Employment Law in the Republic of the Congo

Contracts

Congo-Brazzaville’s labor laws require written employment contracts, of which there are two types: Indefinite-term (Contrat à Durée Indéterminée or CDI) and fixed-term (Contrat à Durée Déterminée or CDD). Mandatory information includes:

• Employer name
• Employee name
• Place of employment
• Working hours
• Job title and description of duties
• If applicable, which collective bargaining agreement the contract adheres to
• Payment frequency and amount
• Contract start date
• What paid leave is included
• Duration of probationary period
• For a fixed-term contract, contract end date

Safeguard Global can help ensure your employment contracts in Congo-Brazzaville are fully compliant with all local laws.

Termination and notice periods

The typical notice period in Congo-Brazzaville is 14 working days, but collective bargaining agreements or other contracts may stipulate a longer period. This period is increased by seven working days per full year of employment. There is no statutory severance pay in the Republic of the Congo.

Employers must have just cause for termination. If an indefinite contract is ended without just cause, the terminated employee may be entitled to damages up to 36 months’ pay.

Probation periods

The probation period in Congo-Brazzaville is 15 days maximum for contracts whose duration is less than or equal to six months, and one month for all contracts greater than six months.

Working hours and overtime

Typical working hours in Congo-Brazzaville are 7:30 am to 3:30 pm (civil servants sometimes end work earlier, while other office workers might end a little later), with lunch break lasting 30 minutes.

Article 105 of the Labor Code sets the legal maximum for weekly working hours at 40 hours. For agricultural enterprises, the maximum for working hours is calculated by year, with the limit set at 2,400 hours. One rest day per week is mandatory, and it has to consist of at least 24 consecutive hours.

Workers in the Republic of the Congo are required to receive overtime as per the following regulations:

• A 30% increase in pay for the first six hours worked over the legal working time limit
• A 60% increase for subsequent hours worked after six hours
• A 100% increase for overtime work performed on weekly rest day

Taxes

In the Republic of the Congo, withholding tax is known as Impôt sur le Revenu des Personnes Physiques (IRPP) and is deducted by employers before paying salaries to employees. Employers must deduct IRPP from employee salaries based on applicable income tax brackets and submit it to the tax authorities.

Employer payroll contributions

The Republic of the Congo’s social security system requires employer contributions, which cover pensions, medical care, family allowances, and disability insurance. Employers must contribute 20.29% of an employee’s gross salary, with certain monthly limits. Employers must also withhold contributions from employees at a rate of 0.04% of their gross salary with a monthly cap of 1.2 million XAF.