Romania has drafted a labor bill with strict provisions for companies that employ foreign workers. The draft, if enacted into law, will deny access to the Romanian labor market for migrant workers, including Nepalis.

The draft bill requires companies that recruit migrant workers to deposit a deposit of 75,000 euros to bring in 250 workers. It also requires an additional deposit of 50,000 euros for an additional 250 workers. It also proposes that such companies must have been in continuous operation for at least three years and have hired one worker in the previous year.

Romanian employers have opposed the provisions in the draft bill. ‘This is almost impossible for most private sector companies to meet this requirement.’ If this condition is implemented, only 0.5 percent of companies will qualify,’ writes Nae Kahne in ‘The Post of Europe’, ‘No one can easily believe that such provisions are aimed at ordinary Romanian businesses. These conditions are brought in for large, well-capitalized and politically controlled businesses.’

Romania published a draft labor bill on April 8 to implement the European Union Directive 2023/970, which aims to ensure equal pay for women and men for equal work. The bill will be submitted to the Romanian parliament after public comments, according to the website of the labor ministry.

The proposed bill states that information on wages must be included in the job advertisements published on the employer’s website or on public platforms. It is also proposed that employers provide all employees with information on wages within the first quarter of each year. The draft also mentions a provision that employers must rectify the unequal wage gap within 90 working days. A provision has also been proposed that workers can request wage information not only directly from the employer, but also through the National Council against Discrimination.

A provision has been proposed that a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 Romanian lei (about 2,000-4,000 euros) be imposed for the first violation of the law and 20,000 to 30,000 lei for a second violation.

The number of Nepalese migrants to Romania from Asian countries is constantly increasing. In the last fiscal year alone, 27,874 Nepalis went there, of which 3,313 were women.

According to Ritesh Dhakal from Kavre, working in Romania, 99 percent of Nepali workers are being recruited by ‘supply companies’. ‘There are also those who get good jobs here.’ Those who work in good companies earn between one and two lakhs,' he said, 'Most supply companies have already left. Not everyone wants a good company. Only if they work in a good company will they earn.'