A second job for the foreign worker: part-time, maximum 4 hours a day, with another employer

Status as of 03.11.2026: On WorkinRomania.gov.ro, employer registration, employer authorisation and the filing of the single application for D/AM2 visas have remained deactivated since 15.09.2026, following the suspension by the Bucharest Court of Appeal of Order no. 1073/2026 of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity (MMFTSS), which approved the Shortage Occupations List. On 26.10.2026 the Ministry of Labour put the amendment of the list's methodology up for public consultation and is preparing a new, extended list, and the full resumption of the platform has been publicly announced for 15 November 2026. Until then, a second employer that is not already entered in R.A.S. cannot register. Check on the platform, under "Registre" (Registers), whether the employer is already entered. What you can do as a worker during the blockage is explained in the dedicated guide.

A foreign worker who already has a full-time employment contract in Romania can also work for a second employer, but only under a part-time contract of maximum 4 hours a day. No new visa, single application or other permit is needed: the right to work part-time follows directly from the law, from art. 132^1 para. (1) letter i) and para. (3) of Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO) no. 194/2002, an article introduced by GEO no. 32/2026.

The rule is simple, but it comes with precise conditions: the main contract must be active, the second employer must be registered on the WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform, and for permanent workers the part-time position must be compatible with the Shortage Occupations List. The guide below shows, in order, what you do as a worker, what the second employer must do and what obligations you have for the whole duration of the two contracts.

In short

Who can work for a second employer

Art. 132^1 para. (3) of GEO no. 194/2002: foreign nationals holding a temporary right of residence for employment purposes, employed under an active full-time individual employment contract, may be employed by another employer only under a part-time individual employment contract, with working time of maximum 4 hours a day.

Three conditions, met at the same time:

1. You have a temporary right of residence for employment purposes — a valid residence permit issued for the purpose of "work" (single permit or EU Blue Card).
2. Your main contract is full-time and active — 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, registered in REGES-ONLINE, not terminated and not suspended, both on the day you start the second contract and throughout its duration.
3. The second contract is part-time, of no more than 4 hours a day. The limit is set by law: not 6 hours, not 8, and it cannot be exceeded through overtime either.

Two situations that do not fall under this rule, because they have rules of their own:

• foreign students with a residence permit for studies: a part-time contract of maximum 6 hours a day (art. 132^1 para. (2)) — details in the guide for students;
• holders of a family reunification permit: they can work full-time or part-time, without the 4-hour limit, under the general rules of the Labour Code — details in the dedicated guide.

Your steps, in order

1. Read your residence permit. The purpose of stay, the expiry date and your citizenship. This tells you whether the Shortage Occupations List matters for your part-time position (see below).
2. Check your main contract. It must be full-time and active. If it is suspended, for example for unpaid leave, the condition is not met for the duration of the suspension.
3. Ask your main employer for the employee certificate. The employer is required to issue you, on request, a document attesting the activity performed, its duration and the salary (art. 34 para. (5) of the Labour Code). What it must contain — in the next section.
4. Check the second employer before you sign. It must be entered in the Register of Employers of Foreign Nationals (R.A.S.): go to WorkinRomania.gov.ro, under "Registre" (Registers), and search for the company by name or tax identification number (CUI). The position must be of no more than 4 hours a day, and if you are a permanent worker, the occupation (COR code) must be compatible with the Shortage Occupations List.
5. Sign the part-time contract — in writing, in Romanian and in a language you understand, with the work schedule written into the contract and no overtime. Do not start work before the second employer has registered the contract in REGES-ONLINE.
6. Give the second employer a copy of your permit and the certificate. The employer sends them to IGI, together with a copy of the contract, no later than 10 days after your first day of work.
7. Submit a monthly self-declaration (declarație pe propria răspundere) to the second employer stating that you earn income from two employment contracts whose total is at least equal to the gross minimum wage. Without it, the contributions on the part-time contract are calculated at the level of a full minimum wage (art. 146 para. (5^6)-(5^7) and art. 168 para. (6^1) of the Fiscal Code; the procedure is in Order of the Minister of Finance no. 1,855/2022).
8. Keep your main contract active and notify the second employer immediately if it ends or is suspended.

