Increase of the fine for undeclared labour

According to Law no. 239/2025, in force as of December 18^th 2025, the acceptance at work of one or more persons without the conclusion of an individual labour agreement, according to art. 16 paragraph (1) of the Labour Code, is sanctioned with a fine of 40,000 lei for each person identified as such, without exceeding the cumulated value of 1,000,000 lei.
 
Thus, according to art. 260 paragraph 1) letter e) of the Labour Code, employers who accept at work persons without concluding with them an individual labour agreement in written form, in Romanian, at the latest on the day before the start of the activity by the employee, may be sanctioned by the inspectors of the Territorial Labour Inspectorate (ITM) with a fine of 40,000 lei for each person found in this situation.
 
It is the employer’s obligation to conclude the individual labour agreement in written form.
 
Prior to this amendment, the sanctions for these acts were of 20,000 lei for each person identified as such, without exceeding the cumulated value of 200,000 lei.
 
Keep in mind that according to art. 16 of the Labour Code:

• Prior to the start of the activity, the individual labour agreement shall be registered in the general register of employees and transmitted to the territorial labour inspectorate at the latest on the day prior to the start of the activity;
• The employer is obliged, before the start of the activity, to hand over a copy of the individual labour agreement to the employee;
• The employer is obliged to keep at the workplace a copy of the individual labour agreement for the employees who work in that place. 

For non-compliance with these facts, the Labour Code stipulates fines that are separate from the fine mentioned above for hiring a person without concluding an individual labour agreement.