Country guide · 8 min read · Updated October 2026
Payroll in Lebanon: the month, the calendar and a salary worked through
How a payroll month runs in Lebanon: the deadlines, social security branch by branch, a salary worked through, salary tax, overtime, the year's holidays, and how your people there can be paid every month now.
How does payroll work in Lebanon?
Salaried staff are paid at least once a month, in Lebanese pounds. An employer with 10 or more insured employees pays NSSF contributions by the end of the next month. The employer pays 8% for health and maternity, 6% for family allowances and 8.5% for end of service. The employee pays 3%. Salary tax runs from 2% to 25% over seven bands. Payroll opens in Lebanon when a client needs it.
Know the month's deadlines
Seven deadlines shape a payroll in Lebanon. Each one is the employer's to meet.
| Deadline | What is due |
|---|---|
| At least once a month | Wages for salaried staff. Manual workers are paid in at least two payments a month |
| By the end of the next month | The month's NSSF contributions, every share, for an employer with 10 or more insured employees |
| By the end of the next quarter | The quarter's NSSF contributions, for an employer with fewer |
| Within 15 days of joining or leaving | Declaring the employee to the NSSF |
| By the 15th of the month after each quarter | The salary tax withheld, to the Treasury |
| Before the 1st of March | The year's declaration of wages to the tax authority, with a statement for each employee of their pay and the tax withheld |
| Before the 31st of March | The NSSF's annual named declaration of each employee's pay for the year before |
Contributions paid late carry an increase of 0.05% for each day of delay.
Follow one salary through the month
Take a salary of LBP 90,000,000 a month, for an employee who is single, with no children. Here is the same salary for a Lebanese employee and for an expatriate whose home country does not treat Lebanese workers equally on social security.
| A Lebanese employee | An expatriate | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | LBP 90,000,000 | LBP 90,000,000 |
| Health and maternity, from the employee | LBP 2,700,000 | LBP 2,700,000 |
| Salary tax | LBP 1,500,000 | LBP 1,500,000 |
| Net pay | LBP 85,800,000 | LBP 85,800,000 |
| Health and maternity, from the employer | LBP 7,200,000 | LBP 7,200,000 |
| Family allowances, from the employer, on the first LBP 28,000,000 | LBP 1,680,000 | LBP 1,680,000 |
| End of service, from the employer | LBP 7,650,000 | Nothing: no right to its benefits |
| The employer's cost for the month | LBP 106,530,000 | LBP 98,880,000 |
Salary tax is worked out on the year's pay, less the family deductions. The employee's own contribution is not deducted first. In this example, each month carries a twelfth of the year's tax.
| For the year | |
|---|---|
| Gross pay | LBP 1,080,000,000 |
| Less the deduction for a single employee | LBP 450,000,000 |
| Taxable pay | LBP 630,000,000 |
| 2% on the first LBP 360,000,000 | LBP 7,200,000 |
| 4% on the LBP 270,000,000 above it | LBP 10,800,000 |
| The year's tax | LBP 18,000,000 |
| Withheld each month | LBP 1,500,000 |
Work out salary tax band by band
Salary tax is worked out on the year's taxable pay, across seven bands.
| Taxable pay a year | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to LBP 360,000,000 | 2% |
| From LBP 360,000,000 to LBP 900,000,000 | 4% |
| From LBP 900,000,000 to LBP 1,800,000,000 | 7% |
| From LBP 1,800,000,000 to LBP 3,600,000,000 | 11% |
| From LBP 3,600,000,000 to LBP 7,200,000,000 | 15% |
| From LBP 7,200,000,000 to LBP 13,500,000,000 | 20% |
| Above LBP 13,500,000,000 | 25% |
Before the bands apply, the year's pay is reduced by LBP 450,000,000 for each employee. A married employee whose spouse does not work deducts a further LBP 225,000,000. Each dependent child adds LBP 45,000,000, up to five children.