The certificate from your main employer

The second employer must send IGI, together with a copy of the part-time contract, the documents proving that you fall into the category under art. 132^1 para. (1) letter i): your residence permit and proof of your full-time contract. The law does not provide a form for this proof. It is the ordinary employee certificate that any employer issues on request (art. 34 para. (5) of the Labour Code), on company letterhead, signed by the legal representative. Your current employer confirms nothing about the second contract: it only writes what it knows from its own records.

The certificate contains:

• the employer: name, tax identification number (CUI), registered office;
• the employee: name and CNP;
• the contract: number and date, registered in REGES-ONLINE, full-time of 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, the position and the COR code, the duration (indefinite or fixed-term, until a specific date);
• the statement that, on the date of issue, the contract is active.

You give a copy of the residence permit directly to the second employer yourself. If it wants an additional official confirmation, the simplest document is the REGES-ONLINE extract of your contract, generated by your main employer.

Certificate template (the employer issues it in Romanian; this is the text it can copy)

ADEVERINȚĂ nr. … din … Subscrisa [DENUMIREA ANGAJATORULUI], CUI [………], cu sediul în [………], reprezentată prin [nume și prenume], în calitate de [administrator], adeverește prin prezenta că domnul/doamna [NUME ȘI PRENUME], CNP [………], este salariatul nostru în baza contractului individual de muncă nr. [...] din [data], înregistrat în REGES-ONLINE, încheiat pe durată [nedeterminată / determinată, până la data de ………], cu normă întreagă de 8 ore pe zi și 40 de ore pe săptămână, în funcția de [funcția], cod COR [………]. La data emiterii, contractul individual de muncă este activ. Prezenta se eliberează la cererea salariatului, pentru a-i servi unde este necesar. [Administrator — nume, prenume, semnătură]

The Shortage Occupations List: when the COR code matters

Art. 132^1 para. (4) of GEO no. 194/2002 ties the part-time second job to the list: for the categories of workers under art. 27^2, the provisions of para. (1) letter i) apply only to employment in activities compatible with the shortage occupations included in the Shortage Occupations List. Para. (3) says how you can work — part-time, maximum 4 hours a day; para. (4) says where.

In practice: the occupation in the part-time contract — the COR code registered in REGES-ONLINE — is what IGI uses to check whether the position is compatible with the list in force on the date of hiring. A goods handler position (COR code 933303), an occupation included in the list approved in August 2026, is compatible; an office job that does not appear on the list does not become compatible just because it is 4 hours a day.

The list also matters for the registration of the second employer: an employer that is a legal entity must have actually carried out activity for at least one year in fields compatible with the shortage occupation for which it hires (art. 5 para. (1) letter b) of GEO no. 32/2026).

Employment in an occupation incompatible with the list is an administrative offence: a fine from 10,000 lei to 20,000 lei for each person, applied to the employer by IGI (art. 134 point 19 and art. 135 para. (1) letter h) of GEO no. 194/2002).

What the second employer must do

The part-time contract does not go through WorkinRomania: there is no single application, no file and no need for a placement agency. The platform matters at one point only, but an essential one: the second employer must be registered.

1. Registration on WorkinRomania.gov.ro. The rule in art. 4 para. (1) of GEO no. 32/2026: in order to employ foreign nationals, employers must register or obtain authorisation on the platform. The exception in para. (2) covers only the categories under art. 132^1 para. (1) letters a)-h) and j)-m); the part-time second job is letter i), so it is not exempted. What is needed is registration — entry in R.A.S. —, not authorisation as an "authorised employer". The conditions are those in art. 5: no outstanding obligations to the general consolidated budget, actual activity of at least one year in a field compatible with the shortage occupation, no recent sanctions or convictions. ANOFM approves or rejects the registration within 30 working days at most. Failure to register: a fine from 15,000 lei to 20,000 lei (art. 42 para. (3) letter a) of GEO no. 32/2026).

