Terminating Employment in Romania: Notice, Process and Protected Periods

Romanian law allows employers to end employment only on specific statutory grounds, with a written decision and, in most cases, 20 working days' notice. Get the process wrong and the dismissal can be annulled, so termination in Romania is a procedure to follow, not a conversation to have.

Dismissal needs a legal ground

Employers cannot dismiss "at will". The Labour Code lists the permitted grounds. Some relate to the employee, such as disciplinary misconduct, professional inadequacy established through a formal evaluation, or medically certified incapacity. Others relate to the business, mainly the genuine elimination of a position for economic, technological or organisational reasons. Each ground has its own procedure, and a dismissal that skips a step is open to challenge in court.

Notice and the written decision

For most dismissals that are not disciplinary, the employer must give at least 20 working days' notice in writing. The dismissal decision itself must also be in writing and state the legal and factual grounds, the notice period and how the employee can challenge it. Romanian courts read these requirements strictly. A grounds statement that is too thin, or notice that was never given, can render the dismissal void.

Timing around protected periods

Some situations block a dismissal decision altogether, including medically certified sick leave, pregnancy known to the employer, maternity leave and childcare leave. A 2025 ruling by Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice confirmed that sick-leave protection is assessed on the date the decision is issued, not the date it is communicated. Employers should therefore check an employee's leave status before signing, not before sending.

Severance and the final steps

There is no general statutory severance for an individual dismissal in Romania. Severance usually comes from the employment contract, a collective agreement or a negotiated mutual termination. Every exit still has fixed final steps: updating the national employee registry, paying final salary and any unused leave, and issuing the closing employment and tax documents.

Why the employer of record matters at exit

Terminations are where employment risk is highest, and responsibility should not be split between a platform and a local partner. Xpandium employs people in Romania through its own Romanian legal entity, so the grounds, notice, written decision and registry updates are managed by the same employer that signed the contract.

Building or restructuring a team in Romania?

Talk to Xpandium about compliant employment through our owned Romanian entity.

More info: XPANDIUM Romania EOR page

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