Requirement for Foreign Employees to Work
In Romania, citizens of the EU or the EEA do not need a work and residence permit. Foreign citizens (who are not EU or EEA citizens) must obtain a work permit in order to perform activity as an employee. Citizens of neighbouring non-EU countries – Republic of Moldova, Serbia and the Ukraine can be employed under certain conditions without working permits. Special provisions also apply in regards to Ukrainian citizens as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. The work permit is issued by the Romanian Office for Immigration. As a rule, the work permit is issued for a one-year period. The number of working permits issued every year is limited and is determined by the government. In 2024, the maximum number of working permits that could be issued was the highest ever, with 100,000 new working permits made available. Non-EU and EEA citizens have the right to work in Romania under certain conditions:
- vacancies cannot be filled by Romanian citizens, citizens of UE/EEA or permanent residents of Romania;
- they fulfill special conditions regarding professional qualifications, experience and authorisation;
- they prove that their state of health complies with the activity they will perform and that they have not been convicted of crimes that are incompatible with the activity they carry out or intend to carry out in Romania;
- they are within the limits of the early contingency approved by government decision;
- the employer has regularly made contributions to the state budget;
- the employer shall effectively perform the activity used to obtain the working permit;
- the employer was never convicted for illegal work.
Does a Foreign Employer need to Establish or Work through a Local Entity to Hire an Employee?
In order to hire an employee under Romanian law, the employer does not need to have a national legal entity, but the employer need to comply with the obligation to register the employment agreement with both fiscal and employment authorities. Employees of foreign companies can perform work in Romania based on their existing employment agreement, or can be dispatched to a Romanian company.
Limitations on Background Checks
For certain positions (such as technical ones) an authorisation (from a national authority), a degree or a certificate may be required. Individuals that do not hold the required authorisation, degree or certificate cannot be employed. Medical approval for the potential employee is mandatory, prior to commencing employment and the absence of such approval can lead to the annulment of the employment contract.
Individuals can be employed starting at the age of 16 (15 with parental consent and only for jobs that are appropriate for an individual development). Individuals under the age of 15 cannot be employed.
Private companies cannot conduct background checks, other than requiring information from the candidate and recommendations from previous employers. In cases when specific legal provisions are in place prohibiting individuals with criminal records or with specific types of criminal offences to occupy a position (such in some of the key position for the financial sector, in security or in childcare and education) presenting a clear criminal record prior to being hired might be required. The employer has to ask the candidate for a medical certificate that ascertains that the candidate is medically fit to be employed, since his medical fitness prior to the signing of the agreement is an issue of the employment agreement’s validity.
Public companies and public institutions can ask the candidate to present proof of not belonging to a political party, a proof of not being a former collaborator of the communist political police (“Securitate”), fiscal information and other specific information that is relevant to the public company or institution.
Restrictions on Application/Interview Questions
There are limited legal provisions on hiring practices in Romania. The Labour Code states only that the employee has to be informed on the essential clauses of the individual employment agreement during the hiring procedure. Recognised companies usually implement good practices in hiring personnel and use human resources specialists in order to select potential hires. Private companies can organise a theoretical and/or practical contest in order to select their employees. As a rule, public institutions and companies have to organise such contests in order to select the employees.
Ordinarily, vacant positions that are to be filled by hiring new personnel are advertised in media and/or on specialised on-line sites with general access. For public institutions there are specific rules on publishing the available jobs on their own website and in the Official Bulletin (local or national editions). The employer can ask for a CV and select only some of the candidates to meet with. Job interviews are held either face-to-face, over the phone, or using live video messaging technology.
There are no rules or express limitations on what questions the employer can ask the candidate, but it is generally accepted that the questions need not be too personal. Also during the hiring process the employer has to pay attention not to discriminate any category of candidates. To this end, the questions that are asked should not refer to matters that are grounds for discrimination such as: ethnic or social background, sexual preferences, medical conditions (apart from the ones that make the individual not fit for performing the activity), political views or family situation. Some of the information that can be considered as being sensitive such as if an candidate is married or if they have children or if the candidate is medically fit for performing the activity can become available to the potential employer during the on-boarding process as a result of legal provisions requiring employees to present specific documents for fiscal of health and safety reasons, but the decision to hire an individual or not based on this information should not be affected outside these legal provisions (for instance by denying to hire an employee that does not present a document proving that they are medically fit for the activity).
