Collective labour agreement: mandatory bargaining from 10 employees

When you hear “collective labour agreement”, you think of big factories and strong trade unions. But Romania’s social dialogue law changes the picture for small companies too: every unit with at least 10 employees is required to bargain collectively, and failing to do so carries a fine of 15,000–20,000 lei. The detail that both reassures and confuses: the law requires you to negotiate, not to sign — but the negotiation steps, with their deadlines and evidence, are what protect you during an inspection. Below: who the rule applies to, who you negotiate with when there is no union, how the procedure works and what you risk if you ignore the subject.

What a collective agreement is and what has changed

A collective labour agreement (CCM, contract colectiv de muncă) is the written convention between the employer and the employees — represented by a trade union or by elected representatives — that sets working conditions, pay and other rights and obligations (art. 229 para. (1) of the Labour Code (Codul Muncii)). Once concluded in compliance with the law, it “is the law of the parties” (art. 229 para. (4)): a binding document for both sides, not a statement of intent.

The rules are in Law no. 367/2022 on social dialogue (Official Gazette no. 1238 of 22 December 2022), which replaced Law 62/2011 and was amended in 2023 by Emergency Ordinance no. 42/2023 (approved by Law no. 358/2023). Law no. 283/2024, which partly transposed the European directive on minimum wages, did not touch the bargaining rules. The change that matters for an SME: the threshold from which bargaining is mandatory dropped from 21 to 10 employees.

Agreements can be negotiated at four levels: unit, group of units, collective bargaining sector and national (art. 96 para. (2)). A unit-level agreement is registered with the Territorial Labour Inspectorate (ITM); the others with the Ministry of Labour (art. 110 para. (1)). For an SME, two matter: your own agreement, which you are required to negotiate, and the sector agreement, which can bind you even if you never negotiated it.

The European context, in brief: Directive (EU) 2022/2041 encourages collective bargaining. Through Law 283/2024, art. 230 paras. (2)–(3) of the Labour Code asks the Government for an action plan to raise the coverage rate progressively towards 80%, reviewed at least every 5 years. The text obliges the Government, not employers, but it shows the direction.

When bargaining is mandatory: the 10-employee threshold

The rule in art. 97 para. (1) of Law 367/2022, repeated in art. 229 para. (2) of the Labour Code: collective bargaining is mandatory at the level of units with at least 10 employees, as well as at sector level. Below 10 employees you have no obligation, but if you have no agreement in force you can start negotiations at any time (art. 108 para. (3)).

How to count the 10 employees

The law defines a unit as a form of organisation with legal personality (art. 1 point 21), so the threshold most likely refers to your company as a legal entity, not to each site. The definition of an employee (art. 1 point 5) does not distinguish by working hours or duration and does not say how suspended contracts are treated. If you are close to the line (9–11 employees), ask the territorial ITM for an answer and keep it.

The obligation is to negotiate, not to sign

The parties are “equal and free” in negotiating (art. 99 para. (1)). The Ministry of Labour’s guide on negotiating and concluding collective labour agreements, published in May 2026, says that, depending on the outcome of the negotiations, the signing stage may or may not follow. In a Ministry document published on the Labour Inspectorate’s website, the sanctioned act is described as refusing to start or take part in negotiations. What protects you during an inspection is therefore proof that you started and ran the procedure: invitations, confirmations, minutes.

What the law does not clarify

• How often. Art. 97 does not say negotiations must be repeated every year. Some ITMs (for example ITM Sălaj, in a January 2025 notice) recommend restarting the procedure the following year if no agreement came out of the first round. Treat this as prudent practice, not as a rule in the law.
• What to do if employees do not elect representatives. The law does not say expressly. The Ministry of Labour writes that the employer must convene the parties and support the framework for electing representatives; ITM Sălaj points to informing employees that bargaining is mandatory and that they have two options, a union or elected representatives. Keep the evidence (written notice, date, confirmations).
• The deadline for filing with ITM. The law sets none (art. 110), but the agreement only applies from registration.

Who you negotiate with

At unit level, employees are represented in this order (art. 102 para. (1) letter B letter a)):

Order	Who represents the employees
1	The representative trade union in the unit
2–3	Sector trade union federations, at the request and on the mandate of the unit’s non-representative unions affiliated to them
4	All non-representative unions in the unit, with a negotiating team of up to 10 people (art. 102 para. (4))
5	If there are no unions in the unit: the employees’ elected representatives

A union is formed by at least 10 employees of the same unit (art. 3 para. (3)) and becomes representative at unit level, among other conditions, if its members are at least 35% of the employees, as established by a court (art. 54). In companies of 10–50 employees, the usual case is the last row.

