Kuwait
Employ in Kuwait without an entity.
A contract under Kuwait's private-sector Labour Law, the work permit and residence arranged, and pay in dinars every month. One contact and one invoice.
The facts of employing in Kuwait.
Paid in dinars, every month.
Into a local bank account, never more than seven days late.
A 48-hour week.
36 hours in Ramadan, with a day of rest after every six days worked.
30 working days of annual leave.
On full pay.
End-of-service pay for everyone.
Kuwaiti nationals and expatriates alike, explained below.
What employing in Kuwait involves, in plain words.
Each is handled for everyone you employ through Global Kinect EOR.
- Contracts
Written in Arabic, in three copies, one of them lodged with the Public Authority for Manpower.
- Fixed-term for one to five years and renewable, or open-ended.
- Trial period: up to 100 working days, once per employer.
- Work permits and residence
No expatriate may work without a permit from the Public Authority for Manpower, and residence follows it.
- Kuwaitisation
A programme employers plan for. The government sets the share of Kuwaiti staff by sector.
- PIFSSSocial security
Pension and insurance cover for Kuwaiti nationals. Expatriates are outside it. A national of another Gulf country is covered by their own country's scheme, under the Gulf extension of insurance protection.
- Health insurance
Health cover is a condition of residence for expatriates.
- Leave
30 working days a year on full pay.
- Sick leave each year: 15 days on full pay, 10 at three quarters, 10 at half, 10 at a quarter, then 30 unpaid.
- Maternity leave: 70 days on full pay, with up to four months more unpaid on request.
- Ending employment
An open-ended contract needs three months' notice for monthly-paid staff.
- End-of-service pay: 15 days' pay for each of the first five years, then a month's pay for each year after, capped at a year and a half's pay.
- On resignation: nothing under three years, half from three to five, two thirds from five to ten, and the full amount from ten.
Hiring in Kuwait, step by step.
You choose the person
And agree the role and the salary in dinars.
The contract is put in place
Under Kuwait's Labour Law, with a work permit where one is needed.
They are paid monthly
In dinars, into a local bank account.
You get one invoice
With every other country you hire in.
Questions about employing in Kuwait
What does it take to employ an expatriate in Kuwait?
An expatriate in Kuwait needs a work permit from the Public Authority for Manpower before starting, and their residence follows it. The contract is written in Arabic, with one copy lodged with the Authority, and is open-ended or fixed for one to five years. Health cover is a condition of residence. End-of-service pay builds up from the start, for expatriates and Kuwaiti nationals alike.
How long is the trial period?
How are wages paid?
Employing in Kuwait, worked through in full.
Each guide goes further than this page.
- Hiring in Kuwait: permits, Kuwaitisation and the contract, step by step
How you hire in Kuwait without an entity of your own: the work permit and residence step by step, the share of Kuwaiti staff, the contract, the employee test, leave, and what changed this year.
5 min read
- The cost of employing in Kuwait: contributions, end of service and a year worked through
What it costs to employ someone in Kuwait: what you pay on top of salary, a year worked through at two salaries for a Kuwaiti national and an expatriate, the one-off costs of an expatriate hire, and what changes the total.
4 min read
- Ending employment in Kuwait: notice, end of service and a final settlement worked through
How employment ends in Kuwait: the ways a contract ends, the notice it needs, what a dismissal without a valid reason costs, a final settlement worked through, resignation, when final pay is due, and the steps with the authorities.
6 min read