Redundancy in Romania

Redundancy in Romania is dismissal because your position is eliminated (desființarea postului) (art. 65(1) of the Romanian Labour Code, Codul muncii, Law no. 53/2003). The elimination must be effective, with a real and serious cause (art. 65(2)). You get at least 20 working days’ notice (art. 75(1)) and 45 calendar days to challenge it (art. 268(1)(a)).

When is a redundancy lawful in Romania?

Dismissal for reasons not related to the employee is the termination of the contract because the position you occupy is eliminated, for one or more reasons unrelated to your person (art. 65(1)). The Code sets one test with three parts (art. 65(2)):

• Effective. The post really disappears from the employer’s structure. If it is renamed, split between two new hires or re-created a few months later, the elimination was not effective.
• Real cause. There are actual economic, technical or organisational facts behind the decision, for example a lost client, a closed product line or a merger of departments.
• Serious cause. Those facts make the post unjustifiable. A reorganisation designed to remove one person is a pretext, not a serious cause.

The court tests these elements against the documents: the decision of the company’s management approving the restructuring, the organisation chart (organigrama) before and after, hiring during the following months, and who performs your former tasks. The employer may rely only on the reasons written in the decision (art. 79), and a dismissal ordered in breach of the legal procedure is absolutely void (art. 78).

The Code does not oblige the employer to offer you another post in a redundancy; that duty exists for dismissals on grounds of unfitness or professional inadequacy (art. 64). A collective agreement may add it. The prohibitions of art. 59 (discriminatory grounds) and art. 60 (protected periods such as certified sick leave, pregnancy known to the employer, maternity and childcare leave, annual leave) apply to redundancy as to any dismissal, with the single exception of an employer in judicial reorganisation, bankruptcy or dissolution (art. 60(2)).

What notice and what payments am I entitled to?

• Notice. At least 20 working days (art. 75(1)). It starts the day after the notification is communicated and ends on its last day (High Court decision RIL no. 8/2024). If your contract is suspended during the notice, the notice is suspended as well (art. 75(3)). The decision must state the length of the notice (art. 76(b)).
• Salary during notice. The contract runs normally until the notice ends.
• Severance. The Code sets no general severance figure. You receive the compensation provided by law and by the applicable collective agreement (art. 67), so read your collective agreement and your contract.
• Unused leave. Paid in money when the contract ends (art. 146(3)).
• Documents. The employer must issue a certificate of your employment and a REVISAL extract (Government Decision no. 295/2025 on the REGES-ONLINE register, art. 8(6); Labour Code art. 34(5)).
• Unemployment benefit. Register with the county employment agency (AJOFM Cluj) with the dismissal decision and the certificate.

More on notice in resignation and notice period.

What is a collective redundancy in Romania?

A redundancy becomes collective when, within 30 calendar days, for reasons unrelated to the employees, the employer dismisses (art. 68(1)):

The collective procedure adds steps the employer must document:

1. Consultation with the union or the employee representatives, in good time, on ways to avoid the dismissals or reduce their number and on social measures (art. 69(1)).
2. A written notification with the number and categories of employees, the reasons, the affected posts, the selection criteria, the measures envisaged, the compensation, the dates and the deadline for proposals (art. 69(2)), copied to ITM and the employment agency (art. 70).
3. Proposals from the union within 10 calendar days and a reasoned written reply within 5 (art. 71).
4. A second notification to ITM and the employment agency at least 30 calendar days before the dismissal decisions are issued (art. 72(1)).
5. Selection criteria applied only after evaluating the achievement of performance objectives (art. 69(3)), and stated in each dismissal decision (art. 76(c)).

The collective rules do not apply to public institutions, nor to fixed-term contracts unless they are ended before expiry (art. 74(5) and (6)).

Do I have a right to be re-hired?

After a collective redundancy, yes. Within 45 calendar days from the dismissal, an employee dismissed collectively has priority to be re-hired on the re-established post in the same activity, without exam, competition or probation (art. 74(1)). If the activity resumes in that period, the employer must write to the dismissed employees (art. 74(2)), who have at most 5 calendar days to accept in writing (art. 74(3)). Only after that may the employer hire others (art. 74(4)).

What should I check in the redundancy decision?

• It is written and was communicated to you; it takes effect only from communication (art. 76, art. 77).
• It describes the reasons for eliminating the post, not just a formula (art. 76(a)).
• It states the notice period (art. 76(b)) and, in a collective redundancy, the selection criteria (art. 76(c)).
• You were not in a protected period when it was issued (art. 60(1)).
• The post is really gone: compare the organisation chart before and after, watch job advertisements for your role, note who took over your tasks.
• The selection among similar posts does not rest on citizenship, language, age, sex, family situation or union activity (art. 59(a)).
• The redundancy does not hide a performance or disciplinary issue, which would need the procedures of art. 61 and 63.
• The date you received it, because the 45-day deadline runs from the date you learned of the decision (art. 268(1)(a)). Use the court deadline calculator.

How do I challenge a redundancy?

The challenge (contestație) goes to the tribunal of your domicile, residence or workplace (art. 269(2)), in Cluj the Cluj Tribunal (Tribunalul Cluj), within 45 calendar days (art. 268(1)(a)). There is no court fee (art. 270) and the employer must prove that the elimination was effective and had a real and serious cause (art. 272). If it fails, the court annuls the dismissal and orders compensation equal to the indexed, increased and updated salaries, plus reinstatement if you ask (art. 80). The steps are explained on the contesting a dismissal page; the other grounds and prohibitions are on the unfair dismissal page. For the overview, see employment law in Cluj, and contact me with the decision as soon as you receive it.

Consolidated text of the law: Codul muncii, Legea nr. 53/2003 (legislatie.just.ro).