Discover the global hiring and employment landscape in the Bahamas—a tropical paradise with a thriving economy and a favorable business environment. The Bahamas is known for its strategic location, attractive tax incentives, and well-developed financial services sector, making it an appealing destination for international businesses.
Explore the employment essentials including payroll, personal income tax, statutory contributions, annual leaves, minimum wage, terminations, visa requirements, and more. Gain valuable compliance insights for a smooth entry into the dynamic Bahamas market with Slasify's global premium HR platform.
| Capital | Nassau |
| Currency | Bahamian Dollar (BSD) |
| Payroll Cycle | Monthly |
| Minimum Wage | BSD 260 per week |
| Annual Leave | 2 weeks |
| Personal Income Tax | N.A. |
There are no taxes on employment income in The Bahamas.
There are no local taxes on employment income in The Bahamas.
Contributions to the National Insurance Board are required for each contribution week, of which payments are based on the wages earned during the week, up to an insurable ceiling of BSD 810 (or BSD 3,510 per month).
| Contribution rate | |
|---|---|
| National Insurance Board | 6.65% |
| Contribution rate | |
|---|---|
| National Insurance Board | 4.65% |
Employees shall be paid their wages at regular intervals of not more than a month.
The minimum wage in The Bahamas is set at BSD 6.50 per hour, BSD 52 per day and BSD 260 per week.
There are no requirements to grant any statutory bonus to employees in The Bahamas.
The termination of an employment contract must generally be done with the observance of the appropriate notice and severance requirements unless there exist a fundamental breach of contract.
Where an employee is dismissed due to misconduct, the employer shall prove, for the purposes of any proceedings before the Tribunal, that they have conducted a reasonable investigation of such misconduct, except where such an investigation was otherwise unwarranted.
The termination of an employment contract with notice shall be done with the observance of the following notice periods:
| Length of service | Notice period |
|---|---|
| Dismissal with notice | |
| At least 6 months, but less than 12 months | 1 week |
| 12 months or more | 2 weeks |
| Resignation with notice | |
| At least a year, but less than 2 years | 2 weeks |
| 2 years or more | 4 weeks |
Employees holding supervisory or managerial roles shall be entitled to a month's notice in the event that they are dismissed with notice.
Employees who are dismissed with notice shall be entitled to the following severance pay:
| Length of service | Severance pay |
|---|---|
| At least 6 months, but less than 12 months | 1 week's basic pay (or a part thereof on a pro rata basis) for the period between 6 and 12 months |
| 12 months or more | 2 weeks' basic pay (or a part thereof on a pro rata basis) for each year up to 24 weeks |
The severance pay for employees holding supervisory or managerial roles shall be equivalent to a month's basic pay (or a part thereof on a pro rata basis) for each year up to 48 weeks.
There are no explicit regulations on probationary periods in the Employment Act, though they may be regulated by the relevant collective agreement.
However, since employees generally have to be employed for at least 6 months before the provisions on notice period and severance pay become effective, their first 6 months of employment can be taken as their probationary period.
Standard working hours in The Bahamas are subject to a maximum of 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.
If the nature of the work so requires, the employee's standard working hours in a day or week may be calculated as an average over a period of up to 4 weeks.
An employee's standard working hours shall be inclusive of a meal interval of not less than an hour or any such period as may be agreed upon by the employer and employee
In cases where the employee is required or permitted to work in excess of their standard working hours, they shall be paid in respect of such work as follows:
| Overtime pay | |
|---|---|
| Overtime work performed on any public holiday or fixed day off | 200% of the employee's regular rate of wages |
| Overtime work performed in any other cases | 150% of the employee's regular rate of wages |
Employees are entitled to a daily rest period of at least 12 consecutive hours and a weekly rest period of at least 48 hours.
The employee's weekly rest shall be divided into 2 days and, unless otherwise agreed, need not be consecutive. In any case, one of the weekly rest days must be a fixed day off.
An employer may not require an employee to work on a public holiday except in accordance with an agreement. There are 11 days of public holidays in The Bahamas for 2024.
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | January 1 |
| Majority Rule Day | January 10 |
| Good Friday | March 29 |
| Easter Monday | April 1 |
| Whit Monday | May 20 |
| Sir Randol Fawkes Day | June 7 |
| Independence Day | July 10 |
| Emancipation Day | August 5 |
| National Heroes Day | October 14 |
| Christmas Day | December 25 |
| Boxing Day | December 26 |
If a public holiday falls on a day on which the employee would ordinarily work, the employer shall pay the following:
| Public holiday pay | |
|---|---|
| Employee who does not work on the public holiday | At least the wage that the employee would ordinarily have received for work on that day |
| Employee who works on the public holiday | At least double the wage that the employee would ordinarily have received for work on that day |
Employees who have completed a full year of service shall be entitled to at least 2 weeks of paid annual leave. Employers must give their employees their respective annual leave pay at least a day before the beginning of their leave.
| Length of service | Annual leave pay |
|---|---|
| At least 6 months, but less than a year | 1 week's basic pay |
| At least a year, but less than 7 years | 2 weeks' basic pay |
| 7 years or more | 3 weeks' basic pay |
Employees who have their employment relationship terminated shall be paid for any unused leave in respect of any completed year of employment, and on a pro rata basis of the basic pay earned during the incomplete year. That being said, the employer is not required to pay the prorated amount for an incomplete year if the employee has not been continuously employed for a period of at least 90 days.
Note: Annual leave shall be extended by a day for each public holiday that occurs during the leave period.
Employees with at least 6 months of service shall be entitled to a week of paid sick leave per year.
Employees shall be required to produce a medical certificate to prove their illness, except in respect of the first day's sick leave for any period of sick leave, provided that they must still be paid for said first day of sick leave if they do provide a medical certificate to the employer.
No employee shall be entitled to receive payment in respect of periods of sick leave which is only a day long nor to accumulate such leave from year to year.
Female employees with at least 12 months of service shall be entitled to a minimum of 12 weeks of maternity leave, with a period of not less than a week being taken before the expected date of confinement and a period not less 8 weeks being taken after.
| Maternity leave in the event of early births | Maternity leave in the event of late births |
|---|---|
| Where a confinement takes place without an employee having been granted maternity leave or the period of maternity leave before their confinement amounts to less than 4 weeks, the period of leave after confinement shall, if the employee so desires, be extended so that the total period of leave does not amount to less than 12 weeks. | Where an employee has been granted maternity leave and the date of confinement is a later date than expected, their maternity leave shall be extended to include the period that elapsed between those dates. |
Employees are entitled to receive from their employers maternity leave pay equivalent to at least 33.33% of their wages that does not exceed the National Insurance ceiling on insurable wage. This is only payable once in every 3 years.
In addition to the above, an employee who, after confinement, suffers any illness arising out of their confinement shall be granted an additional unpaid leave not exceeding 6 weeks as a medical practitioner recommends.
Employees with at least 6 months of service shall be entitled to family leave without pay for a period not exceeding a week per year following the birth of a child.
| Leave | Paid/Unpaid | Duration | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Leave | Unpaid | 1 week per year | Employees with at least 6 months of service shall be entitled to family leave without pay for a period not exceeding a week per year following the birth of a child, or the death or illness of a child, spouse or parent. |
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