Labour Inspections of Foreign Workers in Romania: What Inspectors Check Under GEO 32/2026

Since WorkinRomania.gov.ro became the only route for hiring non-EU nationals on 8 August 2026, most of the attention has gone to the front end of the process: employer registration, the List of Shortage Occupations and the single application. The back end gets less attention, and it carries the larger risk. Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 gives employers ongoing obligations for as long as a foreign worker stays on the payroll, and the authorities may check compliance with them at any time after registration.

Fines under the ordinance's own sanctions regime run from RON 5,000 to RON 30,000, and many of them apply per foreign worker rather than per company. A single process gap, such as a contract template that is only in Romanian or a safety induction delivered in a language the worker does not understand, is therefore multiplied across every non-EU employee on site. Adverse findings can also lead to suspension of the employer's registration on the platform, which stops new applications and puts pending ones on hold.

This guide sets out who inspects, what they look for and how HR teams can prepare a file that stands up to a visit.

Who Can Inspect a Foreign Workforce

GEO 32/2026 spreads oversight across several institutions. Compliance with the registration conditions may be verified after an employer registers on the platform by:

• The Labour Inspectorate (Inspecția Muncii) and its county inspectorates (ITM)
• The General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI)
• The National Agency for Employment (ANOFM)
• The Romanian Police and other institutions acting within their legal powers

In practice, the labour inspectorate handles contracts, pay, working time and health and safety, while IGI focuses on the worker's right of residence and work. Labour inspection data also helps set policy: the List of Shortage Occupations is updated twice a year based on data from ANOFM, the Labour Inspectorate and IGI.

What Inspectors Verify

Contracts and the firm job offer

Under Article 7 of the ordinance, the individual employment contract must be in Romanian and in a language the worker understands. It must also include the elements of the firm job offer described in Article 6, such as gross and net pay, working time, overtime, leave, payment method and dates, and which costs the employer or the worker bears (for example accommodation, transport and repatriation). Inspectors compare the signed contract with the offer submitted on the platform and with the contract registered in REGES-ONLINE. Any difference between the three is a finding.

Pay, bank transfer and working time

Salaries for non-EU workers must be paid into the worker's own bank account, and cash payment is not allowed. Inspectors usually check payslips against bank statements, timesheets and the hours stated in the contract. Unpaid overtime and deductions for accommodation that the offer did not mention are common findings.

Occupational health and safety in an understood language

Health and safety training must be given in a language the worker actually understands, and the worker must be provided with the necessary protective equipment. There was no transition period for this rule. A worker hired before the ordinance whose safety records exist only in Romanian puts the employer in breach today.

Integration and language courses

Employers must provide Romanian-language courses that include cultural and social-integration content, at least weekly, for at least six months from the start of work. These can be delivered in-house or by accredited providers. Attendance records are part of the evidence inspectors expect to see.

Records and notifications

Documents proving each obligation must be kept for at least five years after the employment relationship ends. Changes in the worker's status or employment must be reported to the competent authorities within the deadlines in the ordinance. A missed notification can be sanctioned just as a missing contract can.

Consequences Beyond the Fine

The financial exposure goes beyond the fines themselves. An employer's registration on WorkinRomania.gov.ro can be suspended for six months if inspectors confirm that registration conditions are no longer met. This applies, for example, where tax debts appear, labour law breaches are found, or more than 20 percent of the employer's foreign workers no longer have a legal right of residence. During a suspension, the employer cannot file new single applications, and procedures already under way are put on hold.

Inspection history also counts later on. To become an authorised employer that recruits D/AM2 workers directly, without a placement agency, a company must have had no sanctions for health and safety breaches or undeclared work in the previous 24 months. One poor inspection can therefore close off the direct-hiring route for two years.

The amended GEO 194/2002 adds further sanctions. Some offences carry fines of RON 15,000 to RON 30,000 per person identified, and the most serious can lead to the loss of public subsidies for up to five years or the closure of the workplace.

Building an Inspection-Ready File

The most effective preparation is a complete dossier for each worker, kept up to date from day one rather than assembled after an inspector arrives. For each non-EU employee, the file should contain:

• The firm job offer, the bilingual employment contract and proof of its REGES-ONLINE registration
• The visa, residence permit and CNP details, with expiry dates tracked
• Payslips matched to bank transfer confirmations
• Timesheets that match the contracted working time
• Records of health and safety training delivered in the worker's language, with signed acknowledgements and records of protective equipment issued
• Attendance records for Romanian-language and integration courses
• Copies of every notification sent to the authorities, with dates

Employers with large or multi-site foreign workforces should also run a regular internal audit. It should compare the platform data, payroll and REGES-ONLINE records, and check residence-permit expiry dates against the 20 percent threshold before an inspector does.

How Nestlers Group Supports Inspection Readiness

Nestlers Group's Payroll and HR Compliance team runs Romanian payroll for non-EU workers with bank-only salary payments. The team also handles REGES-ONLINE contract registration and keeps per-worker compliance files aligned with the requirements of GEO 32/2026. Our Work Permit and Visa Support team manages registration and single applications on WorkinRomania.gov.ro. It tracks permit and residence expiry dates across the workforce and prepares the status-change notifications that the ordinance requires.

For companies without a Romanian entity, our Employer of Record service becomes the legal employer and takes on these inspection obligations directly. Our Global Mobility and Relocation team supports the integration side, including coordinating language courses and settling-in steps that inspectors increasingly treat as part of compliance.

Sources: Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 on the access of foreign nationals to the Romanian labour market, Official Gazette of Romania Part I No. 335, 27 April 2026; BirișGoran, Legal and Tax Alert on GEO 32/2026, May 2026; Pavel, Margarit and Associates, analysis of obligations, financial guarantees and penalties under Ordinance No. 32/2026, April 2026; Romania Insider, "OUG 32/2026: The Compliance Traps That Now Fine Romanian Employers Per Foreign Worker", 2026; Government Emergency Ordinance No. 194/2002 on the regime of foreign nationals in Romania, as amended in 2026