Hire in Mauritius
Country Overview
Employment Contracts
Working Hours
Employee Leave
Employee Benefits
Mauritius PEO & Employer of Record Services
Global PEO Services (GPS) helps companies hire employees in Mauritius without establishing a legal entity. All human resources, benefits, payroll, and tax needs for the employees are managed by the Global PEO, while the new hires and headquarter teams focus on your business goals.
When hiring employees in Mauritius, establishing a subsidiary or branch office is not always the best route, as it’s often a lengthy and expensive process. Hiring via a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), or Employer of Record (EOR), is a faster and often more effective option – especially when starting up in a new country.
Global PEO Services hires the employees on your behalf, legally contracting them through our subsidiary in accordance with Mauritius labor laws. As a result, the burden of compliance is on us and the employees can begin work for your company in a matter of days. PEOs/EORs provide you with a streamlined option for hiring employees, testing markets, and responding to growing business needs in Mauritius. With Global PEO Services, you get control without taking on legal entity liabilities, contractor risks, or sacrificing on talent or speed to market.
Mauritius - Country Overview
Since gaining independence in 1968, Mauritius has witnessed steady industrial growth and managed to diversify its agriculture-centric economy into tourism, financial services, manufacturing, horticulture, and information & communication technology (ICT). Political stability, sound macroeconomic management, competitive tax rates, flexible labor code, and transparent regulatory environment facilitate economic development and ensure investor confidence. The government’s strategic policy document ‘Achieving the Second Economic Miracle and Vision 2030’ is aimed at creating a more inclusive and diversified economy.
Capital City
Port Louis
Currency
Mauritian Rupee
Principal Language
English and French
Government
Parliamentary Republic
Major Cities
Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Vacoas, Curepipe, Triolet
Employment Contracts in Mauritius
Employment contracts are between employees and employers. They must contain details including wages, job title, work conditions, duration of the contract, benefits, work hours, probation period, place of work, and travel allowance. The written details of employment contracts, according to Section 8 of the Employment Rights Act (2008), must have added specifications such as employee’s gender, date of birth, nature of the job, and more.
Working Hours in Mauritius
The regular work schedule comprises 8 hours per day. Employees who work 6 days a week cannot be asked to work for more than 5 hours on one of those days and must be compensated for 8 hours for that day.
Overtime
Employees must be given a 24-hour notice period before they undertake overtime work. Overtime applies after employees have completed 90 work hours in a fortnight and are paid at 1.5 times of regular pay. Overtime work on Sundays or public holidays is paid at twice the regular hourly rate.
Employee Leave in Mauritius
Holidays
The following 14 national holidays are observed in Mauritius:
- New Year’s Day
- Abolition of Slavery
- Chinese Spring Festival
- Maha Shivaratri
- National Day
- Ougadi
- Tamizh Puttaandu
- Labor Day
- Eid-Ul Fitr
- Assumption of the Blessed Mary
- Ganesh Chaturthi
- Diwali
- Arrival of Indentured Laborers
- Christmas
Annual Leave
Effective from January 1, 2019, an employee working 40 hours per week is entitled to 208 hours of paid annual or vacation leave. This leave is calculated on the basis of an 8-hour working day and 40-hour working week. When a worker is employed for less than 1 year, he/she shall be entitled to a proportionate amount of annual leave.
Sick Leave
Employees are entitled to 15 days’ sick leave after working for 1 year with an employer.
Maternity Leave
Women employees are entitled to 12 weeks’ maternity leave out of which 6 weeks must be taken before while the other 6 weeks must be taken after the childbirth.
Paternity Leave
Fathers of new born child/children are entitled to 5 days’ paternity leave.
Employee Benefits in Mauritius
Healthcare
It is not mandatory for employers in Mauritius to provide medical insurance to employees but employers with 10 or more employees may provide medical insurance.
Social Security
Social security assistance is based on contributions made to the National Solidarity Fund and the National Pension Funds.
National Pension Fund
Employers are required to make contributions to the National Pension Fund according to the rates below:
| Rates of Contribution | Employee’s | Employer’s | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Standard Rate | 3% | 6% | 9% |
| (b) Higher Rate | 5% | 8.5% | 13.5% |
| (c) Prescribed rate | 3% | 10.5% | 13.5% |
National Savings Fund
The National Savings Fund (NSF) provides a consolidated amount to employees upon retirement, death, on medical grounds, or redundancy. Employers are required to contribute 2.5% of employees’ (aged between 18 and 60) salary to the fund. Employees contribute 1% of their salary toward ‘transitional unemployment benefit’ which can be used during any unemployment period.
Who contributes to the NSF
Employees (aged between 18 and 60) are required to contribute 1% of their salary while employers must contribute 2.5% of employees’ pay subject to a ceiling. Non-citizens of Mauritius are not covered by the fund.
Returns
Returns must be submitted at each financial year-end along with details such as:
- Name of an employee
- Number of National Identity Card
- The number of contributions provided to employees during the financial year
NSF Lump Sum
- Retirement on the Grounds of Age
A lump sum amount is given to employees who:- Retire at the legal retirement age
- Retire before the age of 60 on ground of age under the Pension Law, Labor Act, or a Remuneration Order
- Death of Employee
A lump sum amount is paid to the following individuals in the event of an employee’s death:- Widow/widower of the deceased upon producing the photocopy of the death certificate and marriage certificate.
- Child/children of the deceased upon producing an affidavit sworn by the heirs.
- The legal personal representative(s) of the deceased (if there is no widow or widower or child) upon producing an affidavit establishing the heirs of the deceased along with the civil status documents.
Workers’ Compensation
Under the Worker’s Compensation Act, employers are required to compensate employees who are incapacitated due to an occupational disease or work-related injury. Employers are required to get insurance coverage to take care of the worker’s compensation liability.
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