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  1. Overview: Morocco
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  3. Global PEO and payroll
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Global HR Compliance in Morocco

If you hire international workforce, or plan to hire, then Hiring and Firing Workforce in Morocco Guide below will help you understand the nuances of labor legislation in the country.

There are two main reasons for companies hiring foreign workforce:

  • Expanding into foreign markets to sell company product or products there. In this case, companies hire sales representatives who would exclusively represent their product in the target market and sell it to their local client base.
  • Hiring the right foreign talent with a unique expertise, often related to IT sphere that cannot be found in the home country or that costs less compared to local specialist with similar skills.

After you have found the right candidate, the question is how to hire and provide compensation to this person so you as a business remain 100% compliant when working with global workforce. Another thing to consider is whether you want to keep the talent long-term and how you can do that.

If you need to hire foreign workforce in Morocco so you can expand there, then our Global Employer of Record solution may be of help. We help you legally hire and reward your foreign workforce by making them employees via a global employment outsourcing service. This is simple as employ your in-house workforce with the only difference that workers can live anywhere in the world and Acumen International would be their legal employer on your behalf. This means we would bear all employment risks, not you. Also, we manage bonuses, vacations, sick leave and can rent the office and a car for your foreign sales representatives if that is what you need.

With our solution, you can test new foreign markets before deciding whether you are going to get established there. You gain flexibility and expand with reduced costs, and easily withdraw from the unattractive countries.

We are experts in global workforce employment in Morocco, 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.

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 Morocco.

See the guide below for a general overview of labor rules and regulations in Morocco. Or contact us if you need to employ workers in Morocco or would like to get more details.

Hiring and Firing Workforce in Morocco Guide

# Employment contracts
The employment contract is concluded for an indefinite period, for a fixed term or to carry out a specific work. The fixed-term employment contract may be concluded in cases where the employment relationship can not have an indefinite duration.

The fixed-term employment contract can be concluded only in the following cases:

  • the replacement of one employee by another in the case of suspension of the employee’s employment contract, except if the suspension results from a state of employment. strike;
  • the temporary increase in the activity of the enterprise;
  • if the work is seasonal.

The fixed-term employment contract may be concluded in certain sectors and in certain exceptional cases determined by regulation after consulting the employers’ and trade unions’ most representative employees’ organizations or by virtue of a collective labor agreement.

# Minimum (Statutory) Employment Rules and Regulations in Morocco

# Hours of work:
In non-agricultural activities, the normal hours of work of employees are fixed at 2288 hours per year or 44 hours per week.

In case of collective interruption of work in an establishment or part of: establishment resulting from accidental causes or force majeure, the daily duration of work may be extended as a recovery of lost working hours, after consultation with employee delegates and, where appropriate, union representatives in the company.

In all cases: – recoveries of lost working hours may not be authorized for more than 30 days per year;
– the extension of the daily working time may not exceed one hour; – the daily working time may not exceed ten hours.

# Probation period:
The probationary period for indefinite contracts is:

  • three months for executives and similar staff;
  • one and a half months for employees;
  • fifteen days for the workers.

The trial period may be renewed once.

The probationary period for fixed-term contracts may not exceed:

  • one day in respect of each work week within the limit of two weeks in the case of contracts of less than six months
  • one month for contracts of more than six months.

Trial periods lower than those mentioned above may be provided for in the employment contract, the collective agreement or the internal regulations.

# Annual leave:
Except in the case of more favorable provisions of the employment contract, the collective labor agreement, the rules of procedure or the practices, every employee is entitled, after six months of continuous service in the same company or to the same employer, to an annual leave with pay of which the duration is fixed as follows:

  • one and a half days of actual work per month of service;
  • two days of actual work per month of service for employees under the age of eighteen.

The duration of annual leave with pay shall be increased by one and a half days of actual work per full period, continuous or not, of five years of service, but such increase may not increase the total leave to more than 30 days. effective work.

When the employment contract is for a fixed term, the employee must have benefited from all his annual vacation leave paid before the expiry date of the contract.

# Parental leave:
An employee in a state of pregnancy attested by a medical certificate has a maternity leave of fourteen weeks, except for more favorable stipulations in the employment contract, the collective labor agreement or the internal regulations.

Layered employees can not be employed during the seven consecutive weeks following the delivery. The employer ensures that the work assigned to the employee during the period preceding and immediately following the delivery is lighter.

The employee has the right to suspend the contract of employment for a period beginning seven weeks before the expected date of birth and ending seven weeks after the date of birth. If a medical condition, attested by a medical certificate as a result of pregnancy or confinement, makes it necessary to extend the period of suspension of the contract, the maternity leave shall be increased by the duration of the medical condition, without exceeding eight weeks before the presumed date of delivery and fourteen weeks after the date of delivery.

When the delivery takes place before the presumed date, the period of suspension of the contract of employment may be extended until the employee exhausts the fourteen weeks of suspension of the contract to which she is entitled.

# Sick leave:
Any employee who can not go to work because of illness or accident, must justify it and notify the employer within forty-eight hours, except in cases of force majeure. If the absence extends for more than four days, the employee must inform the employer of the probable duration of his absence and provide him, unless he is prevented from doing so, with a medical certificate justifying his absence. The employer may have a counter-visit of the employee by a doctor of his choice and at his expense during the period of absence determined by the medical certificate produced by the employee.

# Overtime:
Where companies have to cope with work of national interest or exceptional extra work, the employees of the said undertakings may be employed beyond the normal working hours under the conditions laid down in the regulations, provided that they receive, in addition to their salaries, compensation for overtime.

The overtime is defined as hours of work completed beyond the normal hours of work of the employee. In companies where the 2288 hours of work are distributed unevenly over the year, hours of work completed daily from the tenth hour included are considered as overtime. Also considered as overtime, hours worked annually from 2289 hours included.

# State minimum salary:
Morocco’s minimum wage is 3 000 MADs ($310) per month in public sector,2 570.86 MAD ($265) per month in private sector,69,73 MAD ($7) per day for agricultural workers. Morocco’s minimum wage was last changed in July 2015.

# Employee dismissal:
Termination of a fixed-term employment contract can be justified if there is:

  • A serious breach of the contract.
  • Disciplinary measures.
  • A force majeure event.

An unjustified dismissal gives rise to the payment of damages equal to the wages otherwise payable for the remaining term of the contract.

An indefinite term contract can be terminated by either party or by common consent at any time, subject to compliance with legal procedures. The early termination of an indefinite-term employment contract by the employer or the employee must allow for a notice period, unless the termination is due to a serious breach of the contract. The length of the notice period for employees with a supervisory function is determined by regulations (generally one to three months for employment of less than five years). The notice period can be replaced by compensation equal to the salary that would otherwise have been paid to the employee for this period.

Employees with at least six months of seniority are entitled to a termination allowance on dismissal, the amount of which depends on the duration of the employment, as follows:

  • 96 hours of salary for each year (or portion of a year) of the first five years of employment.
  • 144 hours of salary for each year (or portion of year) between the sixth and tenth year of employment.
  • 192 hours of salary for each year between the 11th and 15th year of employment.
  • 240 hours of salary for each year (or portion of year) after the 15th year of employment.

In the case of abusive termination, the court can either:

  • Order the reintegration of the employee.
  • Grant damages in addition to the termination allowance.

Acumen International can help you fast-track your possibilities of entering and expanding your business in Morocco 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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