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  1. Overview: Lebanon
  2. Global HR Compliance
  3. Global PEO and Payroll
  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 Lebanon

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

Companies hire international workforce for various reasons but in most cases they are:

  • entering the foreign markets to sell company products. To do so, the company hires sales representatives who would represent their product and sell it to their local client base.
  • hiring a global talent with unique skills that is unavailable in the local market or costs the company less than the talent with similar skills hired in the home country.

Before entering a certain foreign market or engaging a global talent, it is crucial for the company to understand how it can make local hires and reward its workers on a monthly basis. Growing companies often face a challenge of paying benefits and bonuses to the commission-based independent sales representatives they are working with.

If you intend to hire and pay your foreign workforce in full compliance with labor laws and regulations of Lebanon, then the Global Employer of Record service from Acumen International may be the best way for you to go. We are an International PEO company and we specialize in global employment, meaning we can employ your employees in Lebanon and act as their legal employer on your behalf. We will payroll your foreign workforce monthly and provide benefits to them through our global network so you don’t have to set up your own legal entities there.

We are experts in global workforce employment in , 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 Lebanon.

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

Hiring and Firing Workforce in Lebanon Guide

#1 – Contracts

Contracts of employment in Lebanon, though not mandatory, are usually concluded in writing. By law, written employment contracts must be drawn up in Arabic language with a translated copy made in the employee’s language (in case of foreign workers). Employers with 15 or more employees are obliged to develop a regulatory program, which must be approved by the labor authority for the coordination of their working relationship.

#2 – Minimum statutory employment rights

# Hours of work
The standard working hours in Lebanon are 8 hours a day and 40-48 hours a week. Most of the people have a six-day workweek, with Saturday as a partial workday.

# Probation period
The maximum probation period an employer can give his employee is 3 months.

# Annual leave
There are about 13 public holidays in Lebanon. Apart from these holidays, employees are eligible to get a 15-day paid leave annually after they have worked for one year. Employees have the right to accrue two of their annual leave entitlement, and have the right to choose when they would like to take the leave. Their choices, however, are subject to employers’ approval.

# Parental leave
Women employees are entitled to 10 weeks of paid maternity leave for childbearing. Employee on maternity leave (or any leave at all) cannot be terminated.

# Sick leave
Employees are eligible to take their sick leave entitlement after they have worked up to 3 months in the company.

Sick leave increases with the number of years of service in the company as follows:

  • ½ month leave on a full pay and ½ month leave with half pay for between 3 months and 2 years of service;
  • one-month leave on full pay and one-month leave with half pay for between 2 and 4 years of service;
  • 1½ month leave on full pay and 1½ month leave with half pay for between 4 and 6 years of service;
  • 2 months leave on full pay and 2 months leave with half pay for between 6 and 10 years of service;
  • 2½ leave on full pay and 2½ leave with half pay for more than 10 years of service;

Employees have the right to request for an extension of their sick leave. In that case, the employer has the right to request for a medical check from the sick employee before he can extend his sick leave. An employer is entitled to reduce an employee’s annual leave after an extension of his original sick leave.

# Overtime
Employees are entitled to a 50 percent increase in their normal pay for each one-hour overtime they work.

# State minimum salary
The least amount an employer can pay an employee is 30,000 pounds a day or 675,000 pounds ($450) a month.

# Employment termination
An employer and employee can mutually decide to terminate an employment contract without any legally binding obligations on both parties. An employee or employer is entitled to compensation if an employment contract is terminated unilaterally without a good cause or a sufficient notice. According to Lebanon Labor Code, the minimum period of notice that must be given before terminating a contract is dependent on the employee’s years of service as follows:

  • one-month period for less than 3 years of service;
  • two-month period for 3 to 6 years of service;
  • three-month period for 6 to 12 years of service;
  • four-month period for more than 12 years of service.

The party receiving a notice of termination has the right to know the reason for the termination and can request for it if not provided in the notice. An employee (employer) can file a claim if he is not satisfied with the reason for the termination of a contract.

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

There’s no doubt that working with freelancers, especially foreign ones is a good way to reinforce your in-house team with unique external expertise. This is probably one of the reasons why many IT companies are gradually shifting from using IT freelancers on a short-time basis to a full-time. One of the biggest challenges of this – using IT freelancers, especially on a full-time basis – is the risk of having them misclassified.

Considering the grievous legal liabilities of employee misclassification which may range from back tax withholdings, due social security contributions, overtime hours, interest and penalties in US to provision of paid vacation days, thirteenth month pay, severance payment, notice pay and fines in non-US countries, we have developed a straightforward guideline on how to prevent your foreign workforce misclassification to avoid these and many more liabilities.

In addition to the guideline, you will have the benefit of getting an ‘Employee or Independent IT Contractor Checklist’ which will help you understand the best mode of attracting and retaining the global IT talent that suits your business, while protecting your company against misclassification risks and the penalties that are related to working with them. By using the checklist, you will be able to discover the decisive factors in choosing your workforce – freelancer or employee by comparing and contrasting the benefits (subject to project specifics) of using either of them. This will help you determine the best time to use IT freelancers or employees and help you make the right decision when choosing the workforce for your project.

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