Global HR Compliance in Tunisia

Guide to Hiring and Firing Workforce in Tunisia: What You Need to Know

If you’re considering hiring an international workforce or already have plans, understanding Tunisia’s labour legislation is crucial. There are two primary motivations behind companies seeking foreign talent:

1. Expanding into Foreign Markets: Companies aim to introduce and sell their products in new territories. To achieve this, they employ sales representatives who can exclusively focus on promoting their product to a local client base.
2. Acquiring Unique Expertise: Companies often seek foreign talent with specialised skills, especially in fields like IT, that may not be readily available in their home country or may be more cost-effective than hiring local talent.

Once you have identified the ideal candidate, the challenge becomes how to legally employ and compensate them while ensuring complete compliance with international labour laws. Another crucial consideration is devising a strategy to retain this talent for the long term.

Our Global Employer of Record Solution

If your objective is to hire a foreign workforce in Tunisia for business expansion, our Global Employer of Record service could be your solution. We facilitate the legal hiring and compensation of your international employees by serving as an outsourced global employment entity. This arrangement is akin to employing your domestic staff, with the only difference being that these workers can be based anywhere in the world. Express Global Employment would act as their legal employer on your behalf, mitigating all employment-related risks for you. Additionally, we can manage bonuses and leave, and even arrange for offices and cars for your foreign sales representatives.

Test Markets and Expand with Confidence

Our service offers you the flexibility to test new markets before making a long-term commitment. You can expand your operations with reduced overheads and easily exit markets that don’t meet your expectations.

Why Choose Express Global Employment

We are specialists in the realm of global workforce employment in Tunisia, and we aspire to be your single provider for all your international employment needs. Rather than coordinating with multiple local staffing agencies and legal consultants, Express Global Employment can offer you a unified solution, saving you time, money, and resources.

Employment Contracts in Tunisia

Employers may enter into an employment relationship with their employees either by orally spelling out the terms of the employment or by providing a written contract of employment. As a standard practice, employers enter into employment agreements for an indefinite period. Employers may only employ for a specified period (fixed-term) under the conditions specified by law. The total duration of fixed-term contracts, including extensions, is fixed at four years. Fixed-term contracts can automatically translate into indefinite contracts if the holders continue with their work for the employers after the agreed date of expiration.

Minimum Statutory Employment Rights in Tunisia

Working Hours

Employees are restricted to working more than 8 hours per workday and 48 hours per workweek. Employees are entitled to a complete rest day taken either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday during every workweek.

Probation period

The maximum duration an employee may be placed on probation is usually determined by the collective agreement or individual employment agreement. Based on the Collective Framework Agreement, the maximum probation period for employees who are execution oriented is six months; the maximum probation period for technicians is nine months; the maximum probation period for executives is one year. Both parties of employment have a right to agree to extend or reduce the initially agreed period of probation.

Annual Leave

Employees are entitled to paid days off on New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Tunisian Republic Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and Hegire holidays. Apart from these holidays, employers are obliged to allow employees who have completed one year of service to take 12 days of paid leave annually. When the employee has been working less than a year, the annual leave is calculated as one day of annual leave per month of work.

Parental Leave

All female employees are eligible for 30 days of maternity leave paid by the health insurance fund. Employees can ask for an extension of their maternity leave by up to 15 days. Employees on maternity leave are entitled to receive 66 7 per cent of earnings if the mother has worked at least 80 days a year before the delivery. Fathers are entitled to take a fully paid day off within the first seven days of new arrival.

Sick Leave

To be eligible for sick leave, an employee must have at least 50 days of insured employment in the last two quarters or 80 days in the last four quarters before the incapacity began. Long-term sickness (for a period greater than 180 days) must be certified by the medical commission. 66.7% of the insured’s average daily wage is paid after a five-day waiting period for up to 180 days a year for the first three years; and 50% for up to 180 days a year for each next year.

Overtime

The total number of hours employees are legally allowed to work must not exceed 10 hours per day, 60 hours per week. All overtime work must be compensated additionally to the base salary as:

• for the full-time work of 48 hours per week: 75%;
• for full-time work of less than 48 hours per week: 25% up to 48 hours and 50% beyond this period;
• for part-time work: 50%

Minimum Salary in Tunisia

• Employees who work a regular 40 hours per workweek are entitled to a minimum monthly salary of 302 Tunisian dinars.
• Employees whose regular working time is 48 hours per workweek are entitled to a minimum salary of 365 Tunisian dinars per month.

This means that the minimum salary for both 40-hour and 48-hour workweeks has increased by 12 Tunisian dinars per month.

Please note that these are the minimum salaries set by the government. Employers may choose to pay their employees more than the minimum salary.

Employment Termination in Tunisia

Fixed-term contracts may naturally terminate at the end of the specified period agreed in the contracts. In that case, neither of the employment parties is required to fulfil any termination formalities. On the other hand, unilateral termination of employment contracts must be done according to the reasons and procedures provided by the law. Employers or employees who unilaterally decide to end employment contracts must first notify their other parties one month ahead of time.

Employees dismissed for any reason other than misconduct are entitled to receive a severance pay that is calculated thusly: one day’s pay for each year of service in the company up to 3 months’ pay. This payment must be made at the time of termination. Employees dismissed with unjust cause are entitled to severance pay equivalent to one/two months’ pay for each year of service in the company, up to 3 years’ pay.

Express Global Employment can help you fast-track your possibilities of entering and expanding your business in Tunisia by providing you with our Employer of Record services. Our unique Global Employer of Record solutions will enable you to jumpstart your global operations immediately, cost-effectively and compliantly without setting up a legal entity first or afterwards.