The 2026 Romanian minimum gross wage: the two levels during the year, how much is left net, which contributions are withheld and what a minimum-wage employee costs the employer.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
The guaranteed minimum gross wage is the floor below which no full-time employee may be paid. For an owner or HR manager of a Romanian SME it is not just a legal reference: it is the base the entire salary structure, payroll and state declarations rest on.
The minimum gross wage is set annually by government decision. For 2026 the framework provides two distinct levels within the same year:
The mid-year increase is 275 lei in gross terms. Always verify the current level at source before applying it in payroll.
When the minimum wage changes mid-year, payroll must be recalculated from the month the new value takes effect. In practice, an employee on the minimum will have one net figure in the first half of the year and a different one from July. That is not a calculation error — it is the direct effect of the change in the gross base and the accompanying tax adjustments.
The employee’s contributions and income tax are withheld from the gross, in this order:
At minimum-wage level a tax facility applies: a monthly amount is exempt from contributions and tax, provided the base salary is exactly at the minimum and total gross income does not exceed the statutory threshold. This exempt amount is 300 lei in the first half of 2026 and 200 lei from 1 July 2026. It applies to the main-job contract, full time, and is based on art. 164^1 of the Labour Code.
For the second-half minimum (4,325 lei gross), after CAS, CASS and tax, applying the 200 lei exempt amount, the resulting net is approximately 2,699 lei. In the first half (4,050 lei gross, with 300 lei exempt) the net is approximately 2,574 lei.
These net figures are indicative: the exact result depends on eligibility for the facility, any additional withholdings and the specifics of each contract.
Employer cost does not stop at the gross salary. On top of it the company owes the work insurance contribution (CAM) of 2.25%, covering the former contributions for unemployment, sick leave, occupational risk and salary claims.
At 4,325 lei gross, CAM adds roughly 93 lei, bringing the monthly total to around 4,418 lei. In the first half, at 4,050 lei gross, the total is around 4,134 lei.
Watch out for one detail that catches people out: at the minimum wage, CAM is not calculated on the full gross. The tax-exempt amount (200 lei in the second half of the year, 300 in the first) is excluded from contributions as a whole, so it drops out of the CAM base too. That is why the 2.25% applies to 4,125 lei, not to 4,325. Above the minimum wage, where the relief does not apply, CAM is calculated on the entire gross.
Legislation also expresses the minimum wage as an hourly rate, dividing the monthly value by the average working schedule. For 4,325 lei gross and an average of 166.667 hours per month, the hourly rate is approximately 25.949 lei/hour.
Why it matters: the actual number of working hours varies month to month (168 in one, 176 in another). The monthly salary stays fixed at the minimum, but if you work with hourly rates or calculate overtime, the rate refers to the monthly average, not the actual hours of that particular month.
An increase in the minimum does not only affect those paid at that level. When the floor rises, the tiers immediately above compress: an employee with seniority or extra responsibility can end up paid the same as a new starter on the minimum. To preserve the logic of the structure, employers should review the whole salary grid at each change, not just the salaries sitting exactly at the threshold.
Paying below the guaranteed minimum gross is an offence and is penalised. Beyond the fine, reporting inconsistencies follow: the contract value, the figure declared in REGES and the payroll base must be aligned. A grid that is not updated in time produces discrepancies between your system and the law — precisely what an inspection detects quickly.
Workly’s payroll module recalculates payroll automatically when the minimum wage changes: you enter the new value once and the system redoes gross-to-net for every affected employee, correctly applying contributions, the exempt amount and eligibility thresholds. The recalculation is deterministic — the same inputs always produce the same result.
Workly also generates the addenda for employees whose pay changes, reports the minimum level correctly in REGES, and prepares the SAGA-format export without manual intervention, so your accountant works from consistent figures. The alignment between contract, register and payroll holds even when the value changes mid-year.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not tax or legal advice. Values and thresholds may change through subsequent legislation — always verify the level in force at source (Official Gazette, ANAF, Ministry of Labour) or consult a specialist.
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