Notice period and termination in Romania: What foreign employers must know in 2026

Article 61 permits dismissal on four specific employee-related grounds:

• Disciplinary misconduct (Article 61(a)): Serious or repeated breaches of workplace discipline. Before dismissal, the employer must complete the disciplinary investigation required under Articles 247 to 252.
• Preventive arrest or house arrest exceeding 30 days (Article 61(b)): Applies where the employee is subject to a preventive arrest or house arrest order under the Code of Criminal Procedure for more than 30 days.
• Medical incapacity (Article 61(c)): Applies where the competent occupational health body certifies that the employee is no longer medically fit to perform the role. The employer must first consider any suitable alternative position.
• Professional inadequacy (Article 61(d)): Applies where the employee fails to meet the employer’s documented performance standards following the formal evaluation procedure. The employer must first consider any suitable alternative position.

For dismissals under Articles 61(c) and 61(d), the employer must first offer any vacant position compatible with the employee’s qualifications. If no suitable vacancy exists, the employer must notify ANOFM (the territorial employment agency) to assist with redeployment before issuing the dismissal decision.

Redundancy dismissal (for reasons not related to the employee) requires the genuine elimination of the position for real and serious economic, financial, technological, or organisational reasons. Three constraints apply:

• The eliminated position must actually be abolished. The employer may not re-create the same position within six months of the dismissal date.
• Courts look through restructuring labels to verify substance. “Fictitious reorganisation” is a leading litigation risk.
• Where multiple employees hold comparable positions, objective and non-discriminatory selection criteria must be applied and documented.

Redundancy may be individual (Article 65) or collective (Articles 68 to 74). Collective rules are covered below.

Disciplinary dismissal is the most procedurally intensive route. The mandatory seven-step sequence:

1. Identify and document the alleged misconduct.
2. Summon the employee in writing to a disciplinary investigation (cercetare disciplinară prealabilă), specifying the date, time, place, and alleged misconduct.
3. Conduct the investigation. The employee has the right to be heard, present evidence, and be assisted by a lawyer or a trade-union representative.
4. Record the investigation findings in writing.
5. Issue the disciplinary sanction decision in writing within 30 calendar days of the employer becoming aware of the misconduct, and no later than 6 months from the date the misconduct occurred.
6. Communicate the decision to the employee within 5 calendar days of issuance. The sanction becomes effective upon notification.
7. Inform the employee of appeal rights. A 30-day deadline applies for the employee to challenge in court.

Any gap in this sequence (failure to summon, failure to conduct an investigation, missing the 30-day or 6-month deadlines) renders the dismissal decision null and exposes the employer to reinstatement and full back-pay liability.

Before dismissing an employee for professional inadequacy, the employer must complete a formal performance evaluation in accordance with the evaluation procedure set out in the Regulamentul Intern. If the employee does not meet the required standards, the employer must first offer any suitable vacant position compatible with the employee’s qualifications and allow a reasonable period for improvement. Where no appropriate vacancy exists, the employer must notify ANOFM to assist with redeployment before issuing the dismissal decision. Once these steps have been completed, the dismissal decision must be issued within 30 calendar days of establishing the grounds for dismissal and must include details of any vacant positions offered, or confirm that none were available.

A dismissal for medical incapacity begins with a decision from the competent medical examination body (comisie de expertiză medicală) confirming that the employee is permanently unable to perform the role. Before proceeding with dismissal, the employer must offer any suitable vacant position compatible with the employee’s remaining work capacity. If no appropriate vacancy exists, the employer must notify ANOFM to assist with redeployment. The dismissal decision must be issued within 30 calendar days of the medical finding and cannot be issued while the employee is on temporary sick leave.

• Prepare a documented business case establishing the real and serious grounds for position elimination (board or management decision, org-chart change, financial analysis).
• Apply objective selection criteria if multiple comparable positions are affected.
• Issue the written dismissal decision with 20 working days’ notice.
• Do not recreate the same position within 6 months of the dismissal date.

Courts scrutinise individual redundancies intensely where patterns suggest the redundancy is a pretext for a personal reason.

Dismissal is absolutely prohibited where the reason is, directly or indirectly:

• Race, nationality, ethnicity, skin colour, language, religion, social origin, genetic characteristics, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, chronic non-contagious illness, or HIV infection.
• Political opinion, trade union membership, or trade union activities.
• Family situation or responsibilities.
• Participation in strikes or any lawful collective action.
• Exercise of statutory employment rights (for example, requesting information, asserting maternity or parental rights).

The employer cannot order a dismissal decision while the employee is in any of the following protected situations:

• Temporary incapacity for work (medical certificate). The dismissal decision is void even if issued the same day sick leave commences; the communication date is irrelevant.
• Quarantine leave.
• Pregnancy, where the employer has been informed prior to issuing the decision.
• Maternity leave (126 days).
• Childcare (parental) leave up to age 2, or age 3 for a child with a disability.
• Sick-child care leave (child up to age 7, or age 18 for a disabled child).
• Annual leave or authorised absence.
• Maternal risk leave.
• Post-parental-leave insertion incentive period, until the child reaches age 3 (or age 4 for a disabled child).

Under the High Court of Cassation and Justice Decision No. 18 of 29 September 2025, the prohibition on dismissal during sick leave attaches to the moment of issuance of the dismissal decision, not the date of communication or effective termination. A decision issued while the employee is on sick leave is absolutely null, even if communicated after sick leave ends. This clarification has practical consequences for employers: the decision must be dated after the sick-leave certificate expires.

These protections fall away only in the event of the employer’s judicial reorganisation, bankruptcy, or court-ordered dissolution.

• Trade union leaders and representatives: Additional protections under Law No. 62/2011.
• Whistleblowers: Protected against dismissal or retaliation under Law No. 361/2022 transposing EU Directive 2019/1937. The employer bears the burden of proving a non-retaliatory reason.
• Employees with disabilities: Shorter probation (30 calendar days) applies; no general extra notice requirement.
• Fixed-term employees: Cannot be dismissed before expiry except on the same grounds applicable to open-ended contracts; the employer must inform them of vacancies.
• Employees returning from parental leave: Right to return to the same or an equivalent position; employment protected for the insertion incentive period.