Romania has drafted a new labour bill that could significantly restrict access for foreign workers, including thousands of Nepalis. The bill proposes stringent requirements on companies supplying migrant labour.

The draft law requires recruitment or ‘supply’ companies to deposit 75,000 euros to bring in up to 250 workers. An additional 50,000 euros would be needed for every additional 250 workers. Recruitment firms must also have operated continuously for at least three years and recruited at least 100 workers in the previous year.

If enforced in its current form, the new law could sharply reduce the number of companies eligible to recruit migrant workers. Romanian employers themselves have criticised the proposal. Writing in The Post of Europe, analyst Noa Cohen argued that for most private companies, meeting these conditions is nearly impossible, Cohen estimated that fewer than 0.5 percent of Romanian recruitment companies would qualify.

“No serious person can look at those figures and pretend they were designed with ordinary Romanian businesses in mind. These sums cut the field down to the biggest operators, the deepest pockets, and the firms most able to survive a politically controlled approval environment, who have engaged in migrant smuggling up to now,” said Cohen in the news article.

Romania published the draft on April 8, saying it aims to implement the European Union directive 2023-970, which seeks to ensure equal pay for equal work between men and women. The labour ministry has said the bill will be tabled in parliament after public consultations.

Beyond recruitment rules, the proposal requires employers to disclose salary details in job advertisements posted on websites or public platforms. Companies must also inform all employees about pay structures within the first quarter of each year and correct unjustified pay gaps within 90 working days. Workers would be allowed to request pay information not only from employers but also through the National Council for Combating Discrimination.

Penalties for violations range from 10,000 to 20,000 Romanian leu (around 2,000 to 4,000 euros) for a first offence, rising to 20,000 to 30,000 leu for repeat breaches.

For Nepal, the stakes are high. Romania has become an increasingly popular destination, with 27,874 Nepali workers leaving for the country in the last fiscal year of 2024-25, including 3,313 women.

Ritesh Dhakal, a Nepali worker from Kavrepalanchok district, currently employed in Romania, said nearly all migrants rely on supply companies. “Some earn well, up to Rs100,000 to Rs200,000 a month in good firms. But most agencies are not reliable. All the workers may not find good companies. Only those placed in good companies can actually earn good,” said Dhakal.