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  1. Overview: Senegal
  2. Global PEO and payroll
  3. Global HR Compliance
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  5. Expand without a company set up
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Global HR Compliance in Senegal

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

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

Hiring and Firing Workforce in Senegal Guide

# Employment contracts
The fixed-term employment contract is a contract whose duration is specified in advance according to the will of the parties. A contract of employment for the performance of a particular work or the carrying out of a business the duration of which cannot be accurately assessed beforehand, is considered as a fixed-term contract. A contract whose term is subordinated to a future event and certain whose date is not exactly known, is also considered to be a fixed-term contract.

No employee may conclude more than two fixed-term contracts with the same firm or renew a fixed-term contract more than once. The continuation of services outside the cases provided for in the preceding paragraph constitutes automatically the performance of an employment contract of indefinite duration.

Any employment contract that does not meet the definitions of the fixed-term contract, the apprenticeship contract or the trial commitment contract must be considered as a contract of indefinite duration.

The contract of indefinite duration may always cease by the will of one of the parties’ subject to the rules on notice, and, with regard to the forms of dismissal, specific provisions concerning the staff representatives and the dismissal for economic reasons.

# Minimum (Statutory) Employment Rules and Regulations in Senegal

# Hours of work:
The legal working hours may not exceed 40 hours per week. However, on farms, working hours are set at 2352 hours per year. Within this limit, an order of the Minister in charge of the work will fix the weekly legal duration according to the seasons.

# Probation period:
The probationary period shall not exceed three months with the exception of the training period and the contract of service is considered an indefinite contract if the period is not specified and the probationary period has elapsed, without the contract being terminated by either party.

# Annual leave:
The annual leave is a right for the worker after the completion of one year of continuous service with the employer, provided that it shall be with full pay and its time shall be tabled during the year according to the needs of work and shall include the official holidays and vacations.

The annual leave shall be calculated as follows:

  • If the worker completed from one year up to three years of continuous service, he shall be entitled to an annual leave equal to twenty days;
  • If the worker completed eight years and less than fifteen years of continuous service he shall be entitled to an annual leave of twenty-five days;
  • If the worker completed fifteen years or more of continuous service he shall be entitled to an annual leave equal to thirty days.

# Parental leave:
Decrees set out the nature of work prohibited for women and pregnant women. On the occasion of her confinement, and without this interruption of service being considered as a cause of breach of contract, any woman has the right to suspend her work for fourteen consecutive weeks, including eight weeks after delivery. This suspension may be extended by three weeks in case of duly ascertained illness resulting from pregnancy or childbirth. To this possibility for the pregnant woman to suspend her contract of employment within the limit of fourteen weeks corresponds, for the employer, the obligation not to employ the person concerned.

During this period the pregnant woman is entitled to a special scheme of assistance to ensure both her subsistence and the care required by her condition, under the conditions provided for by the social security legislation. Any contrary convention is null by right. Any pregnant woman whose condition has been medically diagnosed or whose pregnancy is apparent may terminate the contract of employment without notice and thus have to pay a termination indemnity. During the period of suspension of work, the employer can not dismiss the pregnant woman.

For a period of fifteen months from the birth of the child, the mother is entitled to rest for breastfeeding. The total duration of these breaks may not exceed one hour per working day. The mother may, during this period, leave her work without notice and thus have to pay a termination indemnity.

# Sick leave:
If the worker completed a period of not less than three months of continuous service and he is unable to come to the place of work because of a certified illness the reason of which is not due to his misconduct or negligence, he shall be entitled to a wage for all the days of his absence due to such illness and the wage shall be calculated on every subsequent twelve months he spends in the continuous service as follows:

  • Three months with full pay;
  • Three months with half pay;
  • Three months with quarter pay.

The worker shall not be on a sick leave with reduced pay unless he has exhausted his normal leave. If the illness continue for a period of more than stated above, the worker shall be on a sick leave without pay until he is sent during a reasonable period to the medical commission to decide promptly his fitness for work.

# State minimum salary:
Senegal’s minimum wage rate is 209.10 CFA francs per hour, for general workers and 182.95CFA francs per hour for agricultural workers. Senegal’s minimum wage was last changed in January 1996.

# Employee dismissal:
The grounds for termination, other than at the initiative of the employer, are common to all contracts:

  • termination by mutual consent of the parties;
  • force majeure (an external and unexpected event whose consequence is to render the performance of duties impossible); and
  • death of the worker.

The worker may terminate the employment relation, without having to give any reasons as justification, by serving 15 days’ prior notice in writing on the employer, except in the case of technicians who must give two months’ prior notice. A worker who fails to give such notice is obliged to pay the employer an amount equal to one week’s wages, which may be deducted from the long-service bonus if the worker is entitled to one. The worker may also end the employment relationship for just cause, and in this case may be entitled to compensation for unjustified dismissal.

The expiry of the term designates the end of a contract of specified duration. A contract of this nature can be terminated before its normal term only for gross misconduct, by mutual written agreement by the parties or in case of force majeure. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, a probationary contract can be terminated at any time by either party. The principle governing dismissal in the case of contracts of unspecified duration is unilateral termination, provided that the rules on the notice period are respected.

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