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  1. Overview: Namibia
  2. Global PEO and payroll
  3. Global HR Compliance
  4. Work permit for hiring expats via PEO
  5. Expand without a company set up
  6. Contractor vs. employee: which is better?
  7. Global Payroll Calculator
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Global HR Compliance in Namibia

If you hire international workforce, or plan to hire, then Hiring and Firing Workforce in Namibia 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 Namibia 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 Namibia, 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 Namibia.

See Hiring and Firing Workforce in Namibia Guide below for a general overview of labor rules and regulations in the country. Or contact us if you need to employ workers in Namibia or would like to get more details.

Hiring and Firing Workforce in Namibia Guide

# Employment contracts
A basic condition of employment constitutes a term of any contract of employment except to the extent that:

  • any law regulating the employment of individuals provides a term that is more favourable to the employee;
  • a term of the contract of employment or a provision of a collective agreement is more favourable to the employee; or
  • the basic condition of employment has been altered.

# Minimum (Statutory) Employment Rules and Regulations in Namibia

# Hours of work:
An employer must not require or permit an employee to work more than:

  • 45 hours in any week, and in any case, not more than – nine hours on any day, if the employee works for five days or fewer in a week;
  • or eight hours on any day, if the employee works for more than five days in a week;
  • or if the employee works in a continuous operation, the maximum number of hours for that employee’s continuous shift.

The ordinary hours of work of an employee described in subsection (1) whose duties include serving members of the public may be extended up to 15 minutes in a day, but not more than a total of 60 minutes in a week, to enable that employee to continue performing those duties after the completion of ordinary hours of work.

# Annual leave:
Every employee is entitled to at least four consecutive weeks’ annual leave with full remuneration in respect of each annual leave cycle.

# Parental leave:
A female employee who has completed six months’ continuous service in the employment of an employer is, with a view to her confinement, entitled to not less than 12 weeks’ maternity leave, calculated as follows:

  • before her actual date of confinement – she is entitled to commence maternity leave four weeks before her expected date of confinement, as certified by her medical practitioner;
  • and she is entitled to maternity leave for the entire time from the commencement of her maternity leave as contemplated in paragraph, until her actual date of confinement;
  • after her date of confinement, she is entitled to – eight weeks maternity leave in every case; and in the case of an employee whose date of confinement occurred less than four weeks after the commencement of her maternity leave, the amount of additional time required to bring her total maternity leave to 12 weeks.

The employee must provide the employer with a certificate signed by a medical practitioner confirming:

  • the expected date of confinement before taking maternity leave; and
  • the actual date of confinement on her return from leave.

During any period of maternity leave, the provisions of the contract of employment remain in force, and the employer must, during the period of maternity leave, pay to the employee the remuneration payable to that employee except the basic wage.

# Sick leave:
During any sick leave cycle, an employee is entitled to sick leave as follows:

  • not less than 30 working days, if the employee ordinarily works five days during a week;
  • not less than 36 working days, if the employee ordinarily works six days during the week; and
  • not less than the number of working days calculated on a pro rata basis, if the employee ordinarily works fewer than five days during a week,
  • but an employee is entitled to one day’s sick leave for every 26 days worked during the employee’s first year of employment.

# Overtime:
An employer must not require or permit an employee to work overtime except in accordance with an agreement, but, such an agreement must not require an employee to work more than 10 hours overtime a week, and in any case, not more than three hours’ overtime a day.

An employer must pay an employee for each hour of overtime worked at a rate at least one and one-half times the employee’s hourly basic wage but, when an employee who ordinarily works on a Sunday or public holiday, works overtime on that Sunday or public holiday, the employer must pay that employee at a rate of at least double the employee’s hourly basic wage.

# State minimum salary:
While there is no legal minimum wage in Namibia, the mining, construction, security and agricultural sectors set basic levels of pay through collective bargaining. Namibia’s minimum wage was last changed in January 2014.

# Employee dismissal:
There are following grounds for termination:

  • Automatic termination of contracts of employment;
  • Unfair dismissal;
  • Dismissal arising from collective termination or redundancy.

If a contract of employment may be terminated on notice, the period of notice must be not less than:

  • one day, if the employee has been employed for four weeks or less;
  • one week, if the employee has been employed for more than four weeks but not more than one year;
  • one month, if the employee has been employed for more than one year

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