Family allowances paid under the law are not taxed. Neither are allowances that repay the costs of the job, such as transport.
Pay overtime at the right rate
| What it earns | |
|---|---|
| Overtime | The hour's normal wage, plus 50% |
| Work through the weekly rest in an urgent case | A rest of the same length, or pay for the hours worked, as the worker chooses |
| Work on Labour Day or Independence Day | A further day's wage, on top of the day's pay |
| Extra hours for a part-time worker | The hour's wage, plus 50% |
Normal hours are up to 48 a week. Every worker has a weekly rest of at least 36 hours in a row.
In an urgent case, the working day can run to 12 hours. The labour authority is told within 24 hours.
A part-time worker's extra hours need their agreement and three days' notice. Unless they agree to more, the extra hours stay within 10% of the hours agreed.
Mark the year's public holidays
A decree sets the official holidays, on which public administrations close. For private businesses, the law makes two of them paid holidays: Labour Day and Independence Day. Anyone whose work cannot stop on either day is paid a further day's wage.
| Holiday | When |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | The 1st of January |
| Armenian Orthodox Christmas | The 6th of January |
| Saint Maron's Day | The 9th of February |
| The Annunciation | The 25th of March |
| Good Friday, Catholic | One day |
| Good Friday, Orthodox | One day |
| Labour Day | The 1st of May |
| The Assumption | The 15th of August |
| Independence Day | The 22nd of November |
| Christmas | The 25th of December |
| Islamic New Year | The 1st of Muharram |
| Ashura | The 10th of Muharram |
| The Prophet's Birthday | The 12th of Rabi al-Awwal |
| Eid al-Fitr | The 1st and 2nd of Shawwal |
| Eid al-Adha | The 10th and 11th of Dhu al-Hijjah |
The Islamic holidays follow the moon, and the two Good Fridays follow Easter, so their dates move each year. When both Good Fridays fall on the same day, the Saturday after it is a holiday too. A holiday that falls on a Sunday or another day off is not moved. Labour Day is the exception: when it falls on a Sunday or another holiday, private businesses close on the next day instead.
Keep pay above the floor, and in Lebanese pounds
| The rule | |
|---|---|
| Minimum wage | LBP 28,000,000 a month, set by decree from 1 August 2025 |
| Currency | The Labour Code requires wages in the official currency, the Lebanese pound |
| When and where | On a working day, at the place of work. Salaried staff are paid at least once a month, and manual workers in at least two payments |
| Wages paid in a foreign currency | Salary tax is worked out on their value in Lebanese pounds, and paid in the currency the wages were paid in. NSSF contributions on them are paid in Lebanese pounds, on their actual value |
| Records | A register of every employee, with their pay and the dates they joined and left, open to NSSF and tax inspectors |
See what is changing
| When | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 August 2025 | The minimum wage is LBP 28,000,000 a month |
| 1 May 2026 | The ceiling for family allowances is LBP 28,000,000 a month |
| By 30 July 2027 | Late-payment increases on NSSF contributions owed for periods up to 31 December 2025 are cut by 85%, when the debt is paid or put into instalments by then |
| When its decrees are issued | A pension replaces the end-of-service branch, under Law 319 of 2023 |
Payroll opens in Lebanon when a client needs it
Payroll opens in Lebanon when a client needs it.
When it opens, it will work as our payroll does in the Gulf and Egypt, from one record. Your entity will submit the files and pay its people.
It will go live only after two months side by side with your current provider, once the numbers match.
Have your people in Lebanon paid every month, now
PEO, part of Global Kinect EOR, pays your people in Lebanon every month in Lebanese pounds, with benefits and compliance handled.
Hiring in Lebanon without an entity of your own is Global Kinect EOR.
Common questions.
When are NSSF contributions due in Lebanon?
Do expatriates pay social security in Lebanon?
Can Global Kinect run our payroll in Lebanon?
Need your people in Lebanon paid every month?
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