2. The part-time contract. In writing, in Romanian and in a language you understand (art. 7 para. (1) letter b) of GEO no. 32/2026 and art. 16 para. (1^9) of the Labour Code), with working time of no more than 4 hours a day and with the mandatory elements of any part-time contract (art. 105 of the Labour Code): the working time and the distribution of the work schedule, the conditions under which the schedule may be changed, and the prohibition of overtime. If these elements are missing, the contract is deemed concluded for full-time work (art. 105 para. (2)) — exactly what the law does not allow with a second employer. The contract also includes the elements under art. 6 para. (1) letters c)-m) and para. (2) of GEO no. 32/2026 (art. 7 para. (1) letter c)).

3. Registration in REGES-ONLINE, before the first day of work (Government Decision no. 295/2025). Work without a registered contract is undeclared work: 20,000 lei for each person (art. 260 para. (1) letters e) and e^1) of the Labour Code).

4. The medical certificate, at the latest on the date the activity starts (art. 27 para. (6)-(7) of the Labour Code).

5. Occupational health and safety training, in a language you understand, and protective equipment (art. 7 para. (1) letter d) of GEO no. 32/2026).

6. Notification to IGI, no later than 10 days after the start of the activity: a copy of the individual employment contract and copies of the documents proving the category — the residence permit and the certificate from the main employer (art. 132^1 para. (6) of GEO no. 194/2002). Non-compliance: a fine from 10,000 lei to 20,000 lei per person.

7. Any amendment or termination of the contract is notified to IGI within 5 working days (art. 132^1 para. (7)). Also within 5 working days of finding it, the employer notifies any unjustified absence of more than 3 consecutive working days and any situation of danger or exploitation (art. 7 para. (1) letter e) of GEO no. 32/2026).

8. The other obligations in art. 7, which apply to any employer hiring foreign nationals: payment of the salary exclusively into a bank account; Romanian language courses with elements of cultural and social integration, for at least 6 months from the start of the activity, with at least 6 hours a week; access to confidential complaint procedures; access for inspections; keeping a copy of the residence permit and the supporting documents for at least 5 years after the end of the contract; if it provides accommodation for a fee, rent of no more than 25% of the net salary.

9. Your monthly declaration for contributions. The second employer requests it and keeps it as a supporting document; on its basis, CAS (pension contribution) and CASS (health insurance contribution) are calculated on the actual salary in the part-time contract, not at the level of the minimum wage.

Your obligations and responsibilities for the duration of the two contracts

• You respect the 4-hour-a-day limit with the second employer. Overtime is prohibited under a part-time contract (art. 105 para. (1) letter c) of the Labour Code), and working beyond the legal limit takes you outside the conditions under which you have the right to work and exposes the employer to fines.
• You keep your main contract active. Your residence permit remains tied to your main employer. When extending your right of residence you present the full-time contract, with a salary at least at the level of the national gross minimum wage (art. 56 para. (1) and (4) of GEO no. 194/2002); the part-time contract does not replace this condition.
• You provide genuine information and documents about your identity and qualifications and comply with the contract, the internal rules and the occupational health and safety rules at both employers (art. 40 para. (1) of GEO no. 32/2026).
• You do not start work for the second employer before it has registered the contract in REGES-ONLINE.
• You submit the monthly self-declaration for contributions to the employer where you earn below the minimum wage, that is, the part-time one.
• You notify the second employer immediately if your main contract ends or is suspended, if your permit expires or if you receive any document from IGI.
• You keep the copies: both contracts, the certificate, the REGES-ONLINE extract and the proof that the part-time contract was notified to IGI — ask the second employer for the registration number.