How employee representatives are elected

• Who starts the process. Employees may set up an initiative group that drafts the election procedure (art. 57 para. (5)). You communicate it to everyone within 10 days of receiving it (para. (6)) and, at the employees’ request, facilitate the elections (para. (4)).
• The vote and the number. Representatives are elected by at least half plus one of the company’s total number of employees, not of those present (art. 57 para. (2)); with 30 employees that means at least 16 votes. The number is agreed with the employer; if you cannot agree, at most 2 in companies with fewer than 100 employees (art. 58 para. (2)).
• Who can be elected and for how long. Employees with an individual employment contract, aged at least 18; people in management positions who represent the administration towards employees or take part in management decisions cannot be elected (art. 58 paras. (1) and (4)). The mandate lasts at most 2 years (para. (3)); its duties and limits are recorded in the minutes of the employees’ general meeting and validated by half plus one (art. 60).
• Protection and oversight. During the mandate, the representative’s contract cannot be modified or terminated for reasons linked to the mandate (art. 62 para. (1)). ITM checks that the election conditions are met (art. 58 para. (6)).

Beware of a mismatch between texts: art. 221 of the Labour Code still speaks of employers with “more than 20 employees” and of a vote of “at least half” of the employees, although Law 367/2022 (art. 57) lowers the threshold to 10 and requires half plus one. Art. 188 of the law provided for aligning the Labour Code, which was not done for this article. The Ministry of Labour applies the rules of Law 367/2022 in its guide; if you have between 10 and 20 employees, use them too.

What falls to you as the employer

Any interference by the employer in the election of representatives, or in preventing the elections, is prohibited (art. 57 para. (3)) and fined 30,000–50,000 lei (art. 175 para. (1) letter h)). Your role: inform, facilitate, negotiate — do not propose candidates and do not apply pressure. If there is no union at all in the company, you have one more obligation: to allow, at least once a year, a public information session on employees’ rights, at the request of the trade union federations in your sector, announced at least 15 days in advance (art. 33).

Step by step: from initiation to registration

The Ministry of Labour guide mentioned above contains templates for the invitation, the minutes of the election of representatives and negotiation mandates; you can use them as a starting point.

Step	Deadline	Legal basis
Initiation, if you have a CCM in force	at least 60 calendar days before it expires	art. 97 para. (3)
Initiation, if you have no CCM	at any time	art. 108 para. (3)
Written invitation to all entitled parties (date, time, place)	at least 15 days before negotiations begin	art. 107 paras. (1) and (3)
Convening the parties and the first meeting	15 calendar days from the start of the procedure; the text is written for renegotiating a CCM already in force, but apply it prudently to a first negotiation too	art. 98 para. (1)
Negotiation	at most 45 days; extension only by agreement of the parties	art. 97 para. (4)
Signing	only by the mandated representatives	art. 104 para. (1)
Filing with ITM	the law sets no deadline	art. 110 para. (1)
Application	from registration or from a later agreed date	art. 111 para. (1)

The two 15-day deadlines (the invitation and the first meeting) overlap, so send the invitation when you start the procedure and set the first meeting 15 days after it. The deadline for the first meeting is written in the law for renegotiating an agreement in force (art. 98 para. (1) refers to art. 97 para. (3)); for a first negotiation the law does not set it expressly, but the invitation at least 15 days ahead applies anyway, so a calendar with the first meeting 15 days after the invitation covers both situations.

• The invitation. The parties confirm in writing that they received it and whether they accept or refuse to take part; no reply, together with proof of the invitation, counts as refusal (art. 107 para. (4)). If you do not invite all entitled parties, the agreement can be refused at registration (para. (5)).
• The first meeting. The minutes record the teams, on the basis of written authorisations, the people mandated to sign, the maximum duration of the negotiations, the venue and calendar, proof of the invitation and, where there is no union, proof that the representatives were elected (art. 98 para. (5)). Minutes are drawn up at every meeting (para. (7)).
• Your information. It must allow an analysis of the company: the economic and financial situation and its outlook, the structure and evolution of employment, the organisation of work and working time, the protection of rights in case of a transfer and occupational health and safety (art. 98 para. (4)). Confidential information is protected under Law 467/2006.
• Signing. For the company, the signatory is its management body, set by law or by its articles (art. 102 para. (1) letter A letter a)), with a special mandate (art. 104).

