Requirements for Foreign Employees to Work
In Romania, citizens of the EU or the EEA do not need a work and residence permit. Foreign citizens (who are not EU or EEA citizens) must obtain a work permit in order to perform work. The work permit is issued by the Romanian Office for Immigration. As a rule, the work permit is issued for a one-year period. The number of working permits issued every year is limited and is determined by a government decision. In August 2018, the maximum number of working permits was raised due to the high demand. Non-EU and EEA citizens have the right to work in Romania under certain conditions
Does a Foreign Employer need to Establish or Work through a Local Entity to Hire an Employee?
In order to hire an employee under Romanian law, the employer has to have a national legal entity. Employees of foreign companies can perform work in Romania based on their existing employment agreement, or can be dispatched to a Romanian company.
Limitations on Background Checks
Private companies cannot conduct background checks, other than requiring information from the candidate and recommendations from previous employers. They can however, ask the candidate to present a criminal record issued by the competent authorities. The employer has to ask the candidate for a medical certificate that ascertains that the candidate is medically fit to be employed, since his medical fitness prior to the signing of the agreement is an issue of the employment agreement’s validity.
Restrictions on Application/Interview Questions
There are no rules or express limitations on what questions the employer can ask the candidate, but it is generally accepted that the questions not be too personal. Also during the hiring process the employer has to pay attention not to discriminate any category of candidates. To this end, the questions that are asked should not refer to matters that are grounds for discrimination. However these are not expressly stated rules and there is no case law regarding the hiring process other than regarding the results received at the contest organised by the employer.
Public companies and public institutions can ask the candidate to present proof of not belonging to a political party, a proof of not being a former collaborator of the communist political police (“Securitate”), fiscal information and other specific information that is relevant to the public company or institution.