Hiring in Benin: the work permit, the contract and what comes off pay, step by step

Move someone who is already in Benin

Losing a job does not in itself end a work permit already issued. A contract with a new employer carries its own visa, which needs a valid permit.

A Beninese national's move turns on the notice their current contract sets, from fifteen days for staff paid by the hour to three months for supervisors and managers. A new employer that knowingly keeps on someone who broke a contract without the notice it needed shares the liability to the previous employer.

Check the role is open to a non-Beninese

Any employer in Benin can use the services of a foreign worker. The 2017 hiring law leaves the conditions to decree, and the Code du travail sets the work permit.

The Minister of Labour can refuse a permit, or its renewal, where the person's qualifications do not meet the needs of the national economy.

Set the contract up right

A contract of employment is individual, personal and freely made. It takes the form the two sides choose, and without a written one it can be proved by any means. It is written for a fixed term and for part-time work.

Any contract, fixed-term or open-ended, can start with a trial period. It is written into the contract, and it is paid. Its length is the time needed to test the employee, given the technical demands and the custom of the trade. Unless the contract or a collective agreement says otherwise, either side can end it at any time without notice, indemnity or damages.

A fixed term has a set end, or ends on a future event or with a piece of work. It can be renewed without limit. From the fourth term, not renewing it needs notice. An employer that does not renew owes an end-of-collaboration indemnity on the same terms as the dismissal indemnity.

Either side can propose a change to the contract in writing, and the other has eight clear days to consider it. Where the employer proposes a substantial change and the employee refuses it, the employer can end the contract, and the ending is down to the employer. It is abusive only where the business's interest does not justify the change.

A clause barring the employee from any activity after the contract ends is void.

Pay is in legal tender, by cheque, by bank, postal or electronic transfer, or in cash. The minimum wage is XOF 52,000 a month, from 1 January 2023. Collective agreements set minimum wages by category.

The legal week is 40 hours, with no more than eight hours of actual work a day unless a decree or a collective agreement allows more. The weekly rest is at least 24 hours in a row, in principle on Sunday. The employer can require up to 240 hours of overtime a calendar year, and needs the labour inspector's authorisation for more. With overtime, the week runs to no more than 60 hours and the day to twelve. Overtime is paid at least 12% more by day from the 41st hour to the 48th, 35% more after it, and 50% more on Sundays and public holidays. Night work runs from 21:00 to 05:00. Overtime at night is paid at least 50% more, and 100% more on Sundays and public holidays.

Know the employee test before you engage a contractor

Benin's 2017 hiring law treats as a worker anyone who has undertaken to put their professional activity under the direction and authority of another person, for pay. The legal status of either side does not count in deciding it.

The law governs relations between employers and workers carrying on their professional activity in Benin.

A role that needs a work permit goes through employer of record.

Know what comes off pay each month

Salary tax is withheld from each month's pay. It is worked out on gross pay, with overtime, allowances and benefits in kind included.

A levy for the national broadcaster is added to the tax: XOF 1,000 on March's salary and XOF 3,000 on June's. The June levy is not taken where taxable pay stays within the first band. The tax withheld is paid by the 10th of the next month.

You also pay the employer's tax on salaries, 4% of the same pay, on the same return and by the same day.

The CNSS counts all pay, with allowances and benefits in kind. The employee pays 3.6% for pensions, withheld from pay. You pay 6.4% for pensions and 9% for family benefits. The occupational risk contribution is yours alone too. An employer of 20 or more staff pays each month, and a smaller one each quarter, within fifteen days of the period's end. A late payment adds 1.5% for each month or part of a month.

Know the leave your people are entitled to

End employment on the law's terms

A contract ends by dismissal, resignation, agreement or the end of a fixed term.

A dismissal needs a legitimate reason. It is notified in writing, with the reason, and the employee first has the chance to give their view, except in a collective economic dismissal. For a dismissal on personal grounds, the employer informs the labour inspector at the same time.

Notice runs from the day after the notification. It is fifteen days for staff paid by the hour, a month for employees, workers and labourers, and three months for supervisors, managers and the like. During it, the employee has two paid days a week to look for work. A resignation is notified in writing, with the same notice, which the employer can waive without paying for it. Gross misconduct ends the contract without notice, subject to the court's view of its gravity.

Before an economic dismissal, the employer tells the labour inspector of the plan, with the reasons, the numbers and the jobs affected, and tells the staff delegates at the same time. No economic dismissal is notified for 21 days after that, 30 where the plan covers more than 11 employees and 45 where it covers more than 50. The employer meets the delegates at least once in that time. Those dismissed keep priority for rehiring in the same category for two years.

A dismissal without a legitimate reason is abusive, and the employer proves the reason if it is challenged. A court then awards between three and nine months' gross pay, on the average gross monthly pay of the last twelve months, set by the harm done. Where the reason was legitimate but the form was not followed, or the dismissal came during leave, it can award up to two months' gross pay, and only after a year's actual work. The award for an abusive dismissal comes on top of the pay for notice and the dismissal indemnity.

A fixed term ends at its term. Before then, it ends only for gross misconduct, for force majeure or by written agreement. Otherwise, a court can award the other side up to the pay due to the term, and no more than nine months' gross pay. Any contract can also end by an agreement dated and signed by both sides.

A pregnant employee cannot be dismissed, except for gross misconduct unrelated to the pregnancy or where the contract cannot be kept on. No dismissal can be made during her maternity leave. She can leave without notice and without owing any indemnity.

A work certificate is owed whatever the reason the contract ends. A claim for pay can be brought for three years, and one for an indemnity or damages for ten.

See what changed this year, and what is next

The minimum wage of XOF 52,000 a month has applied since 1 January 2023.