Minimum Wage

General

The minimum wage is 2,550 RON gross per month.

From 1 January 2022, employees can only be paid the minimum gross base salary for a maximum of 24 months. When this period expires, employers will be required to pay the respective employees a higher salary.

Payroll

Payroll Cycle

In Romania, the payroll frequency is monthly; work between the first and last day of the month is typically paid on the last working day of the month.

13th Salary

There is no statutory requirement for a 13^th salary payment in Romania.

Working Hours

General

According to Romania law, the workweek is limited to no more than five eight-hour days and a maximum of 48 hours per week. Part-time workers must work a minimum of ten hours per week, two hours per day. For employees under 18, work is limited to 6 hours a day or 30 hours a week.

Employers must keep a record of the daily work hours performed by each employee, highlighting the start and end hour of the working program, and shall present such records to the labor inspection control when required.

Overtime

Employees are allowed to work a maximum of 48 hours per week including overtime. After working a 12 hour day, employers must give a 24 hours rest period. Work performed outside the standard 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week must be compensated with paid hours off during the 60 calendar days after the overtime has been performed. If the compensation with paid time off is not possible, the overtime shall be paid to the employee by adding a benefit that must not be lower than 75% of the basic wage, pro-rated to the overtime performed.

Workers under 18 years of age, part-time employees, pregnant employees who are unable to work normal working hours for health reasons are not permitted to work overtime.

Working Week

Monday-Friday

Leave

Paid Time Off

Employees are entitled to up to 20 days of paid annual leave by law per year, pro-rated with the worked period. Employers are required to pay employees their allowance at least five working days before the leave starts.

If the employee cannot take all or part of the annual leave entitlement within the calendar year, the employer must carry over the outstanding annual leave to the first six months of the following calendar year, however, if the employee is still unable to take the leave entitled (eg if long term sick), the employer must grant the unused leave with the employee’s consent within 18 months, starting with the year following the one when vacation has been accrued.

Public Holidays

There are 15 public holidays.

Sick Days

Under the Labor Code, employees covered by the pension and social insurance system who have made required contributions are entitled to sick leave of up to 180 days within one year with a possible 90-day extension.

The first five calendar days are provided by the employer for working days only; from the 6th calendar day, the FUNASS (Unique National Fund of Health Insurances) fund supports the payment of sick leave.

Sick pay is equivalent to 75.00% to 100.00% of the average monthly income during the previous six months, depending on the category of illness.

Maternity Leave

A pregnant employee is entitled to 126 days of paid maternity leave.

Maternity leave consists of two periods, the prenatal leave, which is the period where a woman must take a minimum of 63 days before the expected due date and the postnatal leave, where the employee must take the remaining 63 days after the birth of the child.

The actual days across the two periods are stipulated by the employee’s physician and reported in the official medical certificate of maternity.

The maternity payment is paid by the FUNASS (Unique National Fund of Health Insurances) at a rate of 85.00% of the calculation based on the average of the employee’s monthly gross wages during the six months before the maternity leave started.

In addition, employees are entitled to take leave to protect their own and their child’s health and safety. The maternal risk-benefit is completely supported with funds from the Unique National Fund of Health Insurances (FNUSS). The amount of benefit is 75.00% of the average gross earnings over the last six months. The maternal risk leave is complementary to maternity leave.

Paternity Leave

The father/partner is entitled to 5 to 10 days of paid leave; this leave increases to 15 days if the employee participates in an infant care course. The paternity leave can be taken at any time during a defined period after birth.

Parental Leave

After maternity leave, one of the parents is eligible for childcare leave (parental leave) until the child reaches two years of age (three years of age in the case of disabled children), provided that the employee has contributed to tax during the past year of employment.

The employee is entitled to receive a monthly allowance from the appropriate Romanian authorities amounting to 85.00% of the average regular salary received in the last 12 months before childbirth.

Other Leave

Depending on the collective agreement/employment contract terms, an employee may be allowed additional leave types; these must be approved between the employer and employee.

Employees are entitled to up to 3 days paid bereavement leave in the case of the death of a direct family member.

Termination

Termination Process

The termination process varies according to how the employment agreement and collective agreement are in place and is based on the type of contract and reason for termination.

Individual employment contracts can be terminated by means of

1. By law
2. By mutual consent of the parties
3. By either party of the employment contract within the terms and conditions provided by the law.

Employers may terminate employment contracts by dismissal for reasons related to the employee (e.g., professional inadequacy, as a disciplinary sanction) or not associated with the employee (e.g., job cancellation).

Notice Period

Notice period in the case of an employee dismissal is a minimum of 20 working days for all jobs regardless of the employment contract.

Employees may also terminate their employment agreement by resignation with a prior notice of a maximum of 20 business days for non-management positions and 45 business days for management positions.

Severance Pay

There is no statutory severance pay in Romania unless conditions have been set in a collective agreement.

Probation Period

The probationary period in Romania is dependent on the type of role and is stipulated within the employment agreement. In general, probation periods are 90 calendar days increasing to 120 calendar days for an employee in a managerial/supervisory position.

Common Benefits

General

• Meal vouchers
• Gifts, including gift vouchers and holiday gifts, cultural vouchers, and holiday vouchers
• Transportation allowance
• Private pension & private health
• Developmental courses and training gym subscription
• Life insurance

VISA

VISA

EU citizens wishing to work in Romania should apply for a registration certificate from the Romanian Office for Immigration for a stay of more than 90 days. Non-EU-citizens need to obtain a residency permit if the stay is longer than 90 days.

Foreign workers must obtain work authorisation from the Romanian Office for Immigration via an application from the employer. Employers must prove that they are a legitimate business in Romania and that they have made every effort to recruit a Romanian National to fill the role.

They must also ensure that the proposed employee is suitably qualified, having had suitable education and training, for the role.

There are several types of work permits that may be applied for and subsequently completed and submitted to the General Inspectorate of Immigration by the employer:

• Work permit for permanent workers: For foreign employees who have an indefinite or fixed-term employment contract
• Cross-border worker: A foreign employee who is from a country that borders Romania and has an indefinite or fixed-term employment contract
• Highly qualified worker: A foreign employee that has obtained a highly skilled job in Romania. The term of employment must be for at least one year.

Most work permits are valid for one year; however, permits for highly skilled workers are valid for two years.

VAT

General

VAT is 19% standard rate.