New obligations for employers with at least 50 employees to employ people with disabilities
Under the current legislation, employers with at least 50 employees must employ at least 4% of the total number of employees who are disabled. If this obligation is not respected, they have to pay a contribution to the disability fund.
As of January 2025, by OUG No 127/2024, the Government introduces two additional obligations for these employers:
Soliciting support from ONGs: Employers must prove that they have requested, in writing, the help of ONGs specialized in the integration of persons with disabilities in order to fill available positions.
Annual reporting on employment: By January 31 of each year, employers must submit to the authorities a detailed statement of the positions occupied by people with disabilities during the previous year.
Conditions and procedure for applying for ONG support
Employers who do not meet the minimum quota for the employment of people with disabilities must request the support of at least three ONGs, under the following conditions:
✔ The ONGs must have as their status the provision of services for the benefit of persons with disabilities;
✔ They must be active within the territorial radius of the employer’s headquarters;
✔ ONGs must be registered in the National ONG Register and must not be struck off, in liquidation or dissolved.
Employers who reach the threshold of 50 employees, but do not comply with the minimum quota for the employment of persons with disabilities, must submit applications to ONGs within 10 working days.
Modul de calcul al procentului de 4%
Instrucțiunile privind calculul pragului de 50 de angajați sunt reglementate de Ordinul ANPDPD nr. 1001/2022.
In this respect:
Full-time employees are counted in full.
Part-time employees are included in proportion to the time actually worked.
The 4% is calculated as the arithmetic average of the number of daily employees over the whole month, including weekly rest days and statutory days off.
This does not include employees on unpaid leave, on strike, on secondment abroad or those with suspended employment contracts.
The application form that employers must send to ONG s is included in Annex No. 1 of the Joint Order No. 28/11/2025 and must contain:
List of available posts, COR codes, specific duties, qualifications required, working hours and duration of contract (fixed-term/ indefinite).
Employers must send this request, together with proof of transmission to the ONGs, and to the ANPDPD and ANOFM, either in physical or electronic format, by e-mail.
ONG obligation and annual reporting
ONGs have an obligation to respond to employers’ requests and support the employment process by informing people with disabilities about:
✔ Employment opportunities available;
✔ Qualification requirements for vacancies;
✔ Working conditions and contact details of employers and territorial employment agencies.
In addition to the application to ONGs and authorities, employers must send annually, by January 31, to the ANOFM and ANPDPD, a centralized situation with:
- Number of posts approved/existing in the previous year;
- Number of vacant posts in the previous year;
- Functions/positions occupied by persons with disabilities;
- Total number of persons with disabilities employed;
- Skills required to fill the posts.
Penalties and financial obligations
Failure to comply with the new obligations DOES NOT entail sanctions, but the previous rules remain applicable for employers who do not employ people with disabilities:
Payment of a monthly contribution to the state budget, equivalent to the gross minimum wage in the country multiplied by the number of unfilled posts for people with disabilities.
Alternatively, employers can pay at least 50% of this amount to the budget, and the rest must be used to purchase products/services from sheltered establishments employing people with disabilities.