Sierra Leone
Employ in Sierra Leone without an entity.
A contract under Sierra Leone's Employment Act 2023, pay in leones, and social security and income tax handled every month. One contact and one invoice.
The facts of employing in Sierra Leone.
Paid in leones, every month.
A 40-hour week.
Eight hours a day, and no one can be required to work more than 48 a week.
NASSIT at 15% of pay.
10% from the employer and 5% from the employee.
Income tax up to 30%.
Non-residents pay a final 25%.
What employing in Sierra Leone involves, in plain words.
Each is handled for everyone you employ through Global Kinect EOR.
- Contracts
Written particulars within twelve weeks, and contracts vetted and attested by the Commissioner of Labour and Employment.
- A fixed term under six months is renewable once.
- Trial period: up to 6 months, once only.
- NASSITSocial security
The National Social Security and Insurance Trust, paid within 15 days of the month's end.
- 10% from the employer and 5% from the employee.
- PAYEIncome tax
Withheld by the employer each month, at rates up to 30%.
- Nothing on the first SLE 600 a month, rising through 15%, 20% and 25% to 30% above SLE 2,400.
- A non-resident pays a final 25%.
- Leave
A leave allowance of at least a month's basic salary for each completed year.
- Sick leave: paid after three months' continuous service, on a medical certificate.
- Maternity leave: at least 14 weeks on full pay.
- Paternity leave: 2 weeks on full pay.
- Ending employment
A month's notice in writing, or a month's basic pay in lieu.
- After a year's service, end-of-service benefits are paid within a month, at the rate a contract or collective agreement sets.
- Redundancy: three months' written notice to the Commissioner and any union, and consultation on ways to limit it.
- Work permits
A work permit from the Minister responsible for labour, valid for a year and renewable each year. A training and succession plan for Sierra Leonean nationals goes to the Minister for approval.
Hiring in Sierra Leone, step by step.
You choose the person
And agree the role and the salary in leones.
The contract is put in place
Under Sierra Leone's Employment Act, with a work permit where one is needed.
They are paid monthly
In leones, with NASSIT and income tax handled.
You get one invoice
With every other country you hire in.
Questions about employing in Sierra Leone
What does it take to employ a foreign national in Sierra Leone?
A foreign national in Sierra Leone needs a work permit under the Work Permit Act 2023. The Minister responsible for labour issues it on the Work Permit Committee's recommendation, after an application to the Work Permit Unit. It is valid for a year and can be renewed each year. Non-residents pay income tax at a final rate of 25%.
Does a contract need approval?
Is end-of-service pay due?
Employing in Sierra Leone, worked through in full.
The guide goes further than this page.
- Hiring in Sierra Leone: the work permit, the contract and a salary worked through, step by step
How you hire in Sierra Leone without an entity of your own: the work permit step by step, moving someone already in Sierra Leone, the contract, the employee test, what a salary costs and pays, leave, and what changed this year.
9 min read