What a collective agreement can contain

The parties choose what to negotiate, but the legal provisions on employees’ rights are a minimum (art. 100 para. (2)): the agreement can improve them, not lower them. Negotiated salaries also cannot fall below the guaranteed gross minimum (art. 164 paras. (6)–(7) of the Labour Code). You will find the legal minimum in the basic rights and obligations of employer and employee. The Labour Code expressly leaves the following to the collective agreement:

Subject	What the Labour Code says
Minimum pay levels	set by the applicable collective agreements (art. 162 para. (1))
Additional days off	may be set by the CCM (art. 143)
Days off for family events	the number is set by law, the CCM or the internal rules (art. 152 para. (2))
Unpaid leave	the duration is set by the CCM or the internal rules (art. 153 para. (2))
Additional annual leave (hard, dangerous or harmful conditions, blind employees, other people with disabilities, under-18s)	at least 3 working days, the number being set by the CCM (art. 147)
Meal break	conditions are set by the CCM or the internal rules (art. 134 para. (1))
Unequal working schedule	negotiated through the CCM at employer level or, failing that, laid down in the internal rules (art. 116 para. (1))
Vocational training	employers that are legal entities with more than 20 employees draw up an annual plan, after consulting representatives; it becomes an annex to the unit-level CCM (art. 195)

The Ministry’s guide gives meal vouchers, health or life insurance and additional benefits for family-type leave as examples. These are ideas, not obligations: whatever you promise becomes binding for 12–24 months and cannot be terminated unilaterally (art. 118 para. (1)), so include only what you can sustain.

The collective agreement, the individual contract and the internal rules

• It applies to everyone. A unit-level CCM has effect for all the unit’s employees (art. 101 para. (1) letter a)), union members or not, including those hired while the agreement is in force.
• The individual contract cannot go below the CCM (art. 100 para. (4)). A clause to the contrary is void and is replaced by operation of law with the legal or contractual provisions, and the employee is entitled to damages (art. 57 para. (4) of the Labour Code).
• At hiring you inform about the CCM. The selected person must be informed about the collective agreement governing their working conditions (art. 17 para. (3) letter m) of the Labour Code; see also the individual employment contract template). The law does not require you to announce a CCM to employees when you sign it, but its clauses bind you anyway, so it is in your interest to bring it to their attention.
• The internal rules (ROI) are drawn up after consulting the union or the employees’ representatives (art. 241 of the Labour Code), who take part in drafting them (art. 59 letter a) of Law 367/2022). See the guide to internal rules of procedure and, once you have a CCM, check that the rules and the individual contracts respect its clauses.

Duration, registration and termination

Duration. At least 12 and at most 24 months (or the duration of a specific piece of work), with a single extension of at most 12 months (art. 108 paras. (1)–(2)). Note the expiry date and calculate the 60-day deadline from it.

Termination. At the end of the term, unless the parties agree to extend, on the dissolution or judicial liquidation of the unit, or by agreement (art. 117). It cannot be terminated unilaterally, and disputes are heard in court (art. 118). Changes are made by an addendum signed by all parties and registered in the same way as the agreement (art. 116).

Registration with ITM. The file contains the agreement in the original, signed, with one copy for each party plus one for the depositary, proof that the parties were invited, written authorisations, proof of representativeness or minutes of the election of representatives, the minutes of the negotiations and the signing mandates (art. 110 para. (2) letters a)–f), art. 104). An incomplete file can lead to refusal of registration.

• ITM checks only procedural conditions (art. 112 para. (1)). It refuses, among other things, if not all entitled parties were invited, if not all mandated representatives signed or if the file is incomplete (art. 113 para. (1)); a refusal can be challenged in administrative court (art. 114).
• At unit level, the agreement can be registered without the signatures of all employee representatives only if the signing party covers at least 35% of the employees (art. 113 para. (2)).
• Any employee can ask ITM for an electronic copy of the unit-level agreement (art. 112 para. (3)).

The sector agreement: when it binds you without your having negotiated it

A sector CCM applies (art. 101 para. (1) letter c)):

• to employers that are members of the signatory employers’ organisations;
• to those that joined later, by a written request to the signatory parties, also sent to the depositary (art. 99 para. (3));
• to all units in the sector, if the Government extends it by decision, with the binding opinion of the National Tripartite Council; this is possible when employers in the signatory employers’ organisations have more than 35% of the sector’s employees (art. 110 para. (4)).

Extension is not theoretical: in December 2025, the Ministry of Labour announced that the Government had approved extending to all units in the sector the agreement for sector 42, insurance and reinsurance, registered on 24 June 2025 and covering 59.59% of the sector’s employees.

Your sector is determined by the company’s main CAEN code (art. 2 para. (1) of Order of the Minister of Labour no. 2311/2023). Registered sector agreements are published on the Ministry of Labour’s website within 15 days of filing (art. 112 para. (2)).

Protection for SMEs. Sector and national agreements must contain specific clauses for each SME category, as defined by Law 346/2004. If they do not, SMEs are not obliged to apply the agreement (art. 100 paras. (5¹)–(5³)), and their absence is a ground for refusing registration (art. 113 para. (1) letter d)). Before applying a sector agreement, check whether it has clauses for your category of company.

Fines and other consequences

Administrative offences under Law 367/2022 are established and sanctioned by the Labour Inspectorate (art. 175 para. (2)).

