The difference between telework (Legea 81/2018) and home-based work (the Labour Code): where the work is done, what the contract must state, who bears the costs and how hours are recorded.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
“Working from home” covers, in legal terms, two different regimes, with distinct legal bases and distinct obligations. Choosing the wrong one produces contract clauses that cannot be applied and problems during an inspection. Here is how to tell them apart.
Home-based work (muncă la domiciliu) is governed by the Labour Code (Codul muncii). The employee performs the duties specific to the job at their own home. It is the classic form, originally designed for production or processing activities carried out at home.
Telework (telemuncă) is governed by Legea 81/2018. The employee carries out the activity using information and communication technology, in a place other than the one organised by the employer — regularly and voluntarily.
| Home-based work | Telework | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | the Labour Code | Legea 81/2018 |
| Where the work is done | exclusively at home | anywhere, outside the employer’s premises |
| Technology | not a defining element | essential (ICT) |
| Schedule | as a rule, the employee sets their own schedule | set by mutual agreement |
| Checking the activity | the employer checks under the conditions set out in the contract | through agreed means, with respect for private life |
In short: telework is more flexible geographically. If the employee can work from home, from another town or from a coworking space, the appropriate regime is telework. If the place is strictly the home, it is home-based work.
For most modern office jobs, telework is the correct regime.
Both forms are established through the individual employment contract or through an act adițional (an addendum to the employment contract), in writing. They are voluntary regimes — they cannot be imposed unilaterally, except in the special situations provided by law.
For telework, the contract must expressly provide:
For home-based work, the contract states that the employee works at home, the schedule within which the employer checks the activity and the specific way that check is carried out, as well as the employer’s obligation to arrange the transport of raw materials and finished products, where applicable.
A point that is often missed: the obligation under art. 119 regarding the daily record of hours does not disappear for those working from home. The employer must know, and be able to prove, how many hours each person worked, with the start and end time.
That is why the contract must provide the way hours are recorded — and in practice, the simplest solution is clocking in through an application, under the same rules as for those in the office.
The framework allows the employer to bear the costs related to the activity carried out under the telework regime, under the conditions set out in the contract. Over time there have also been tax incentives for amounts granted to teleworkers, with caps and conditions that have changed — check the tax regime in force before granting such amounts.
What stays constant: if they are granted, the conditions must be provided in the contract.
The employer has health and safety obligations towards teleworkers as well:
Checking a teleworker’s activity must be done through contractually agreed means and proportionately. Excessive monitoring — permanent screenshots, tracking private activity, cameras — raises serious data protection and privacy issues.
The practical rule: you monitor the output and the working time, not the person.
One category has a legal right, not just a negotiated option: parents of children with disabilities are entitled to 8 days a month of telework or home-based work (Legea 149/2025), with additional days for each further child — within the limits of the positions where the activity allows this regime.
What is the main difference? Home-based work is performed exclusively at the employee’s home; telework can be performed anywhere outside the employer’s premises, using information technology.
Can I impose telework unilaterally? No, as a rule. Both regimes are voluntary and are established through the contract or an act adițional, with the employee’s agreement.
Do I have to keep a record of hours for those working from home? Yes. The obligation under art. 119 applies identically, and the contract must provide the specific way of recording them.
Who pays for the electricity and the internet? The conditions under which the employer bears the costs are set out in the contract. The tax regime of these amounts has changed over time — check the form in force.
Can I monitor a teleworker’s activity? Only through the means agreed in the contract and proportionately to the purpose. Excessive monitoring breaches data protection and the right to private life.
See also 8 telework days a month for parents of children with disabilities, working time under the Labour Code and GDPR in HR.
The obligation to record working time does not disappear when the team works from home — it gets more complicated. Workly solves this with web and mobile time tracking for teleworkers, under the same rules as at the office: real clocking, with date and time, an auditable history, no retroactive filling in. Where the regime requires it, clocking can be restricted to a geographic perimeter or to an allowed network.
The working regime (office, telework, hybrid) is configured per employee, and telework days — including the 8 to which parents of children with disabilities are entitled — are tracked automatically, without parallel files. The addenda that formalise the regime are generated from the same data source and stay in the digital file.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not legal or tax advice. The tax regime of telework costs has changed several times — check the form in force or consult a specialist.
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