver leave. Retain the request or emergency notification and any emergency-absence recovery agreement.

Termination: notice and payments

The exit ground determines notice and amounts due: distinguish dismissal, resignation, agreement, term expiry and probation.

The Labour Code sets these notice rules:

Dismissal for specified incapacity, professional unsuitability or redundancy grounds	At least 20 working days of notice, subject to the probation exception	Labour Code
Resignation: ordinary employee	Contractual notice, maximum 20 working days	Labour Code
Resignation: management employee	Contractual notice, maximum 45 working days	Labour Code
Probation exit	Either party can end employment during or at the end of probation by written notification, without notice or reasons	Labour Code

The employer may waive resignation notice wholly or partly. An employee may resign without notice if the employer fails to fulfil its contractual obligations; ordinary resignation does not require the employee to give reasons.

Employment continues during resignation notice; suspending the contract also suspends that notice period. Record the notification, any waiver and the resulting termination date.

Document agreed exits. For fixed-term employment, check the term and expiry conditions before applying a dismissal procedure or notice period.

Restrictions to check before dismissal

Dismissal is prohibited on the discriminatory grounds listed in article 59, for lawful exercise of strike or union rights, and for exercising the rights specified in article 59(c).

Before issuing a dismissal decision, check article 60’s protected periods:

• Medically certified temporary incapacity: the restriction applies when the dismissal decision is issued.
• Suspension of activity because quarantine has been imposed.
• Pregnancy known to the employer before the decision is issued, and maternity leave.
• Child-raising leave until the child reaches age 2, or age 3 for a child with disability.
• Sick-child care leave up to age 7; for a child with disability, leave for intercurrent illnesses until the child reaches age 18.
• Annual leave.
• Paternal leave, caregiver leave and family-emergency absence under article 152².

Under article 60(2), these protected-period restrictions do not apply to dismissals for reasons resulting from judicial reorganisation, bankruptcy or employer dissolution under law.

These restrictions concern dismissal. Assess resignation, term expiry and other exit forms under their own rules.

Redundancy and final amounts

Redundancy requires effective abolition of the position for a real and serious cause unrelated to the employee. Giving notice alone does not establish a valid redundancy.

The dismissal decision must be communicated in writing and include the required statutory particulars, including reasons and notice duration. Additional particulars depend on the dismissal category. Failure to follow the required procedure can make dismissal void.

Prepare the financial settlement by checking:

• Salary and other contractual amounts due through the exit, with payment timing under the applicable terms and legal requirements.
• Compensation for unused annual leave, permitted when the employment contract terminates.
• Any severance entitlement under applicable law, collective terms or the employment contract.
• Any valid post-employment non-compete compensation obligation.

There is no universal fixed amount under the redundancy compensation provision. Budget from applicable terms and confirm the legal basis for any proposed notice arrangement.

For unlawful or unjustified dismissal, the court annuls the dismissal and awards indexed and updated lost salary and other rights. Reinstatement follows if the employee requests it, creating an obligation beyond the initial termination settlement.

Ending an agency mission and ending agency employment require separate checks in an EOR arrangement. Contractor agreements follow commercial reasonable-notice rules.

Non-compete after employment

A post-employment non-compete requires expressly agreed restrictions and monthly compensation paid by the employer throughout its duration. The employment contract must specify:

• The prohibited competitive activities.
• The monthly compensation amount and restriction period.
• The third parties for whom those activities are prohibited.
• The geographic area where the employee could actually compete with the employer.

Minimum monthly compensation	At least 50% of average gross salary income over the final 6 months before termination	Labour Code
Employment lasting less than 6 months	Use average gross monthly salary income due over the employment period	Labour Code
Maximum restriction period	2 years after employment ends, subject to statutory application limits	Labour Code, articles 22–23

The restriction cannot absolutely prohibit the employee’s profession or specialisation. Review the Code’s application limits for employer-initiated exits for reasons unrelated to the employee and automatic termination, including the expressly listed exceptions.

Assess enforceability against both the exit ground and the drafted restrictions before budgeting non-compete compensation.

Recent changes

Apply minimum-pay and sickness changes in payroll, and check immigration and invoicing rules before onboarding.

• 15 September 2026 — selected immigration workflows. IGI announced temporary disabling of WorkInRomania employer registration, employer authorisation and the single D/AM2 work-visa application flow. Unaffected functions remain available; confirm the current route before committing to a start date.

