A foreign worker brought to Romania on a single permit or an EU Blue Card can no longer change employer during the first year without the written consent of the company that originally sponsored them. The rule was introduced by an amendment to Government Ordinance 25/2014 (GO 25/2014, Romania's principal legal framework governing the employment of foreign nationals) and fundamentally reshapes the balance of power between the original employer, any company that wants to recruit that worker, and the worker themselves.

This is a consequential change for both employers and foreign workers in Romania, given that the labour market draws tens of thousands of new employment authorisations every year. The written-consent requirement is actively in play for a significant number of contracts currently running.

What the new rule says, in plain terms

The amendment to GO 25/2014, adopted through Emergency Ordinance 143/2022 (OUG 143/2022) and published in Romania's Official Gazette no. 1,049 of 28 October 2022, sets out the conditions under which a foreign national may take up a new position with a different employer while their single permit or EU Blue Card is still valid.

The core point: if the foreign worker's individual employment contract (CIM, contract individual de muncă) has been registered for less than one year, they may move to a new employer only with the written consent of the original employer. Once a full year has passed from the date the CIM was registered, that restriction disappears entirely.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity (Ministerul Muncii și Solidarității Sociale) justified the measure as protection for companies that invest time and money in relocating and integrating a foreign worker, only to lose them a few months later to a competitor that reaps the benefit without bearing the upfront costs. Costs associated with bringing a worker onto the Romanian labour market, from fees and authorisations to accommodation and recruitment agency charges, are borne almost entirely by the employer who files the first application.

Exceptions: when written consent is not required

Written consent from the original employer is not needed if the individual employment contract ended in any of the following ways:

- At the employer's initiative (dismissal, for any reason, under the conditions of the Labour Code, Codul Muncii, Law 53/2003).

- By mutual agreement (consensual termination of the CIM).

- By the foreign worker's own resignation, where the employer failed to fulfil its contractual obligations under Law 53/2003 (the Labour Code).

One further useful clarification: if the foreign worker simply changes role but stays with the same employer that obtained the original authorisation, the new permit is issued without having to satisfy all the general or special conditions required at first hire. This is a significant simplification for internal rotation within the same company.

By contrast, when a foreign national moves to a completely new employer and the contract has lasted less than one year, the recruiting company faces two simultaneous hurdles: it must obtain written consent from the previous employer and must demonstrate that it meets all the general or special conditions required for a fresh authorisation.

What this means for employers and HR teams

For recruitment teams, the rule introduces a new due-diligence step before extending an offer to a foreign candidate already residing in Romania. Screening questions have changed: it is no longer enough to know the candidate's current role and salary expectations. In the very first conversation, recruiters need to establish when the current CIM was registered and whether twelve months have elapsed since then.

If the answer is "under a year," the next step is not a technical test or a compensation discussion, it is contacting the current employer to obtain written consent. In many cases that will kill the offer outright: few companies will sign a consent for a worker they have only just brought over and trained.

The indirect consequence is that talent-acquisition strategies in chronically short-staffed sectors, construction, hospitality and food service (HoReCa), manufacturing, agriculture, transport, are being recalibrated. Direct recruitment from outside Romania, even though it is slower and more expensive, becomes competitive again compared with domestic headhunting, because it eliminates this legal risk entirely.

At the same time, employers who bring in foreign workers now have a stronger incentive to invest in retention during the first twelve months: a clear workplace culture, decent accommodation, on-time pay, and strict fulfilment of contractual obligations. Not only for ethical reasons, but also because the exception to the written-consent requirement is triggered precisely when the employer fails to honour its contractual duties. A properly honoured contract becomes, in practice, the most effective non-compete clause available in year one.

What this means for foreign workers in Romania

If you came to Romania on a single permit or an EU Blue Card and are thinking about changing employer, the first question to ask yourself is: when was my CIM registered? If fewer than twelve months have passed, your ability to move to another employer depends on which of three scenarios applies to you.

- You want to leave and your current employer agrees: they provide written consent, and the new employer processes your permit. This is the simplest scenario, and the rarest in practice.

- Your current employer is not honouring its contractual obligations: delayed payments, working conditions that differ from what was promised, unmet duties. You can resign by invoking the Labour Code (Codul Muncii), and written consent is no longer required. You will need clear evidence, so keep your pay slips, your original contract, and any written correspondence.

- You wait out the year: after twelve months from the date your CIM was registered, the restriction disappears completely and you can negotiate freely with any employer.

The key point to remember: the rule does not prohibit you from leaving, it conditions your departure on obtaining consent. And if you stay with the same employer but simply change role, there is no problem at all; the permit-renewal procedure is streamlined.

Before signing your first contract in Romania, read the terms carefully, especially those relating to the probationary period, salary, working hours, and accommodation. Once your CIM is registered, these elements become binding obligations, and if the employer fails to meet them, they open the door to the statutory exception. It is also worth comparing your offer against what the market actually pays: check what other workers with your experience in the same field are earning, so you know whether the offer is fair.

A framework that will be refined through practice

Government Ordinance 25/2014 remains a living piece of legislation. The application of the written-consent rule will in all likelihood generate case law in the years ahead, particularly around the exception tied to the employer's failure to fulfil contractual obligations, a standard of proof that will be sharpened by concrete decisions from the Labour Inspectorate (Inspecția Muncii) and the courts.

For employers, the message is clear: the cost of bringing in a foreign worker is legally protected, but that protection lasts twelve months and is conditional on the employer's own contractual conduct. For workers, the message is equally clear: your first contract matters twice as much in Romania, it is the door in, and for one year, it is the only door.