Romanian Government Publishes Draft Legislation Implementing The EU Pay Transparency Directive

Starting July 1, 2026, Romania will implement significant changes to its minimum wage policy, raising the gross minimum salary while simultaneously reducing tax exemption benefits. These adjustments will impact both employers and employees across the country, affecting payroll calculations and net income for minimum wage workers.

Romania's Emergency Ordinance no. 32/2026 fundamentally transforms the employment framework for foreign nationals, introducing a digital "single application" system, two distinct work visa categories, and mandatory recruitment agency authorization. Will these sweeping changes streamline foreign worker employment or create new compliance challenges for Romanian employers navigating shortage occupation lists, financial guarantees, and extensive reporting obligations?

Since 2000, Romania has been the recipient of significant foreign investment, garnering more foreign investment than any other central and southeastern European country.

Employers must maintain individual employment contracts at the workplace, but electronic storage is now permitted under specific conditions. The electronic copy requires more than simple scanning—it must be electronically signed and certified as a true copy by the employer's legal representative or authorized person. This requirement establishes clear standards for digital record-keeping compliance in employment documentation.

On 27 April 2026, Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 (“the Ordinance”) regarding the access of foreign nationals to the Romanian labour market entered into force.

Effective January 1, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for foreign workers in non-graduate roles in Romania will increase to RON 2,230, up 7.2 percent from 2019.

Effective January 9, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for EU Blue Card applicants in Romania has increased...

As we move into 2025, we want to highlight some of the key developments in the Romanian employment dispute landscape over the past year.

Starting July 1, 2026, Romania introduces a new calculation method for medical leave benefits that extend across multiple months. When sick leave crosses into a new month and exceeds the 7-day or 8-14 day thresholds, the resulting benefit differences will be included in the income of the month they are determined, rather than being declared retroactively.

The Romanian Government came up with a balanced decision affecting the minimum wage per industry with afflictions to a handful of industries and benefits to others.

A High Court ruling examines a contentious dispute between a video game developer and publisher over milestone-based funding and "step in" rights for the first-person shooter Six Days in Fallujah. With over $50 million in development costs at stake and allegations of conspiracy to acquire proprietary source code, the court declined to grant either party interim control of the game's development, leaving both sides without the "keys to the kingdom" pending a full trial.

As 2026 begins, Ireland's immigration system is entering a period of significant recalibration, with new remuneration thresholds for employment permits, tougher family reunification rules...

The European Commission has unveiled a European Innovation Act designed to strengthen the EU's innovation ecosystem by addressing two critical challenges: limited access to finance for IP-rich businesses and fragmented regulatory frameworks across Member States. The proposal introduces measures including a common IP valuation framework, streamlined R&D procurement procedures, and harmonized regulatory sandboxes to help startups and scaleups commercialize their innovations more effectively.

A Hong Kong director was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay HK$93,000 in outstanding wages after her companies failed to pay employees on time. The case demonstrates that corporate officers can face serious criminal liability, including fines up to HK$350,000 and three years' imprisonment, when employment law breaches occur with their consent, connivance, or neglect.

Hong Kong is introducing sweeping reforms to its unsecured lending market, targeting predatory practices that have long exposed vulnerable borrowers and innocent third parties to aggressive debt collection. The new measures, set to roll out in two phases starting August 2026, will impose debt servicing ratio caps on low-income earners, ban the use of loan referees, and mandate credit reporting through a centralised platform.

The UK remains without comprehensive AI legislation despite years of debate and promises. Now, a Private Member's Bill proposing to prohibit artificial superintelligence development has been introduced in Parliament, marking the most significant legislative move on AI safety to date. With recent incidents of AI agents breaking containment and warnings from AI researchers about extinction risks, pressure is mounting on the government to act.

On 30 September 2026, the Information Commissioner's Office formally becomes the Information Commission. It is the most significant structural change to the UK's data protection regulator in its history, and yet, many organisations are wondering what practical implications this change will have. Here's what you need to know.

Employers conducting follow-up right to work checks face specific requirements when using the Employer Checking Service to maintain their statutory excuse against illegal working penalties. Understanding when and how to properly use the ECS, including the critical 'grace period' provisions and common documentation pitfalls, can mean the difference between compliance and facing civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

From October 2026, the UK's illegal working regime is undergoing a major transformation that will significantly impact creative industries. The new rules expand who must carry out right to work checks and introduce extended liability through supply chains, affecting businesses that rely on freelancers, contractors, and project-based work structures.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces one of the most significant packages of employment law reform in decades, with measures taking effect at different points over the coming years.