Employment Background Check in Romania: Complete Guide

Romania is a southeastern European country that many international businesses applaud for its strategic positioning, corporate tax rates, and talent availability. As a connector between the European nations and the Middle East, the import and export business has a strong foothold in the country. All other companies feel the ripple effect due to the availability of raw materials at lower prices.

Romania, by far, has the lowest tax rates compared to its European siblings, with 16% as its standard tax rate. Affordability of employment has been a critical driver for international companies to this company, and low corporate taxes add more value to the table.

A favorable investment-friendly ecosystem in the country has made it easy for international businesses to hire and run payrolls. However, as a NATO and EU member nation, a pre-employment background check in Romania follows a very systematic approach. This article breaks down all the crucial aspects to allow employers to run a compliant HR background check in Romania quickly.

What is Employment Background Verification?

An employment background verification is a screening process where an employer validates an applicant’s information through a background check. Assessing an applicant’s aptitude by conducting an educational and employment background check is common for every job listing.

A pre-employment background check in Romania is moderated by its labor laws. Employers looking to hire in the said country must abide by specific provisions to successfully carry out a compliant HR background check in Romania while hiring.

Benefits of Background Checks in Romania

Due to affordable employment and great tax systems, Romania has always been a lucrative place to do business and hire employees. While hiring talents, employers should conduct a background check in Romania. It allows them to make better hiring decisions and improve their company’s work culture by understanding applicants’ capabilities beyond their professional achievements.

Dealing with tampered data

• Employment in Romania is highly competitive, and several candidates apply for a job listing. 
• Sometimes, an applicant might tamper with their data to stand out. 
• Conducting an educational and employment background check in Romania allows an employer to identify such attempts and take the necessary steps.

Improving work culture

• Personality, coupled with the collective skills of a team, dictates a company’s growth. 
• Employers looking to build such teams must identify and perform checks beyond education and employment. 
• Conducting a holistic background check in Romania allows employers to identify great personalities who can benefit their team’s culture with their expertise and personality.

Minimizing risk

• International companies are answerable for any poor conduct of their employees, outside and inside the workplace. 
• Conducting a criminal background check in Romania before hiring for certain professions can decrease the likelihood of such instances potentially harming a company’s reputation.

Decreased churn rate

• Employers who conduct a pre-employment background check in Romania can validate an applicant’s expertise and build a competent team. 
• Employees are less likely to leave due to their great interpersonal bonding and connections. It saves an employer from hiring new talents, screening, and aligning them to a company’s mission again. 

Are Background Checks Legal in Romania?

Employers can conduct a pre-employment background check in Romania with the applicant’s consent. During a screening process, the employing company must ensure that the review is limited to the scope of job requirements. Information in the public domain can be obtained for certain checks. Being a member of the European Union, these are the main provisions that moderate a pre-employment background check in Romania. 

• Romanian labor laws
• Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC under EU
• Data Protection Law Number 667/2001 under EU

Things to Know When Performing a Background Check in Romania

Employers can conduct an HR background check based on the information provided by the candidate. For additional reviews, employers must get acknowledgment from the concerned authorities.

Employment history

• An employment background check in Romania is crucial for applicants with relevant experience per the listed job. 
• The main goal of conducting the mentioned check is to determine the validity of the provided information. 
• The candidate’s application usually lists all the details required for a background check.

Education History

• Validating educational information is crucial for every applicant, irrespective of their experience. 
• The main motto for conducting such a check is to ensure the accuracy of the information and further determine the candidate’s expertise in said field.

Criminal record

• Per the labor code, candidates are exempted from providing criminal records to their potential employers.
• Employers can run a criminal background check in Romania while hiring for certain professions.

Credit report

• Credit reports provide crucial insights into an applicant’s ability to manage finances. 
• Such reports are highly beneficial for jobs related to asset management.
• An employer must include the requirement for a credit report while running a pre-employment background check in Romania for the mentioned job type.

Social life

• Employers can check the social life of the applicant since the information is accessible in the public domain. 
• Such checks allow an employer to understand an applicant’s personality better, enabling them to create a great team. 