Resumption remains unconfirmed; apply the foreign-worker checks before setting a start date.

• 1 July 2026 — minimum-pay calculations. The national gross base floor becomes RON 4,325/month. The conditional minimum-pay exemption becomes RON 200/month; apply the eligibility conditions before excluding it from payroll tax bases.
• 19 June 2026 — sickness-benefit clarifications. The implementing norms apply the one-day reduction only once per continuous illness episode or its complications, regardless of certificate count, and specify exemptions. Configure certificate-category checks alongside the funding allocation.
• 1 June 2026 — CNP supplier exception. Law 88/2026 makes the specified e-Factura exemption effective for suppliers fiscally identified by personal numerical code, CNP. They may opt in, with registration in the optional register.

The exemption covers articles 5, 9¹, 10(1) and 10¹(2). PFA status alone does not establish CNP identification, and the exception does not extend to the separate foreign-customer obligation in article 10(11).

• 1 February 2026 — sickness-benefit reduction. Covered certificates issued from this date through 31 December 2027 have a one-day benefit reduction. Check the leave rules for exemptions and ordinary employer/FNUASS funding.
• 1 January 2026 — employee-register transition. ITM Arad’s migration notice states that Revisal is unavailable from this date and reporting moves to REGES-ONLINE. Check register access and event deadlines before scheduling onboarding or changing employment records.
• 1 January 2026 — SRL tax changes. The microenterprise rate is 1%, conditional on prior-year revenue not exceeding EUR 100,000 equivalent and the other eligibility requirements. Dividends distributed from this date attract 16% withholding by the company.
• 2026 tax year — independent-activity contribution reference. ANAF’s annual table uses RON 4,050 as the reference: 72 × RON 4,050 = RON 291,600 for the CASS ceiling. July’s employee salary floor is separate from this annual assessment reference.
• 1 January 2026 — invoice transmission deadline. The e-Factura deadline becomes 5 working days from issue, no later than 5 working days after the statutory invoice-issue deadline. Supplier identity, customer status and supply location still determine the applicable obligation.

From the same date, a Romanian-established taxable supplier must also report invoices to a non-established taxable customer registered for Romanian VAT when the supply is located in Romania. A Romanian VAT number alone does not change the place of service.

Use Hiring contractors in Romania for these supplier tax and invoicing decisions. The company’s revenue tax, dividend withholding and an individual’s annual contribution assessment have different bases.

• 18 December 2025 — contract and capital requirements. Law 239/2025 sets the missing-written-contract fine at RON 40,000 per person, capped at RON 1,000,000 overall, and new-SRL minimum subscribed capital at RON 500. Complete contract readiness before work starts.
• 1 January 2025 — software salary exemption removed. The former software-sector income-tax exemption no longer applies to ordinary software employees. Recheck any employment offer or budget that still assumes that sector exemption.

Two enacted deadlines affect year-end planning:

• 31 December 2026 — minimum-pay allowance ends. The enacted allowance measure covers income only through this date. Confirm the applicable rules before carrying the exemption into a later payroll period.
• 1 January 2027 — optional cash-accounting VAT ceiling. The eligibility ceiling becomes RON 5.5 million, following RON 5 million for 1 March–31 December 2026. It is separate from the domestic small-business VAT-exemption ceiling of RON 395,000 annual turnover.

What a mistake costs and who pays

Each amount applies to its stated breach and responsible party. Establish the trigger before estimating exposure; fines, unpaid salary and tax debts are separate liabilities.

