Accommodation for foreign workers in Romania and the employer's obligations

Accommodation is not a benefit the employer chooses to offer. It is a condition checked by the General Inspectorate for Immigration before the employment authorisation is issued, and by the Labour Inspection after the worker arrives. Emergency Ordinance 32/2026 caps the rent deducted from a foreign worker at 25 percent of net pay.

At the national gross minimum wage of 4,325 lei, in force from 1 July 2026 under Government Decision 146/2026, net pay is roughly 2,699 lei. The 25 percent cap therefore lands at about 675 lei a month. Any amount above that level, withheld from wages, breaches the ordinance regardless of how good the housing is.

What the employer has to prove, and when

Ordinance 25/2014 separates two situations, and the documents required differ completely.

Where the employer provides accommodation free of charge, the authorisation file carries an authenticated declaration that the accommodation offers an adequate standard of living for the whole intended stay, together with documents proving ownership or a right of use over the dwelling in Romania.

Where accommodation is paid for, the file carries a tenancy agreement showing that the worker acquires a right of use for the whole stay, against a rent that is not excessive relative to the net salary stated in the firm offer and to the quality of the dwelling, and that is not automatically deducted from wages.

The firm job offer, made a standard document by Emergency Ordinance 32/2026, has to state whether the employer provides accommodation, food and transport. The default rule is that these costs fall to the worker unless the firm offer says otherwise, which means silence in the offer creates no obligation for the company but does not release it from the housing check either.

What an adequate standard of living means at inspection

The legal text sets no numeric standard, and the practical reference remains Housing Law 114/1996, with its annex of minimum requirements for dwellings: minimum floor areas per number of occupants, sanitary fittings, a heat source, natural light and ventilation. An inspector entering accommodation compares what is there against those requirements and against the declared headcount.

The three findings that recur are density, purpose and paperwork. Density means more people than the declared floor area supports. Purpose means accommodation in a space not built for it, a site container or a partitioned warehouse. Paperwork means no tenancy agreement or right of use for the address where the workers are actually found, which is not always the address in the authorisation file.

Moving workers from the declared address to another dwelling without updating the documents is the most frequent source of mismatch. It shows up particularly at construction firms that follow the site, and at inspection it produces an accommodation problem and a workplace problem at once, because the authorisation covers one determined location. The applicable penalties are set out in labour inspection and fines.

Transport and the cost of return

Emergency Ordinance 32/2026 ties accommodation to two related duties. The first is transport from entry into Romania to the workplace or the accommodation, arranged by the employer. The second is the financial guarantee of 1,000 euro for each worker, covering the cost of return to the country of origin, posted before the authorisation is issued as a State Treasury deposit or a bank guarantee letter.

The two connect in practice. A worker who leaves employer-provided housing and drops out of the record triggers both the notification duty and the risk that the guarantee is called. The full logistics chain from airport to first shift is described in relocating a non-EU hire, and the rules specific to the season sit in seasonal worker rules.

The 25 percent cap is measured against actual net pay rather than the minimum, which means the permitted amount rises with the salary and that a calculation done once at hiring stops being accurate after the first increase. The working framework for employers is set out on the employers page.