If you employ people in Romania — or are about to onboard your first Romanian hire — annual leave is one of the first compliance topics you need to lock down. The Romanian Labour Code (Codul Muncii, Law No. 53/2003) sets a clean statutory floor in Articles 143–154, but the headline number tells only part of the story. Collective labour agreements layer on extra entitlements for many roles, accrual works differently in the first year, and the rules around payout on termination are non-negotiable.

This guide explains what the Codul Muncii actually requires in 2026 — the 20 working day minimum, who qualifies for concediu de odihnă, how holiday pay is calculated, employer duties, and the pitfalls that catch international employers most often. Every fact below comes from the Labour Code itself or the Romanian Ministry of Labour and Social Justice.

Key Takeaways

Statutory annual leave in Romania is a minimum of 20 working days of paid leave per calendar year under the Codul Muncii (Articles 143–154).
Collective labour agreements (CLAs) may provide more generous leave — and frequently do for hazardous work, night shift, and long-service roles.
Annual leave is pro-rated in the first year of employment based on months worked. From the second year onwards the full 20 days are available.
Holiday pay is calculated on the employee’s average salary over the three months preceding the leave period.
Untaken leave must be paid out on termination. It cannot be waived in the contract.
Romania’s 15 public holidays are separate from annual leave and do not consume the entitlement.

The Statutory Entitlement Under the Codul Muncii

Articles 143–154 of the Labour Code set the floor for paid annual leave (concediu de odihnă). Every employee on a Romanian contract of employment is entitled to a minimum of 20 working days of paid annual leave per calendar year. A “working day” maps to the employee’s normal scheduled working day — typically Monday to Friday for a standard five-day week.

The 20-day figure is the absolute minimum. The Labour Code is explicit that collective labour agreements can provide more, and in practice many do. If your hires sit under a CLA — by sector, by employer size, or by occupation — you must check the agreement before you assume the statutory minimum applies.

Why the 20-Day Floor Is Often Just the Starting Point

For international employers used to single-tier statutory minimums, the interaction between the Codul Muncii and collective labour agreements is the most common source of under-allocation. A contract that simply says “20 days as per the Labour Code” is technically lawful, but if the relevant CLA grants additional days for hazardous work, night shift, or long service, the higher figure prevails. Treat the statutory 20 days as the floor of a stack, not the ceiling.

Eligibility: Pro-Rata in the First Year, Full Entitlement Thereafter

Annual leave is open to all employees in an employment relationship under the Codul Muncii, but the way entitlement accrues depends on length of service in the calendar year.

First Year of Employment

In the first year of employment, leave is pro-rated based on months worked. The employee earns a proportional fraction of the annual entitlement for each completed month of qualifying service. They do not receive the full 20 days up front — the entitlement is built up across the year.

This first-year pro-rata rule also covers mid-year leavers. Anyone whose employment ends part-way through a calendar year is entitled to the proportional fraction of the year’s leave they had accrued, with any untaken balance paid out as cash.

From the Second Year Onwards

From the second year of employment, the full 20 working days are available for the calendar year. The employee does not have to wait to accrue the entitlement — it is granted at the start of the year and can be scheduled subject to the normal approval process.

Worked Example: Mid-Year Joiner

Andrei joins a Bucharest office on 1 April 2026 with a standard five-day week and a contractual entitlement matching the statutory 20 days. His leave year is the calendar year.

For 2026, Andrei accrues nine twelfths of 20 working days = 15 working days of leave by year end.
From 1 January 2027, having completed his first year of service, he is entitled to the full 20 working days for the calendar year.

If the relevant collective labour agreement grants more than 20 days, both figures step up proportionally.

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Employer Obligations Under the Codul Muncii

The Labour Code places several non-negotiable duties on the employer. Treat the following as a compliance checklist.

1. Grant the Statutory Minimum

You must grant at least 20 working days of paid annual leave per calendar year. Where a collective labour agreement applies, you must grant the higher figure that agreement provides. Contractual provisions that purport to offer less are void to the extent of the shortfall.

2. Pay the Employee’s Average Salary During Leave

Holiday pay during concediu de odihnă is based on the employee’s average salary over the three months preceding the leave period. The principle is straightforward: the employee should not be financially worse off for taking statutory leave than they would have been if they had worked. For employees on stable base salaries this typically means continuing to pay normal wages. The complexity rises when employees earn meaningful variable pay that needs to be averaged into the holiday rate.

3. Allow Leave to Be Taken Within the Calendar Year

Employers must enable employees to take their annual leave during the calendar year in which it accrues. You cannot use scheduling power to indefinitely postpone leave or pressure employees into building up balances.

4. Pay Out Untaken Leave on Termination

When employment ends, any accrued but untaken annual leave must be paid out in cash. This is a statutory requirement — not a negotiable line item — and applies regardless of who initiates the termination.

5. Cannot Require Employees to Waive Leave

Annual leave is a non-waivable right. You cannot draft a contract clause that forces the employee to give up their entitlement, swap it for cash during the employment relationship, or accept less than the statutory floor. Any such clause is void.

Carry-Over of Unused Leave

The Codul Muncii’s general rule is that annual leave should be taken in the calendar year in which it accrues. Where the employee was unable to use their full entitlement — most commonly due to illness — carry-over to the following year is permitted in those specific circumstances.

Outside those justified circumstances, leave is expected to be scheduled within the year. The practical employer playbook is straightforward: use Q4 to flag and schedule remaining balances, document any operational reasons that block leave, and clear balances before the end of the year where possible.

