DR Congo
Employ in the DR Congo without an entity.
A contract under the DR Congo's labour code, approved by the national employment office, and social security, income tax and the employer levies handled every month. One contact and one invoice.
The facts of employing in the DR Congo.
Every written contract goes to ONEM for approval.
Within 15 days of signing.
Social security through the CNSS.
Declared and paid within 15 days of the month's end.
A 25% employer levy on expatriate pay.
On top of income tax.
A yearly workforce declaration.
To the labour ministry's employment service and ONEM, by 31 January.
What employing in the DR Congo involves, in plain words.
Each is handled for everyone you employ through Global Kinect EOR.
- Contracts
Every written contract goes to ONEM, the national employment office, within 15 days of signing, for its approval.
- If the employer does not submit it, the employee may end the contract at any time without notice.
- Trial period: in writing, up to a month for an unskilled labourer and six months for everyone else.
- CNSSSocial security
Occupational risks, family benefits with maternity, and pensions, declared and paid within 15 days of the month's end.
- Pensions: 5% from the employer and 5% from the employee.
- Family benefits: 6.5%, and occupational risks: 1.5%, both from the employer.
- IRPPIncome tax
Withheld by the employer each month, on an annual scale from 3% to 40%, never more than 30% of taxable pay.
- Expatriate levy
25% of the gross pay of expatriate staff, paid by the employer.
- ONEMEmployment levy
0.5% of monthly pay, paid by the employer, and declared by the 10th of the next month.
- INPPTraining contribution
Paid by the employer on its staff's pay, at the rate the government sets.
- Leave
At least one working day for each full month of service, with a day more for every five years' seniority.
- Sickness: two thirds of pay while the contract is suspended.
- Maternity leave: 14 consecutive weeks, with a daily benefit from the CNSS.
- Ending employment
Written notice with its reason: at least 14 working days, and seven more for each full year of service, with longer notice for supervisors and managers.
- Without a valid reason, a labour court can order reinstatement, or damages of up to 36 months' pay.
Hiring in the DR Congo, step by step.
You choose the person
And agree the role and the salary in Congolese francs.
The contract is put in place
Under the DR Congo's labour code, with a work permit where one is needed.
They are paid monthly
In Congolese francs, with social security, income tax and the employer levies handled.
You get one invoice
With every other country you hire in.
Questions about employing in the DR Congo
What does an employer pay on expatriate pay in the DR Congo?
Employers in the DR Congo pay a levy of 25% of the gross pay of expatriate staff, on top of the income tax withheld from that pay. They also pay ONEM 0.5% of monthly pay for every employee. The share of foreign workers an employer may hold is limited by ministerial order.
Does a contract need approval?
What does an employer declare each year?
Is there a minimum wage?
Employing in the DR Congo, worked through in full.
The guide goes further than this page.
- Hiring in the DR Congo: the work card, the contract and what comes off pay, step by step
How you hire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo without an entity of your own: the work card step by step, moving someone already in the country, the contract and its approval, the employee test, what comes off pay, leave, and what changed this year.
11 min read