Working in Romania as a French National: Right to Work, Minimum Wage, Contract, Taxes and Contributions

Citizens of the European Union carry out employed or self-employed activity in Romania under their right of residence: a French national does not have to apply for a work permit. For a job of more than three months, the employee obtains the free registration certificate from the IGI (the General Inspectorate for Immigration), on presentation of the employment contract and a statement from the employer; the page on living in Romania details these formalities. The employer then declares the employee and withholds the contributions.

Job hunting goes through employers’ vacancies and the National Employment Agency, which manages unemployment. Romanian opens the widest market; several international companies also operate in English. The guide to working abroad helps you prepare the departure on the French side.

The guaranteed gross minimum basic salary is set by the Government. Government Decision No. 146 of 12 March 2026, published in the Monitorul Oficial (Romania’s official gazette) No. 196 of 13 March 2026, raises it to 4,325 lei a month from 1 July 2026, for normal working hours of 166.667 hours a month, and repeals Decision No. 1,506/2024, which had set it at 4,050 lei. Eurostat, which converts national minimum wages into euros, gives 825 euros a month in Romania in the second half of 2026 (795 euros in the first half), against 1,867 euros in France.

• Average salary: the INS (the National Institute of Statistics) publishes the average gross and net earnings of the economy each month in its press releases; the gap with the minimum is large depending on the sector and the city.
• How to read an offer: the advertisement generally states the gross monthly salary; the net depends on the pension contribution, the health contribution and the tax described below.

To compare an offer with a job in France, the guide to secondment versus expatriation recalls the differences in status that change net pay and social protection.

The employment contract falls under the Labour Code (Law No. 53/2003). According to the CLEISS, daily sickness allowances are paid for up to 183 days a year: since August 2025, they amount to 55% of the calculation base for leave of up to 7 days, 65% for 8 to 14 days and 75% from 15 days. Maternity leave lasts 126 days, including 42 compulsory days after the birth, with an allowance of 85% of the average gross contributory income of the last six months.

• Reimbursement of care: the employee’s health insurance rights and how they fit with supplementary cover are explained in the page on healthcare reimbursement in Romania.
• Local contract or secondment: an employee hired locally falls under the Romanian scheme; see the glossary entry on the local contract.

The CLEISS indicates for an employee an income tax of 10%, calculated on the salary net of social contributions (scale in force on 1 January 2025, page updated on 16 October 2025). Personal deductions, thresholds and the rules specific to other income change from one year to the next and should be checked on the ANAF website.

• France-Romania treaty: signed in Bucharest on 27 September 1974 and in force since 27 September 1975, it provides that the salary of a resident of one State is taxable only in that State, unless the employment is exercised in the other State, which may then tax it (article 15). The salary remains taxable in the State of residence if the recipient stays in the other State for no more than 18 months in total over three consecutive years, if the employer is not resident there and if the cost is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base.
• Double taxation (article 24): France exempts income taxable in Romania under the treaty, while being able to take it into account to calculate the rate applicable to the rest of the income; dividends, interest, royalties, directors’ fees and income of artists and athletes give entitlement to a tax credit. Romania deducts French tax from the Romanian tax due, up to the amount of the latter.
• Tax residence: beyond 183 days of stay over 12 consecutive months, a tax situation questionnaire is filled in with the ANAF (the Romanian tax administration) within 30 days (France Diplomatie, the French foreign ministry).

If in doubt about tax residence or about double taxation of the same job between the two countries, the tax office for non-resident individuals in France and the Romanian tax administration remain the points of contact.

According to the CLEISS, an employee in Romania bears a pension insurance contribution (CAS) of 25% and a health insurance contribution (CASS) of 10% of gross salary, on the whole salary, with no minimum or maximum. The employer pays an employment insurance contribution of 2.25% of the employee’s gross income, with an additional 4% or 8% for jobs in difficult or special conditions. The CASS funds the access to care described in the page on the Romanian healthcare system.

• Self-employed: the CAS of 25% of net income is compulsory from 12 minimum wages of annual income (48,600 lei in the CLEISS 2025 scale) and capped at 25% of 24 minimum wages; the CASS of 10% applies to net income between 6 minimum wages (24,300 lei) and 60 minimum wages (243,000 lei). A voluntary sickness and maternity insurance of 1% of the income set in the contract is possible. The amounts for the current year should be confirmed with the ANAF, because they are calculated on the minimum wage.
• Return: the self-employed person files the single return (D212) with the ANAF, by 25 May of the following year at the latest for the income of the previous year (ANAF, single return for 2026).
• Seconded from France: an employee seconded with the A1 form stays in the French scheme, for 24 months at most, and does not pay contributions in Romania (europa.eu).

Under Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004, an employee who works remotely for at least 25% of their time in their State of residence falls under the social security of that State (CLEISS). The multilateral framework agreement that makes it possible to remain affiliated to the employer’s State for less than 50% of remote work had 23 signatory States on 1 February 2026; Romania is not on the list, whereas France is a signatory. Regular remote work between France and Romania is therefore settled case by case, through a request from the employer to its competent institution, which may issue an A1 form.

Self-employed people and digital nomads settled in Romania fall under the ANAF for tax and contributions; the guide to digital nomad insurance presents the points of caution for this status.

Eurostat puts Romania’s gross value added at 1,594 billion lei in 2024 (provisional data). Trade, transport and accommodation and food services account for 22.7% of it, industry excluding construction 19.1% (of which 14.6% for manufacturing), public administration, education and health 14.3%, professional and support activities 9.1%, construction 8.8%, real estate 8.0%, information and communication 7.6%, finance and insurance 3.8%, other services 3.6% and agriculture 3.1%.

• Currency: Romania keeps its own currency, the leu (RON), and does not belong to the euro area. Income received in euros therefore carries an exchange-rate risk, whose evolution is tracked in the “Economic benchmarks” block on this page.
• Outlook: growth, inflation and unemployment forecasts are continuously updated in the same block.