Information Essential for a Background Check in Romania

The Romanian labor law moderates the amount of information companies can process. Furthermore, employers need to gain an applicant’s consent before being able to process their data.

The labor code allows employers to verify all the necessary information regarding education and employment, with several expectations to conduct further checks when required. Most of the essential information needed to run an HR background check in Romania can be found in an applicant’s resume. However, employers must ensure they have access to mentioned information to conduct and accomplish the mentioned process without hiccups.

• Candidate’s legal name and government-registered birth date 
• Candidate’s current residence address
• School name, attendance dates, graduation date, degree certificate, reference name, and contact information for verifying education. 
• Company name, designation name, employment tenure, release form, reference name, and contact information for conducting an employment background check in Romania

Process Involved in Background Checks in Romania

There are several ways of conducting a pre-employment background check in Romania. Two of the most commonly-used approaches are outsourcing the service from a third-party agency or manually conducting one. While outsourcing, employers must forward the necessary candidate information and wait for the result.

On the other hand, during a manual employee screening in Romania, employers must follow the mentioned steps.

Identifying requirements

• Since many aspects of a background check in Romania are moderated, listing out the necessary information can reduce the overall turnaround time for the process. 
• After listing the requirement for necessary information, employers should get the applicant’s consent to uphold transparency, per the EU directive. 

Acquiring information

• One must contact the listed references and gather the necessary information they have on the candidate. 
• Obtaining medical records is not permissible. However, employers can ask candidates to undergo medical examinations if needed. 
• Employers must contact the authorities to obtain criminal records or other necessary documents. 

Verification

• Once the required information is gathered, employers can verify them against the data provided by the candidate. 
• Certain records, if applicable, can be procured per the protocols of the concerned agency. 
• Once all the information has been verified and checked, employers can decide and proceed with the necessary action. 

Industries and Situations That are Most Suitable for Background Checks in Romania

Education and employment verification are mandatory in every form of background check. However, employers must procure more information for specific industries and jobs during the said process to minimize certain risks. Some of the industries have been listed below.

Caregiving

• Employees in the caregiving industry must take care of infants, disabled and aged individuals. Accidents due to negligence are a common occurrence. 
• The labor law explicitly allows employers to conduct a criminal background check in Romania while hiring for the mentioned industry. 
• Employers can reduce the likelihood of such occurrences by conducting the said check.

Driving

• The employer shoulders the repercussions of an accident caused by the driver.
• Full-time drivers for private cars and heavy-duty transport must understand the rules on top of their driving skills. As accidents caused by negligence are punishable, conducting a criminal background check in Romania allows an employer to affirm the mentioned trait.

Hospitality

• In the hospitality industry, theft is a common issue. Such instances include the loss of customer valuables or company property. 
• During the loss of company property, employers can mitigate the issue internally. However, scenarios involving the loss of a guest’s property can hurt the image of a company. 
• Conducting a criminal background check in Romania before hiring experts in the said industry allows an employer to reduce the occurrence of such instances.

Education

• Teachers are responsible for rearing impressionable minds to develop a personality and gain expertise in specific fields. 
• In such instances, a wrong hire can indoctrinate these students with the wrong or biased worldview. 
• Such scenarios can lead to outrage from parents, for which a company might be held responsible. 
• Employers can ensure such instances never happen by conducting a criminal background check in Romania while hiring.

How Multiplier Helps With Background Checks

Multiplier is a SaaS-based employer of records (EOR) platform that allows businesses to stay compliant and run payroll across 150+ economies. Multiplier is deemed an all-in-one solution for every business, as employers can now transfer the responsibility of conducting a background check in Romania. Multiplier has several partnerships with various third-party background-checking companies worldwide. Hence its customers can provide the necessary candidate information and wait for the results. Employers can even request all background information permissible by Romanian labor law. Furthermore, employers also use all the mentioned features on top of conducting a pre-employment background check in Romania for a fraction of the cost required to manually set up any and use one of the mentioned services.