New rules for hiring foreign workers: no fees for workers and stricter controls

“The new regulations facilitate Romanian entrepreneurs’ access to the workforce from third countries, simplify procedures, and reduce approval times, given that we know there is a need for labor in the Romanian market.
The most important provisions of this government ordinance concern the creation of a platform (…) a single national platform through which the government will manage the access of foreign workers to the Romanian labor market in a transparent, secure, and digitized manner,” said Dogioiu.

“A list of occupations with labor shortages is being introduced, approved by government decisions and updated every six months, based on data from the National Agency for Migration and the National Institute of Statistics and in consultation with social partners. A financial deposit will be established, a mandatory preventive protection mechanism that guarantees coverage of costs related to repatriation, support provided to workers in at-risk situations, and the enforcement of administrative fines imposed on recruitment agencies that fail to meet their legal obligations.”

The ordinance also provides for the standardization of contracts and the prohibition of fees charged to workers.

“The standardization of contracts and the establishment of the ‘employer pays’ principle, which prohibits the collection of commissions, fees, guarantees, or deposits from workers, thereby aligning us with OECD standards.”

According to Dogioiu, the measures also aim to combat illegal migration and protect workers.

“On the one hand, we have made significant progress in combating illegal migration, because we know that people were brought in under this guise—sometimes, so-called workers to Romania, whom we would later find in other European Union countries, and for whose repatriation Romania paid significant sums, plus the problems we faced because of this during the Schengen accession process. “This is certainly a major win for foreign workers, who are now much better protected from various forms of abuse,” Dogioiu noted.

Authorities argue that the new rules will prioritize the local workforce and reduce market abuses.

“The principle is that jobs must be filled first by workers available within the country, on the domestic market, and that the use of foreign labor must be justified and regulated. Of course, this is also about the proper functioning of the economy, because employers who wish to hire foreign workers must register, as I mentioned, on that electronic platform, and the competent authorities can verify the data on that platform. We have a reduction in the risk of unfair competition and abuse in the labor market. Abusive intermediation is directly targeted.”