Background information

Law no. 28/2024 for amending and supplementing some normative acts in the field of foreign workers working in Romania specifies that employment contracts for highly qualified workers can be concluded for a period of at least six months instead of one year, as was foreseen before the amendment. The law clarifies the competences that the highly qualified worker must hold: namely level 6 according to the ISCED or CEC classification.

The employer who applies for an employment authorisation must carry out the activities for which the foreigner is employed on Romanian territory. Its activity must not have as its main purpose the facilitation of the entry of foreigners into Romania and it must pay its obligations to the state budget not only for the last quarter, as previously provided for.

Content of measure

Foreigners who hold the right of temporary residence for study purposes may be employed in Romania without an employment permit, only with a part-time individual labour contract, with a maximum working time of six hours per day, whereas previously it was stipulated that the working time could be only four hours per day.

The employment permit for highly qualified workers is issued exclusively to the employer, a legal person, for the employment of a foreigner in a highly qualified job, with an individual labour contract of full-time employment for an indefinite period or for a fixed-term contract of at least six months.

Use of measure

In 2023, 211 highly skilled foreign workers were working in Romania.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Migrants or refugees in employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

There is no publicly available information about the social partners' involvement in designing, implementing and monitoring the measure

Views and reactions

There is no publicly available information about the social partners' views or reaction on the measure

Sources

• 05 March 2024: Law no. 28/2024 for amending and supplementing some normative acts in the field of foreign workers working in Romania (Legea nr. 28 din 29 februarie 2024pentru modificarea și completarea unor acte normative în domeniul străinilor (legislatie.just.ro)
• 24 September 2024: Romania managed to attract only 211 highly-skilled migrants (România a reușit să atragă doar 211 migranți cu o calificare ridicată (hotnews.ro)