When the right to work for the second employer ends

When the full-time contract ends. The condition in art. 132^1 para. (3) is no longer met, and the part-time contract is left without a legal basis: it cannot continue on its own. The part-time contract ends, and the second employer notifies IGI of the termination within 5 working days. For you, from the day the termination of the main contract is registered, the 90-day period starts within which a new employer can file the single application for a change of employer (art. 56 para. (6) of GEO no. 194/2002); the part-time contract does not stand in for a full-time contract during this period either. The rules for changing employer are explained in the dedicated guide.

When the residence permit expires without being extended. The right to work, with both employers, derives from the permit. If IGI finds that your stay is illegal, the contracts terminate by operation of law (art. 56 para. (1) letter l) of the Labour Code); likewise from the date on which the employer learns that IGI has established a return obligation (art. 132^1 para. (5) of GEO no. 194/2002). The extension application is filed with IGI at least 30 days before expiry.

When you change your main employer. Between the end of the old full-time contract and the start of the new one, the condition in art. 132^1 para. (3) is not met, so the part-time contract cannot continue during that interval. With the new full-time contract active, the procedure starts again from the beginning: a certificate from the new main employer, a part-time contract, REGES-ONLINE and notification to IGI within 10 days.

Applicable fines

Frequently asked questions

Can I work 6 or 8 hours a day for the second employer?

No. The law allows only one type of contract with a second employer: part-time, of maximum 4 hours a day (art. 132^1 para. (3)). Any other arrangement means working outside the legal conditions.

Can I have two part-time contracts instead of one full-time contract?

No. The right of residence for employment purposes is granted and extended on the basis of a full-time contract (art. 56 para. (1) and (4) of GEO no. 194/2002). The exception in art. 132^1 works only as an addition to the full-time contract, not in its place.

Do I need my main employer's consent?

The law does not require their consent: holding more than one job is a right of the employee (art. 35 of the Labour Code), and the special law only limits the form — part-time, maximum 4 hours a day. You do, however, need the certificate that your main employer issues, so your main employer will know about the second contract.

Does the second employer have to be a placement agency or an authorised employer?

No. It only has to be registered on WorkinRomania.gov.ro, in R.A.S. Authorisation as an authorised employer — at least 24 months of activity, at least 50 employees, a financial guarantee — concerns recruitment from abroad via the D/AM2 route and has nothing to do with your part-time contract.

Is the part-time contract filed on WorkinRomania?

No. There is no single application or file on the platform for this contract. Its path is: REGES-ONLINE before the first day of work, then notification to IGI within 10 days.

Can the second job be in another city or county?

The law places no condition on the location of the second contract. In practice, the schedule must be feasible: 8 hours with the main employer and no more than 4 hours with the second one, while observing the daily rest provided for by the Labour Code.

What declaration does the second employer ask me for every month?

The self-declaration under Order of the Minister of Finance no. 1,855/2022: you confirm that you earn income from two employment contracts whose total is at least equal to the national gross minimum wage. It is submitted monthly, to the employer where you earn below the minimum wage — that is, the part-time one. Without it, the contributions on the part-time contract are calculated at the level of the minimum wage, and the difference is borne by the employer.

If my main employer suspends my contract, can I continue with the second one?

For the duration of the suspension, the condition "active full-time contract" is not met. Notify the second employer before the suspension starts, so that it can decide, with IGI, how to handle the part-time contract for that period.

---

This guide is for information purposes only and does not replace legal advice. Legal basis: GEO no. 194/2002 as amended by GEO no. 32/2026 (Official Gazette no. 335/27.04.2026), GEO no. 32/2026, Law no. 53/2003 - the Labour Code, Government Decision no. 295/2025 (REGES-ONLINE), Law no. 227/2015 - the Fiscal Code and Order of the Minister of Finance no. 1,855/2022. Date verified: 3 November 2026.

Do you need help with the certificate, the bilingual part-time contract or the employer's registration on WorkinRomania? Write to us at office@wantjob.eu or visit wantjob.eu.