What are the sick leave rules in Romania?

Modified on: Fri, 20 Feb, 2026 at 5:43 PM

In Romania, employees are legally entitled to sick leave when they are unable to work due to illness. Sick leave entitlements and payment rules are governed by the Romanian Labour Code and health insurance legislation.

Important update effective 1 February 2026

From this date, the first day of any sick leave is unpaid. This is a temporary legal measure currently applicable until 31 December 2027.

Minimum Sick Leave Entitlement

Employees are entitled to sick leave when medically certified as temporarily unable to work. Employees covered by the social insurance system may take up to 183 calendar days of sick leave per year, with a possible 90-day extension in medically justified cases.

Qualification Requirements

To qualify for sick leave payments, an employee must:

be domiciled in Romania and covered by the social health insurance system;
have contributed to the social health insurance system for at least 6 months in the last 12 months (exceptions apply for tuberculosis, contagious diseases, and HIV);
be employed under an individual employment contract;
provide a valid medical certificate from an authorized physician.

Payment rules for sick leave

Period	Paid By	Notes
Day 1	Unpaid	Temporary rule until 31 Dec 2027.
Days 2–6	Employer	From the employer's salary fund
Day 7 onward (up to day 183)	National Health Insurance Fund (CNAS)	Subject to qualifying contributions
Days 184–273 (extension)	CNAS	Requires medical justification

Sick leave allowance amounts

For paid sick leave days (starting from day 2), employees receive an allowance for temporary incapacity for work, calculated based on the duration of the medical leave:

55% of the calculation base for up to 7 days of medical leave
65% of the calculation base for 8–14 days
75% of the calculation base for more than 15 days

These calculation rates apply starting 1 August 2025 and are specific to medical leave for temporary incapacity for work and non–work-related accidents.

Some collective agreements or employer policies may provide higher compensation.

Extended Sick Leave

If illness extends beyond the standard entitlement:

Up to day 183: paid by CNAS as outlined above.
Days 184–273 (90-day extension): available in medically justified cases, paid by CNAS.
Beyond 273 days: the employee may be assessed for permanent incapacity and transitioned to a disability pension.

Remote People coordinates with local authorities to ensure all required documentation is submitted so that employees receive their entitled benefits without delay.

Medical Certificate Requirement

Employees must provide a medical certificate starting from the first day of absence, even though the first day is unpaid.

The certificate must be:

Issued by an authorized physician
Submitted promptly to the employer

This documentation is mandatory to justify the absence and to initiate sick leave payments for eligible days.

REGES-Online: Mandatory Registration of Medical Leave

The previous Revisal system has been replaced by REGES-Online.

Reporting medical leave suspensions is now a strict legal obligation.

The 3-Day Rule

All medical leave certificates that result in the suspension of an employment contract must be registered in REGES-Online within 3 working days from the date the certificate is registered with the employer.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Failure to register within the 3-working-day window can result in administrative fines of 5,000 RON to 10,000 RON.

Employee Submission Requirements

To allow Remote People to meet the state reporting deadline, employees must:

Inform Remote People of their medical incapacity immediately upon the start of leave;
forward the medical certificate immediately upon receipt.

Important: Discrepancies between the dates on the medical certificate and the dates registered in REGES-Online may result in the National Health Insurance House (Casa de Asigurări de Sănătate) rejecting the sick pay indemnity claim.

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Romania