Romania GEO 32/2026: Employer Registration & Authorization Rules

Romania's overhaul of its foreign labor market rules, introduced through Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 ("GEO 32/2026"), does more than replace paperwork with a digital platform. It fundamentally changes who is legally allowed to bring a non-EU worker onto a Romanian payroll in the first place. Published in the Official Gazette on 27 April 2026, the ordinance repeals the old employment and secondment permit system under Government Ordinance No. 25/2014 and replaces it with a two-tier employer framework built around registration, authorization, and licensed placement agencies.

For HR managers and global mobility teams already tracking the 90,000-place non-EU worker quota and the WorkinRomania.gov.ro portal, this is the next layer of compliance to understand: not every company that wants to hire a foreign worker in Romania can simply apply. Under the new regime, a company must first qualify as either a "registered employer" or an "authorized employer" before it can touch the single-application process at all.

Two Tiers, Two Very Different Compliance Burdens

Registered employers represent the lighter-touch route. Any employer wishing to hire foreign nationals under the D/AM1 visa category — typically highly skilled workers and other special categories — needs only to register on the WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform and be entered into the new Register of Employers of Foreign Nationals. Registered employers who want to hire permanent, seasonal, or cross-border workers under the D/AM2 visa category must go a step further and contract with a licensed foreign worker placement agency to handle the hiring on their behalf.

Authorized employers, by contrast, are companies that want to hire D/AM2-category workers directly, without going through a placement agency. This route is considerably harder to qualify for. According to both PwC Romania and Bucharest law firm Leroy Law, an authorized employer must demonstrate at least 24 months of uninterrupted economic activity, an average headcount of at least 50 employees in the prior year, a clean fiscal and immigration compliance record, and — critically — a financial guarantee of EUR 1,000 per foreign worker for whom authorization is sought, lodged as a treasury deposit or bank guarantee. That guarantee exists specifically to cover repatriation costs, fines, and any expenses incurred by Romanian authorities if the arrangement goes wrong.

For a mid-sized company without an established Romanian track record, meeting the authorized-employer bar is often simply not realistic in the near term — which is precisely why the placement agency route, or an Employer of Record structure, becomes the practical path to compliant hiring.

Placement Agencies Face Their Own Strict Licensing Regime

GEO 32/2026 also formalizes, for the first time under a single unified framework, the activity of foreign worker placement agencies. To operate legally, a placement agency must be a Romanian legal entity (or an equivalent entity from another EU/EEA state or Switzerland) registered under NACE code 7810, hold a two-year authorization from the National Agency for Employment (ANOFM), and post a financial guarantee starting at EUR 75,000 for up to 250 placed workers, rising by EUR 50,000 for every additional 250-worker tranche.

Placement agencies may only place workers into occupations included on Romania's forthcoming "List of Shortage Occupations," due to be approved by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity within 45 days of the ordinance's entry into force. Every placement must also be backed by two linked documents: a services contract between the agency and the registered employer, and a tripartite placement contract signed by the agency, the employer, and the worker — drafted in both Romanian and the worker's own language.

New Obligations That Apply Regardless of Route

Whichever path a company takes, GEO 32/2026 introduces a shared set of employer obligations. Salaries must be paid directly into the foreign worker's bank account. Individual labor agreements must be executed in Romanian and in the worker's language of origin (or another language they understand), with a RON 6,000 fine per contract issued only in Romanian. Where employers provide accommodation, rent cannot exceed 25% of the worker's net salary, and employers must offer at least six months of Romanian language and integration courses at a minimum of six hours per week. Identity and residence documents must be retained for five years after employment ends.

The sanctions regime has also been tightened considerably. Fines range from RON 5,000 to RON 30,000 for breaches of employer or placement agency obligations, and registration on the platform can be suspended for six months if more than 20% of an employer's foreign workforce loses its right of residence within any six-month window. Suspension freezes new job offers and pending single applications alike, and repeated breaches can lead to forfeiture of the financial guarantee entirely.

Why This Matters for Global Mobility Planning

The practical effect of GEO 32/2026's employer framework is to push many companies — particularly those without deep Romanian operating history or the headcount to qualify as authorized employers — toward either a licensed placement agency or an Employer of Record. An EOR already holds the necessary registrations, absorbs the guarantee and compliance obligations, and manages the single-application process on the client company's behalf, which is often faster and lower-risk than building authorized-employer status from scratch.

Nestlers Group supports companies navigating exactly this kind of regulatory transition in Romania. Through its Employer of Record service, Nestlers can employ foreign workers on a client's behalf without the client needing to independently qualify as a registered or authorized employer. Its Work Permit & Visa Support team tracks single-application requirements under WorkinRomania.gov.ro as they evolve, while Payroll & HR Compliance and Global Mobility & Relocation services help ensure contracts, accommodation arrangements, and language-course obligations are handled correctly from day one — reducing the administrative and financial exposure that now comes with hiring foreign talent directly in Romania.

Sources

• PwC Romania, "Changes regarding foreign access to the Romanian labour market: GEO No. 32/2026," pwc.ro

• Leroy Law, "Employment - Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 on the access of foreign workers to the Romanian labor market," leroylaw.ro, 30 April 2026

• Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026, published in the Official Gazette of Romania No. 335, 27 April 2026