Breach	Legal basis	Fine
Failing to meet the obligation to negotiate (units with at least 10 employees)	art. 97 para. (1), art. 175 para. (1) letter d)	15,000–20,000 lei
Employer interference in the election of employee representatives	art. 57 para. (3), art. 175 para. (1) letter h)	30,000–50,000 lei
Signing the agreement in breach of the procedure (only mandated representatives)	art. 104, art. 175 para. (1) letter e)	5,000 lei, joint liability of the parties
Unjustified refusal by the signatory parties to register the agreement	art. 175 para. (1) letter g)	5,000–10,000 lei for each party
Failing to respect the minimum pay level set by the applicable CCM	art. 260 para. (1) letter a) of the Labour Code	3,000–5,000 lei per person, 200,000 lei maximum in total

Obstructing the freedom to organise in unions is fined separately, with 30,000–50,000 lei (art. 175 para. (1) letter a)). The amounts are those in force at the date of publication; check the consolidated version before making a decision.

Collective labour dispute. The employer’s refusal to start negotiations, when there is no agreement or the previous one has ended, or the absence of an agreement by the date set for finishing the negotiations, entitle employees to start a collective labour dispute (art. 126 letters a) and c)). You must reply in writing, with reasons, within 3 working days (art. 127 para. (3)), and conciliation at ITM is mandatory (art. 133 para. (1)). Disputes left unresolved can lead to a strike.

Public procurement. Since November 2024 (Law 283/2024), the public procurement and concession laws allow contracting authorities to use, among the factors for evaluating tenders, the fact that the bidder has a unit-level CCM concluded with a trade union or that a sector CCM applies to it (art. 187 para. (5) letter d) of Law 98/2016; art. 86 para. (2) letter j) of Law 100/2016). It is an option for the authority, not a general requirement. The text speaks of an agreement concluded with a trade union, so a CCM concluded only with elected representatives might not be covered — ask the contracting authority.

Checklist for companies with 10–50 employees

• Count the company’s employees as a legal entity and note the date you reached 10.
• Check whether you have a unit-level CCM in force and when it expires; start at least 60 days before. Put the deadline in your calendar.
• Check your sector (main CAEN code) and whether there is a sector CCM you have joined or that has been extended, and if so, whether it has clauses for SMEs.
• If you have no CCM: tell all employees in writing that bargaining is mandatory and that they can form a union or elect representatives; at the employees’ request, facilitate the elections (space, the total number of employees needed to calculate the majority); communicate the initiative group’s procedure to all employees within 10 days of receiving it (mandatory) and do not interfere in the elections.
• Send the written invitation, ask for confirmation of receipt, give the person who represents you a special written mandate and prepare the economic information required by art. 98 para. (4).
• Draw up signed minutes at every meeting and do not exceed 45 days without the parties’ written agreement.
• File with ITM and keep proof of registration; bring the agreement to employees’ attention.
• Align individual contracts, internal rules, time tracking and payroll with the new clauses.
• Keep the complete file (invitations, minutes, mandates, proof of registration) with the other documents requested during an inspection — see the documents needed for an ITM inspection.

Frequently asked questions

I have 12 employees and no union. Do I have to conclude a collective agreement?

No. You must negotiate: start the procedure, invite the employees’ side and run the negotiation within the legal deadlines. If you cannot agree, the law does not force you to sign. Refusing to negotiate is fined 15,000–20,000 lei.

What do I do if employees do not want to elect representatives?

The law does not expressly provide for this. Inform them in writing about the obligation to negotiate and about the two options, support the organisation of the elections and keep the evidence. Also ask the territorial ITM how it treats the case.

Does a sector agreement bind me if I did not negotiate it?

Only if you are a member of a signatory employers’ organisation, if you joined later or if the Government has extended it to the whole sector. Even then, if that agreement contains no clauses specific to your SME category, you are not obliged to apply it (art. 100 para. (5³)).

How long does the procedure take?

The invitation goes out at least 15 days before negotiations begin, and if you are renegotiating an agreement in force, the first meeting must be held within 15 days of the start. The negotiation lasts at most 45 days, unless the parties agree otherwise. If you already have an agreement that is expiring, start at least 60 days earlier.

How Workly helps

A collective agreement is not negotiated in an application, but between people. What you can move from paper to digital is the circulation of documents: in the documents module, documents that apply to the whole company — the registered agreement, the internal rules — can be published in the public documents area, where every employee can read and download them, and each employee has their own digital file, with role-based access. Which clauses of the agreement translate into leave, time tracking or payroll rules is configured separately; do not assume that a clause applies automatically.

---

Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not legal advice. The social dialogue law, the sanctions and the procedural templates may change through later legislation, and some points are interpreted differently by territorial inspectorates — check the current version of Law 367/2022 and of the Labour Code on legislatie.just.ro or consult an employment law specialist.