Party	Risk	Amount
Employer	Admitting a person to work without a written employment contract	RON 40,000 per identified person; aggregate cap RON 1,000,000
Employer	Admitting a person to work without transmitting contract particulars by the day before starting	RON 20,000 per person; aggregate cap RON 200,000
Employer	Paying below the applicable statutory or collective minimum	RON 3,000–5,000 per affected worker; aggregate cap RON 200,000
Employer	Admitting a part-time employee to work beyond contracted hours	RON 10,000–15,000 per person; aggregate cap RON 200,000
Employer	Salary unpaid more than one month beyond the applicable payment date, subject to the statutory insolvency exception	RON 5,000–10,000 per unpaid worker
Employer	Omitting the express telework provision from the contract or addendum	RON 10,000 per worker
Employer	Omitting the other specified telework clauses	RON 5,000
Employer	Failure to enrol in REGES-ONLINE by the transition deadline	RON 15,000–20,000
Employer	Failure to complete and transmit the required active-contract data during that transition	RON 5,000–10,000
Temporary-work agency	Operating agency activities without authorisation	RON 10,000–30,000
Worker	Established offence of personally working without an employment contract	RON 500–1,000
Agency user	Contingent liability for the agency’s unpaid obligations, under the applicable request and funding conditions	Depends on the unpaid obligations
Employer	Unlawful or unjustified dismissal established by the court	Indexed and updated lost salary and other rights; reinstatement if requested
Legally liable taxpayer or payer	Tax reassessment reflecting economic substance	Actual assessed principal debt and applicable interest/penalties

The REGES transition entries concern the 31 December 2025 migration deadline. Assess the specific registration or data omission and applicable legal position before applying either amount.

For late salary, the payment date can come from the employment contract, collective agreement or internal rules. The exception requires statutory insolvency; ordinary financial difficulty does not establish it.

The worker-side fine requires an established employment/no-contract offence. PFA status or a client’s classification concern does not automatically trigger it.

The agency fine applies to unauthorised temporary-work agency activity; an employer of record’s commercial label alone does not establish that breach.

For agency-user exposure, apply the two request and funding rules above. Establish unpaid obligations and due dates separately from the agency’s authorisation fine or the employer’s salary-delay offence.

Tax reassessment depends on the transaction. The authority must explain the facts and evidence supporting economic recharacterisation; there is no standard fixed misclassification charge.

Under the Fiscal Procedure Code, late principal tax debts generally attract 0.02% interest per day. Apply the relevant penalty branch separately:

• Ordinary late payment: 0.01% per day in addition to interest.
• Undeclared or incorrectly declared principal debt established by a tax assessment: 0.08% non-declaration penalty per day, with interest still applicable.

The 0.01% and 0.08% penalties are alternatives for the same principal debt; each applicable branch carries 0.02% interest.

The non-declaration penalty has a conditional 75% reduction when assessed principal debt is paid or offset by the statutory deadline, or when a qualifying instalment arrangement is completed. The reduction is not automatic and does not reduce the principal debt.

For classification, fiscal reassessment and invoice-specific fines, see Hiring contractors in Romania. These require separate assessments from the employee offences above.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreign company hire in Romania without a local entity?

Eligible foreign employers can use ANAF registration and reporting, subject to social-security coordination and filing arrangements. A local entity is not universally required; an EOR offers a separate agency employment route.

Can a foreigner get a job in Romania?

Foreigners can be hired subject to applicable work authorisation. Confirm contract and medical readiness before starting. IGI’s 15 September 2026 notice disabled selected WorkInRomania flows; current availability needs a route-specific check.

What is the minimum wage in Romania in 2026?

The national gross base minimum is RON 4,325/month from 1 July 2026, following RON 4,050/month through 30 June. Supplements and additions are excluded. Review the contract-duration and allowance rules when planning a minimum-pay offer.

What is the average salary in Romania?

July 2026 national average earnings were RON 9,709/month gross, reported by News.ro and republished by Goldring. Hays’s 2026 guide gives role-specific full-time gross base ranges and optima from 2025 recruitment data, excluding bonuses and benefits.

Why is the gap between gross and net pay so large in Romania?

Employees ordinarily have 25% CAS and 10% CASS deducted on applicable gross bases. Salary income tax is 10% of taxable income after applicable contributions and deductions, so individual net pay depends on eligibility and calculation bases.

How many hours do people work in Romania?

Ordinary full-time work is 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week. The ordinary limit including overtime is 48 hours/week averaged over 4 calendar months, allowing longer individual weeks subject to the averaging and overtime rules.

How much notice does an employee have to give in Romania?

Resignation notice is contractual, capped at 20 working days for ordinary employees and 45 for management. The employer can waive it; employer breach permits resignation without notice. Dismissal’s 20-working-day minimum applies to specified grounds, subject to the probation exception.

How much salary per hour in Romania?

The decree sets RON 25.949/hour as the national minimum gross equivalent from 1 July 2026. It uses an average 166.667 monthly hours; this is a statutory reference, rather than observed market hourly pay.

Sources

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