ROMANIA – Employers to Obtain Labor Market Approval Before Hiring Foreign Workers
A new ordinance has been adopted by the Romanian Government, which will enter into force on November 28, 2014. The ordinance establishes the need for a labor market approval in some cases and emphasizes the need for compliance with the labor code and reporting responsibilities. It is important to note that details of the practical implementation of the changes are as yet unconfirmed, and further significant changes may be announced in the coming weeks. The ordinance states that a new employment approval for a foreign national employed locally in Romania must be issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigration.
New Employment Approval Dependent on State of Labor Market
The new employment approval will only be issued if the Romanian entity has first attempted to fill any vacancy with a Romanian national, EU/EFTA national or a Romanian permanent resident. So far, no clear conditions or guidelines for how this labor market search must be conducted have been issued. The new labor market search does not replace the quota system already in place (see Peregrine alert on Romania’s 2014 quotas here).
Exemptions to the Labor Market Test
The labor market testing condition need not be met if:
- The vacancy is for a trading company director and the employer in question does not have another foreign employee occupying such a position;
- The intended employee is a highly qualified worker (however, there is no definition of “highly qualified worker”, to date);
- The employee is on home payroll and on secondment in Romania (a similar approval for secondment will be required instead);
- The intended employee is from a State bordering Romania, and lives in a designated border area (an approval for cross-border workers will be issued instead);
- The position in question is for professional athletes, and the employer’s main field of activity is sporting activities.
Compliance with Regulations
Additionally, the following conditions must be met, in order for approval to be granted:
- The Romanian entity must not have been recently sanctioned or convicted for offences under the Labor Code;
- The Romanian entity must not be behind in its tax contributions;
- The Romanian entity must not have been sanctioned, in the past three years, for hiring foreign workers without the correct work permit, or for engaging up to five workers without concluding individual employment contracts;
- The Romanian entity must not have been sanctioned for failing to submit correct employment notifications to the inspectorate for foreign workers (such notifications must be submitted no later than the last working day prior to commencement of the employee’s work).
Fees, Fines and Penalties
The new employment approval carries a fee in Romanian Ley (RON) equivalent to EUR 200 (with a reduced fee equivalent to EUR 50 applicable to some categories, including foreign nationals who have been employed in Romania on a Blue Card). Any failure to meet the legal obligations regarding the employment or secondment of foreigners is punishable by fines of between RON 700 and RON 3000 (EUR 150 to EUR 650). Furthermore, depending on the gravity of offences committed, employers can also be punished by prohibition of certain rights, total or partial recovery of benefits, aids or subsidies, including EU funds, and/or the temporary or permanent closure of the unit or units where the offence was committed.