Criticism from the Employers’ Association of Labour Importers

Cojocariu Eugen, 19.06.2026, 12:40

The digital platform for accreditation and approval regarding the recruitment of labour from outside the European Union is not functional due to the hasty implementation of the new regulations, claims the Employers’ Association of Labour Importers.

The lack of adequate transitional measures has paralyzed the activity of recruitment agencies and endangers the Romanian employers’ access to human resources that are essential for the functioning of the economy. Recruitment agencies cannot be accredited on the new platform, and the only recruitments that employers can still capitalize on are those completed before April 2026.

The process of bringing foreign workers to Romania has been practically suspended, the Employers’ Association says. According to the aforementioned source, the legislative process for approving GEO 32/2026 has reached the Chamber of Deputies, and the Employers’ Association hopes to find more openness  to the problems reported by the private sector. The changes considered essential include the clarification of liability for the acts of third parties, the faster updating of the list of shortage professions, the elimination of the cap on the number of employees that can be recruited based on the average workforce from the previous year, and increased flexibility for recruitment tools.

The Order of the Minister of Labour, that has recently been published, approves the framework contract models provided for by GEO 32/2026. These contract models, including a special employment contract for foreigners, include provisions that are impossible to put into practice, the Employers’ Association believes.

The administration of these new contracts is bureaucratic, increases administration costs, and will affect small and medium-sized employers, the Employers’ Association states. Another sensitive point is the mechanism for sanctioning recruitment agencies in the event of a work visa rejection by the Consular Offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Thus, if the visa rejection rate exceeds 30% at the level of an agency, it risks suspension of its activity, although the decision belongs exclusively to the consular officer, and the foreign worker has not yet arrived in Romania. This discourages agencies from exploring new recruitment markets, where they can find workers with better qualifications or more compatible with Romania, says the president of the Employers’ Association, Romulus Badea.

He gives the example of Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries in South America. Since these are Romance languages like Romanian, sharing relevant religious and cultural similarities, the integration of workers would be easier. The Employers’ Association has repeatedly warned that it took several years for the portal of the General Inspectorate for Immigration to be functional, and all malfunctions eliminated, and therefore it is believed the new portal will have problems, too.

A transition period would have been necessary, with the two systems running in parallel. “We requested a transition until the end of the year,” the organization has added. The authorities are very strict in rejecting work permit files, even for aspects that later prove acceptable, and employers are blocked and deprived of the human resources they need. The authorities could demonstrate minimum flexibility in this context in which everything is blocked, to offer, for example, an additional 10 days for resolving the file, Badea has said.

The employers’ association says that incomplete files are not officially rejected with a clear motivation, but are classified as a non-appearance, depriving employers of the opportunity to correct any errors, the aforementioned source adds.