Tuesday, 14 April 2026
Romania has published a draft law transposing Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency into national legislation, opening a public consultation period until 8 April 2026. The proposal, released by the Romanian Ministry of Labour, is expected to be submitted to Parliament following consultation.
The draft broadly follows the EU framework on equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, while introducing several country-specific provisions, including shorter deadlines, defined institutional roles and additional procedural safeguards for employees.
A central element of the proposal is the requirement for employers to disclose salary information at the recruitment stage. Pay details must either be included in job advertisements or communicated to candidates in writing before interviews, signalling a shift towards greater transparency in hiring practices.
The draft also shortens timelines for responding to employee requests for pay data. While the EU directive allows up to two months, the Romanian proposal sets a 30 working day deadline, with a single extension of the same duration permitted. This is likely to require companies to strengthen internal processes for gathering and verifying remuneration data.
Employers would also be required to notify staff annually, by the end of the first quarter, of their right to request pay information and the procedures for doing so. In addition, companies would have 90 working days to address unjustified pay disparities, with a possible extension of up to six months in justified cases.
Another notable provision allows employees to request pay information through the National Council for Combating Discrimination, which would act as an intermediary by obtaining data from employers and transmitting it to the employee. This mechanism may increase the formalisation of pay-related enquiries and place additional administrative demands on companies.
The draft adopts a broad approach to determining comparable roles for equal pay assessments. Comparisons may extend beyond employees within the same company to include sectoral, national or group-level benchmarks, as well as hypothetical comparisons supported by statistical evidence. This wider scope could increase exposure to equal pay claims, particularly for organisations operating across multiple entities or industries.
Non-compliance would attract administrative fines ranging from RON 10,000 to 20,000 for initial breaches and up to RON 30,000 for repeated violations, enforced by labour inspectorates.
The proposal also предусматриes amendments to existing legislation, including the Labour Code and equality laws, to ensure alignment with the new framework.
While the draft remains subject to change during consultation and the legislative process, it provides a clear indication of the direction of travel. Companies operating in Romania are expected to begin assessing the potential impact on pay structures, reporting systems and HR procedures ahead of the law’s eventual adoption.
Source: CMS
