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Employ Candidates Compliantly in Malawi

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  1. Overview: Malawi
  2. Global HR Compliance
  3. Global PEO and payroll
  4. Expand without a company set up
  5. Contractor vs. employee: which is better?
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Global HR Compliance in Malawi

Tracking changes in the tax and labor legislation, their correct interpretation and application in the performance of personnel and settlement operations require constant participation in the process of highly qualified specialists. As a result, the company either has to allocate significant internal resources to support these functions, distracting them from the tasks of developing the core business, or to incur additional administrative and financial risks that can lead to real financial damage and administrative and criminal liability under the current legislation.

Successful cooperation with major international companies, focusing on a narrow area of specialization and clear market positioning allowed Acumen International to develop effective models for managing personnel administration and payroll processes in companies of various profiles in Malawi.

The war for global talent has never been tougher. Attracting and keeping sought-after international employees requires knowledge. Whether your company is already engaging or planning to engage global workforce in Malawi, you need to trust that your operations are executed without flaw and without any unnecessary risks.

Businesses of all sizes face a devastating lack of information and support on global employment, taxation, and immigration in Malawi. There’s a common and significant gap between what’s required to be 100% compliant and what most organizations actually have at their disposal.

Acumen International can fill the gap in fragmented Global HR Compliance knowledge

We are experts in global workforce employment in Malawi, and our goal is to become your single provider. Instead of working with numerous local staffing agencies and legal advisors, Acumen International can solve your global business challenges and save you time, costs, and resources.

We act as an information service for corporate clients, agencies, and independent contractors and freelancers. Our Global HR Compliance service in Malawi will help you:

  1. Navigate legislation and local nuances of Malawi. You need to know what is acceptable and what can expose you to employment litigation as well as employee / independent contractor misclassification risk in Malawi.
  2. Avoid areas of possible risk. Certain areas and activities can create unnecessary risk, such as employer-employee relations. We can help you with worker classification, payroll and tax calculations, and social cost contributions.
  3. Handle currency exchanges and local invoicing in Malawi. We save you time and effort, freeing you from having to understand complicated regulations and tax calculations written in the local language and subject to frequent changes.
  4. Create employment contracts and handle compliant engagements. Our objective is to assist you with international HR compliance issues and offer you the best payment and taxation options in Malawi.
  5. Manage expatriate immigration and visa support nuances in Malawi. Acumen International provides information about the best scenarios of expat immigration and employment.
  6. Handle global recruitment issues. We can help you select the person and then employ him with our help. We advise you on local employment laws and implied compliance risks to determine the most cost-effective, compliant, and risk-free solution for you.
  7. Withdraw from the region in the least risky and most cost-effective way. If you choose to do so, we can help you withdraw from the region as simply as possible.

Our team of English-speaking professionals frees you from working through language nuances. Acumen International works 24/7 and can assist you whenever you need, regardless of time zones. Our goal is to create tailored labor solutions for you that are managed legally and in full compliance with the local employment laws.

With our knowledge and deep understanding of local nuances, you easily satisfy your need for skilled professionals in your global industry. With our qualified local partners, you can trust that your global workforce satisfies all local tax, social security, and immigration requirements in Malawi.


Hiring and Firing Workforce in Malawi Guide

# Employment contracts
A contract of employment shall be in any one of the following forms:

  • a contract for an unspecified period of time;
  • a contract for a specified period of time; or
  • a contract for a specific task.

# Minimum (Statutory) Employment Rules and Regulations in Malawi

# Hours of work:
An employee’s normal working hours shall be set out in the employment contract: Provided that no employer shall require or permit any employee, other than a guard or any other category of employee to work for more than forty-eight hours during any week, excluding overtime.

No employer shall require or permit a guard to work for more than forty-eight hours in a week, excluding overtime.

# Probation period:
In a contract of employment in respect of a ski lied worker, the parties may agree on the duration of the probationary period: Provided that the period shall not, in any event, exceed twelve months.

During a probationary period, a control of employment may be terminated at any time by either party without notice. For purposes of this section, “skilled worker” means an employee in an undertaking who has special ability to do something which ability is gained through acquisition, programmed or otherwise, of knowledge, attitude and behavior.

# Annual leave:
Every employee shall be entitled to a period of annual leave with pay of not less than:

  • eighteen working days if he works six days a week; and
  • fifteen working days if he works five days a week, and the leave shall be taken within six months of the entitlement to the leave falling due: Provided that the leave may be deferred and accumulated by mutual agreement.

Where an employee’s length of service in any one year, including the period prior to the completion of the first year of continuous service, is less than the length of service required for the full, the employee shall be entitled to a period of annual leave with pay proportionate to his length of service during that year.

# Parental leave:
A female employee shall be entitled, within every three years, to at least eight weeks maternity leave on full pay. During the period when an employee is on maternity leave, her normal benefits and entitlements, including her contractual rights and accumulation of seniority, shall continue uninterrupted and her period of employment shall not be considered to have been interrupted, reduced or broken.

In the event of illness, certified by a registered medical practitioner, arising out of pregnancy or confinement, affecting the employee or her child, the employer shall grant the employee additional leave as the employer may deem fit.

# Sick leave:
An employee shall be entitled, after completing twelve months’ continuous service, to at least four weeks sick leave on full pay and eight weeks sick leave on half pay during each year. During sick leave, an employee shall be paid the normal rate of wages.

An employer shall not be bound to grant sick leave unless the employee produces a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating the nature of the employee’s incapacity.

# Overtime:
There shall be three classes of overtime known respectively as:

  • ordinary overtime, which shall be time worked on a working day in excess of the hours normally worked by the employee in the undertaking concerned;
  • day off overtime, which shall be time worked by an employee on a day on which he would otherwise be off duty; and
  • holiday overtime, which shall be time worked on a public holiday.

An employee shall for each hour of ordinary overtime be paid at the hourly rate of not less than one and one-half his wage for one hour. An employee shall for each hour of day-off overtime be paid at the hourly rate of not less than twice his wage for one hour. An employee shall for each hour of holiday overtime be paid at a rate of not less than twice the normal hourly rate.

# State minimum salary:
Malawi’s minimum wage is MK 687.70 per day. Malawi’s minimum wage was last changed in January 2016.

# Employee dismissal:
A contract of employment for an unspecified period of time may be terminated by either party. A contract of employment for a specified period of time shall automatically terminate on the date specified for its termination and, unless it is expressly or tacitly renewed or prolonged, no notice shall be required for its termination. Where the purpose or effect of a contract of employment that is purported to be for a specified period of time or a specific task is the filling on a lasting basis of a post connected with the normal and permanent activity of an undertaking, it shall be deemed to be a contract of employment for an unspecified period of time. A contract of employment to perform a specific task shall terminate on the completion of the task and no notice of termination shall be required of either party: Provided that in cases of ambiguity, where an employee is regularly and repeatedly employed and paid wages on the basis of completion of a quantity of work which can be completed in less than 24 hours, the contract of employment shall be deemed to be of an unspecified period of time.

A contract of employment for an unspecified period of time may be terminated by either party upon giving the other party the following minimum period of notice in writing.

Acumen International can help you fast-track your possibilities of entering and expanding your business in Malawi by providing you with our Employer of Record services. Our unique mix of PEO/EOR solutions will enable you to jumpstart your global operations almost immediately, cost-effectively and compliantly without any need to set up a legal entity first or afterwards.

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