Hire employees in Egypt

Egypt offers international organizations a range of opportunities. Its strategic location at the junction between Africa and the Middle East gives businesses access to numerous consumer markets and the country’s modern infrastructure allows for frictionless trading. With a population of over 100 million, the country offers foreign employers a large talent pool to choose from and the wide use of European languages, above all English, is a big advantage when hiring employees in Egypt. 

Employment contracts can be concluded for a definite or an indefinite term or for the duration of a specific project or task. Regardless of their duration, employment agreements require a written form. The contract language is Arabic and the employer must issue three copies of the contract, one copy for the company’s own records, one copy for the employee and one copy for the social security authority. 

Probation Period

A probationary period can be stipulated in the employee’s employment contract. However, the duration of the trial period cannot exceed 3 months.

Working Hours and Breaks

Employees in Egypt typically work 8-hour days, which leads to a 48-hour workweek for employees working six days a week. However, private sector employees typically only work a five-day week. The usual working days are Sunday to Thursday.

Under certain conditions, an employee’s regular daily working hours can be increased to 9 hours. Employees are entitled to a 1-hour lunch break after no more than 5 hours of work.

Overtime

Employees are allowed to work overtime within certain legal limits. Overtime pay is stipulated by law and varies depending on the time of day and the day of the week. On normal working days, employees who are required to work overtime must be compensated with a 35% wage supplement for each additional hour worked. For overtime during night-time hours, employees must be paid at least 70% more. Employees who have to work on a public holiday are entitled to double pay.

Payroll in Egypt is generally processed once a month. Payments to employees are usually made on the 5th of the following month.

Minimum Wage 

Currently (February 2023), the national minimum wage stands at EGP 2,700 per month.

Sick Pay

Employees who are unable to work due to sickness or injury are entitled to paid sick leave. Sick leave in Egypt is limited to 180 days per year during which the employee is protected from dismissal and receives sick pay from the social security authority. 

During the first three months of sick leave, the amount of sick pay is equal to 75% of the employee’s social security salary – this is the salary based on which social security calculations are calculated. Thereafter, the sick pay rate increases to 85%. The employee must provide a medical certificate in order to receive sickness benefits.

Bonuses

There are no legal provisions for a 13th salary, but it’s mandatory to pay employees an annual increment which must equal at least 7% of the basic social insurance salary.

Employees and employers in Egypt are subject to the following tax and social security contribution rates (last review February 2023):

Taxes

Employers

22.5%

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• 22.5% corporate tax 

• 14% VAT (standard rate)

Employees

up to 25% *

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Individual income is subject to progressive tax rates ranging from 0% to 25%.

Social Security

Employers

18.75% **

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18.75% unified social insurance and pension contribution

Employees

11% **

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11% unified social insurance and pension contribution

Please note that the social security contributions indicated above do not necessarily reflect the actual employment costs. These may differ depending on the employment contract and due to other factors (e.g. 13th and 14th salary, health insurance allowances, accrual for severance pay, etc.).

Annual Leave

Employees who have completed 6 months of service are entitled to 21 paid vacation days per year. During the first year of employment, the employee’s leave entitlement is calculated on a prorated basis. After 10 years of service, the employee’s annual leave entitlement increases to 30 days. Employees over 50 also get 30 days of paid leave per year.

In addition, employees receive a paid day off on occasion of the country’s national public holidays. The latter are set by the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration. The number of public holidays is limited to a maximum of 13 days within one year. 

Maternity Leave and Paternity Leave

Female employees are entitled to 90 days of fully paid maternity leave if they have worked for their current employer for at least 10 continuous months. Maternity leave can start before the expected date of birth, but this is not mandatory. During the first 45 days after the delivery, however, the employee is not allowed to work. 

After her return to work, the employee is allowed one hour of breastfeeding leave per day. This entitlement is valid for the first 24 months after the child’s birth. Maternity leave can only be granted twice during the employee’s service period. There are no legal provisions for paternity leave.

Parental Leave

The Labor Law does not provide for parental leave other than maternity leave. 

Additional Leave and Benefits

In addition to the leave entitlements detailed above, Egypt’s Labor Code provides for emergency leave which must be granted to employees facing an unexpected emergency situation. Emergency leave is limited to 6 days per year and 2 days at a time. Although emergency leave is mentioned separately in the Labor Code, the leave days are deducted from the employee’s annual leave entitlement. 

Furthermore, the law establishes a once-in-a-lifetime right to pilgrimage leave. According to the legal provisions, employees who have completed at least 5 years of service are entitled to paid leave for a period of up to one month which can be used to make a pilgrimage.

The procedures for terminating an employee vary depending on the type of employment contract. Employers wishing to terminate an employee hired under a fixed-term contract before the contract’s expiry date can only do so if they provide the employee with compensation equal to the wages and salaries the employee still would have earned until the end of the contract. 

Indefinite contracts can be terminated by each party at any given moment as long as the termination reason is in line with the legal provisions regarding employee dismissal and statutory notice periods are respected. The statutory notice period for employees whose length of service is less than 10 years is 60 days. For employees with a length of service exceeding 10 years, the notice period increases to 90 days. There is no legal entitlement to severance pay for dismissed employees.