Holiday Pay: The Three-Month Average

Holiday pay during concediu de odihnă is calculated on the employee’s average salary over the three months preceding the leave. The mechanics are:

Take the qualifying earnings paid in the three months immediately before the leave period.
Calculate the employee’s average remuneration over that window.
Apply that average rate to the leave days being taken.

For employees on a stable base salary with no variable components, this typically just means continuing to pay normal salary during the leave period. For employees with meaningful variable pay — sales commission, shift premia, on-call allowances — the three-month average must include those components, otherwise you are underpaying the statutory entitlement.

If you also operate teams across the EU, the underlying logic will feel familiar — see our guides to annual leave entitlement in Poland and annual leave entitlement in Czechia for side-by-side reference, or annual leave entitlement in Germany for a contrasting six-day-week model.

Additional Leave Under Collective Agreements

The Labour Code expressly allows collective labour agreements to grant additional leave beyond the 20-day statutory minimum. The most common categories where additional leave appears are:

Employees in hazardous or difficult work environments
Employees on night shift or other non-standard schedules
Employees with long service within a sector or employer
Employees in specific occupations covered by sector-level CLAs

Additional leave under a CLA stacks on top of the statutory entitlement — it is not a substitute for the 20-day floor. If a sector CLA grants three extra days for hazardous conditions, the eligible employee is entitled to 23 working days, not 20.

Common Pitfalls for International Employers

If your team has only operated under UK, US, or Western European leave regimes before, the Romanian framework will catch you off guard in predictable ways. Watch for these.

Pitfall 1: Not Checking the Collective Labour Agreement

This is the single most common error. International employers default to the 20-day statutory floor and miss the additional days granted by the relevant CLA. The result is systematic under-allocation across hazardous, night-shift, and long-service roles. Audit your job catalogue against the applicable agreements before you build the entitlement schedule into your HRIS.

Pitfall 2: Forgetting to Pay Out Untaken Leave on Termination

You must pay out any accrued but untaken leave in cash when employment ends. Trying to negotiate this away in a settlement agreement is unenforceable to the extent of the statutory entitlement. Build the payout calculation into your offboarding workflow so it is not missed.

Pitfall 3: Paying Only Base Salary During Leave

Holiday pay must reflect the three-month average of actual earnings, not just base salary. If an employee earns substantial variable pay and you continue paying only the base during concediu de odihnă, you are underpaying the entitlement and the shortfall is recoverable.

Pitfall 4: Treating Public Holidays as Annual Leave

Romania’s 15 public holidays are separate from annual leave and do not consume the 20-day entitlement. Lumping the two together — common in spreadsheets imported from another country’s template — overstates how much leave employees are taking and understates the remaining balance.

Pitfall 5: Asking Employees to Waive Their Entitlement

Annual leave is non-waivable. You cannot ask employees to sign away their statutory entitlement, accept reduced leave in exchange for other benefits, or swap leave for cash during the employment relationship. The only situation in which the entitlement is settled in cash is on termination.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days of annual leave am I entitled to in Romania?

The statutory minimum is 20 working days of paid annual leave per calendar year under Articles 143–154 of the Codul Muncii. Collective labour agreements may provide more — for example, additional days for hazardous work, night shift, or long service.

Is annual leave in Romania pro-rated in the first year?

Yes. In the first year of employment, leave is pro-rated based on months worked. The employee earns a proportional fraction of the annual entitlement per qualifying month. From the second year onwards, the full 20 working days are available.

How is annual leave pay calculated in Romania?

Holiday pay is calculated on the employee’s average salary over the three months preceding the leave period. The average must reflect actual earnings — including regular variable pay — not just base salary.

Can annual leave be carried forward in Romania?

Carry-over is permitted in specific circumstances where the employee was unable to take the leave during the calendar year — most commonly due to illness. Outside those circumstances, leave is expected to be taken within the calendar year in which it accrues.

Are public holidays included in annual leave in Romania?

No. Romania has 15 public holidays, which are separate from annual leave. A statutory holiday that falls on a working day does not consume any of the 20-day concediu de odihnă balance.

What happens to unused leave when an employee leaves their job in Romania?

Untaken accrued leave must be paid out in cash on termination. This is a statutory requirement under the Codul Muncii and cannot be waived in the employment contract.

Can an employee waive their annual leave in Romania?

No. Annual leave is a non-waivable right under the Labour Code. Contract clauses purporting to give up the entitlement are void to the extent of the statutory minimum.

Practical Compliance Checklist

If you operate in Romania, your leave management system needs to handle the following at minimum:

Grant a minimum of 20 working days of paid annual leave per calendar year, plus any additional days required by the relevant collective labour agreement.
Pro-rate first-year entitlement by months worked, then switch to full entitlement from the second year.
Calculate holiday pay using the three-month average salary, including regular variable pay components.
Schedule annual leave within the calendar year wherever possible, and document any justified reasons for carry-over.
Keep the 15 public holidays out of the concediu de odihnă balance.
Pay out any accrued but untaken balance in cash on termination.
Maintain auditable leave records for inspection.

How Leave Balance Helps Romanian Employers Stay Compliant

Managing the Codul Muncii correctly across a Romanian workforce — alongside UK, EU, AU, or US teams — is the kind of compliance work that breaks generic spreadsheets. Statutory floors, CLA add-ons, three-month average pay, and termination payouts rarely fit out of the box in a global HRIS.

Leave Balance gives you:

Country-specific entitlement rules for Romania, including the 20-day statutory floor and configurable CLA add-ons.
First-year pro-rata accrual that switches cleanly to full entitlement from the second year.
Three-month average pay calculations for holiday pay where you record variable wages.
Termination payout automation so any accrued but untaken balance is settled correctly.
Multi-country support with separate policies per entity, all on a single dashboard.

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