Key amendments brought to the Romanian Labour Code on 7 August 2017: -

The concept of undeclared labour is specifically defined and new sanctions are introduced in an attempt to reduce the phenomenon of undeclared labour; -

New rules on amending employment agreements: any amendments made to the employment agreement must be reflected in an addendum concluded before the changes take place; -

Stricter records of the employees working time: the employer will have to keep track of the time when the employees start and finish work; -

No more criminal liability: hiring more than five employees without a valid employment agreement is no longer a criminal offence; -

Reduced fines in case of early payment: the employer can pay only half of the administrative fine if the payment is made within 48 hours from the date of the fine; and -

A new complementary sanction has been introduced: in certain cases of undeclared labour, the labour inspectors will also suspend the activity of the work place until the fine is paid and the breach is remedied.