Employees vs Independent Contractors Romania

Updated as of 2025

Introduction

A clear understanding of the distinction between the legal notions of Independent Contractor and Employee is important in order to ensure that the correct tax regime is applied to the two distinct legal relationships that the two categories can engage in performing activity under the Romanian Law, but also in order to establish what type of benefits an individual is entitled to, or the type of protection that an individual can legally claim. In Romania the distinction between individuals that perform independent activity (Independent Contractors) and dependent activity (Employees) has its roots in the Fiscal Code that was the first normative act that recognized the need for providing legal guidelines in determining what type of legal relationship an individual receives income from.

The possibility of re-characterization of a legal relationship, as being an employment relationship, has been recognized by Romanian courts and can also be made for fiscal purposed by fiscal authorities. Individuals have claimed that they performed activity that should be considered as employment and national courts have recognized the existence of employment relationships even in the absence of employment contracts. At the same time, during fiscal inspections the fiscal authorities considered that individuals self registered as Independent Contractors while the activity they provided was a dependent one and employee fiscal status should have been applied.