In the Official Gazette no. 1160 of 15 December 2025, Law no. 239/2025 on establishing measures to consolidate and optimize public resources and to amend and supplement certain legislative acts ("Law 239/2025") was published. It entered into force on 18 December 2025.
Law 239/2025 has introduced amendments to labour legislation, including changes to the fines imposed on employers who hire staff without concluding an individual employment agreement – commonly referred to as “undeclared work”.
Justification for the amendment
The underlying basis for Law 239/2025 lies primarily in tax and budgetary considerations. The legislative act represents Package II of the economic corrective measures implemented by the Government, which has determined that undeclared work has a significant negative impact on the state budgets and, therefore, must be discouraged. In this regard, it was decided to impose stricter sanctions on employers who resort to undeclared work in their activities.
The new sanctions applicable to undeclared work
Whereas previously employers were liable to a fine of RON 20,000 for each employee hired without an executed individual employment agreement, under Law 239/2025, this value has doubled. Furthermore, the cumulative limit on fines has increased from RON 200,000 to RON 1,000,000.
More precisely, this means that:
- If an employer has not concluded an individual employment agreement with their employee, the employer may be subject to a fine of RON 40,000;
- For each individual employee in a similar predicament, a distinct fine of RON 40,000 shall be imposed;
- Regardless of the total number of employees in this predicament, the employer is not subject to fines exceeding RON 1,000,000 in total.
Expanding the labour inspectors' authority
In addition, Law 239/2025 has introduced the possibility of labour inspectors to use portable audio-video recorders - "body worn cameras" - while conducting their inspection activities. The sounds and images thus obtained, even without the consent of the person concerned, may be used as legally admissible evidence.
Law 239/2025 entered into force on 18 December 2025 and is fully effective.