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According to the law, working in Romania as a foreigner is possible once your employment has been approved through the single application filed by the employer on WorkinRomania.gov.ro and you hold the corresponding long-stay visa and single permit: you can be employed with an individual employment contract or you can be posted in Romania.
Ways to work in Romania
There are several ways in which you can work in Romania: as an employee, as a detached third country, as a freelancer or as an entrepreneur.
Hiring
If you come to Romania as a permanent, trainee, seasonal or cross-border worker, your employer (registered in the Register of authorised employers) or an authorised placement agency must first file a single application electronically on WorkinRomania.gov.ro; you then obtain the long-stay visa for employment at the Romanian consulate and, after entry, the single permit (residence and work) from the General Inspectorate for Immigration.
To be employed, you must:
a) fulfill the special conditions of professional training, experience in activity and authorization, requested by the employer according to the legislation in force;
b) prove that you are medically fit to carry out the respective activity and have no criminal record that is incompatible with the activity that you carry out or is going to carry out in the territory of Romania.
c) for permanent, seasonal and cross-border workers (visa D/AM2), the annual quota of newly admitted foreign workers approved by Government decision has not been exhausted.
To carry out an activity in Romania you need a long-stay visa for employment, issued on the basis of the employer’s single application, and then the single permit. The single permit is the official document that gives the holder the right to reside and to be employed or seconded in Romania with the employer named in the application.
The single application is not needed for foreigners who may work on the basis of the residence permit they already hold (art. 132^1 of GEO 194/2002), for example if:
• you have the right of long-term (permanent) residence in Romania,
• you have acquired a form of protection in Romania, you are an asylum seeker with access to the labour market, or a tolerated person,
• you hold a residence permit for family reunification (including as a family member of a Romanian citizen),
• you hold a residence permit for studies (part-time contract, maximum 6 hours per day) or for religious activities (work in places of worship),
• you hold a valid EU Blue Card issued by another Member State (mobility as a highly qualified worker).
Heads of a branch, subsidiary or representative office in Romania of a company based abroad obtain a long-stay visa for this purpose without the single application. For teaching, research and cultural staff under bilateral agreements, for activities requested by ministries or other central public authorities and for citizens of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia, the employer still files the single application, under the simplified visa D/AM1 procedure (art. 27^1).
Labor contract
The Labor Code of Romania regulates all the labor relations, the control of the application of the regulations in the field of labor relations, as well as the labor jurisdiction. The provisions contained in the Labor Code also apply to foreign nationals or stateless persons employed by an individual employment contract, who perform work for a Romanian employer on the territory of Romania.
The rights and obligations regarding the labor relations between the employer and the employee are established according to the law, by negotiation, within the collective labor contracts and the individual employment contracts.
The individual employment contract is concluded based on the consent of the parties (the employer and the employee), in written form, in Romanian. The obligation to conclude the individual employment contract in written form rests with the employer, prior to the commencement of employment relationships. The written form is mandatory for the valid conclusion of the contract, which must be signed no later than the day before you start work; for a foreign employee the contract must also be drawn up in a language you understand (your own language or an international language). Working without a written contract is “undeclared work”, sanctioned by the Labour Inspection (Labour Code, art. 15^1 and 16). In such a case it will also be much more difficult to defend your rights, as the employer’s promises and the type and volume of work performed would have to be proven by other means.
It is very important to have an individual employment contract signed in writing with the employer and recorded in the general register of employees (REGES-Online), which is transmitted to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate (ITM). The individual employment contract allows you access to social protection measures and protects you from any abuse by the employer.
Prior to signing the contract, you must carefully read the clauses included in it. The individual employment contract is concluded in two copies, one for you and one for the employer, which must hand you your copy before you start work and keep its own copy at the workplace (Labour Code, art. 16; framework model approved by Order no. 2171/2022). Please note that only a written employment contract can be recorded in the register of employees.
The employer has the obligation to register the individual employment contract concluded with the foreign employee in the general register of employees (REGES-Online), within the term stipulated by the law.
According to the framework model of the individual employment contract, it must necessarily include the following elements: the parts of the contract (the employer and the employee), the object of the contract, the duration of the contract, the place of work, the type of work, the attributions of the job, the duration of the work, leave, pay. , specific rights related to occupational health and safety, other clauses (probation period, notice period, etc.), general rights and obligations of the parties. A model of this contract can be found in the annexes to this Guide.
The clauses of the individual employment contract cannot contain provisions contrary to the law or rights below the minimum level established by normative acts or by collective labor contracts. Employees cannot give up the rights that are recognized by law. There will be null any clause by which the renunciation of the rights recognized by the law to the employees or the limitation of these rights is sought.
If you are employed in Romania, you have mainly the right to: pay for work submitted; daily and weekly rest, annual rest leave, equal opportunities and treatment, dignity at work, safety and health at work, access to vocational training, information and consultation, to take part in determining and improving working conditions and the environment labor, protection in case of dismissal, collective and individual negotiation, participation in collective actions, to form or join a union.
Foreign nationals who remain in the country as lawfully hired employees for at least eight years can also take into account the option to apply for citizenship in Romania by naturalization (or the application option, as it is referred to). In some cases, the minimum lawful stay can be shorter, for example only five years if the applicant is married to a Romanian citizen.
