This study examines how disability employment policy in Romania is understood and implemented by employers, focusing on the 4% employment quota. Despite formal commitments to labour market inclusion, employment outcomes for people with disabilities remain significantly lower than for the general population, raising questions about the effectiveness of existing policy instruments.Using a qualitative research design, the study draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with employers and organisational representatives across sectors. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to explore how employers interpret their responsibilities, navigate policy requirements, and make hiring decisions.The findings reveal a persistent gap between formal compliance and substantive inclusion. Employers rarely meet the quota through direct employment, instead relying on hybrid compliance strategies combining partial hiring, financial contributions, and procurement from sheltered facilities. This pattern is shaped by organisational constraints, including costs, lack of expertise, and limited recruitment pipelines, as well as by broader institutional factors such as weak coordination, unclear guidance, and fragmented support systems.The analysis shows that employers are not inherently unwilling to engage in inclusive hiring, but position themselves as constrained actors operating within a system that prioritises compliance over inclusion. The study contributes to existing literature by highlighting the role of governance and policy design in shaping employer behaviour and demonstrates that the effectiveness of quota systems depends on how they are implemented and supported in practice.