There are no taxes on employment income in Brunei.
Employers are obligated to contribute to the Employees Trust Fund at the following rates, provided that no contributions shall be made for foreign employees:
| Employee's Salary (BND) | Contribution rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 500 | BND 57.50 |
| 500.01–1,500 | 10.5%, with a minimum amount of BND 57.50 |
| 1,500–2,800 | 9.5% |
| Over 2,800 | 8.5% |
| Contribution rate | Note | |
|---|---|---|
| Employees Trust Fund | 8.5% | Foreign employees are exempt from paying this contribution. |
No salary period fixed by the employer shall exceed a month. In the absence of a salary period so fixed, the salary period shall be deemed to be a month.
The time of payment for the salary earned by the employee shall be paid as follows:
| Salary component | Time of payment |
|---|---|
| Salary other than additional payments for overtime work | Before the expiry of the 7th day after the last day of the salary period |
| Additional payments for overtime work | Not later than 14 days after the last day of the salary period |
Minimum Wage
As per the Employment (Minimum Wage) Order, 2025, the minimum wage in Brunei is set at BND 500 per month or BND 2.62 per hour.
Employers are not required to provide any bonus to their employees, though it s customary to pay employees a 13th month salary.
In any case, a contract of service or collective agreement made shall not contain a provision for the payment of an annual salary supplement exceeding the equivalent of 1.5 months' basic salary of the employees.
Either party to an employment contract may at any time give to the other party a written notice of their intention to terminate the contract.
An employer may, after due inquiry, dismiss an employee without notice on the grounds of misconduct inconsistent with the fulfilment of the conditions of their service.
Either party who terminates the employment contract shall observe the following notice period:
| Length of service | Notice period |
|---|---|
| Less than 26 weeks | 1 day |
| At least 26 weeks, but less than 2 years | 1 week |
| At least 2 years, but less than 5 years | 2 weeks |
| At least 5 years | 4 weeks |
The terminating party may proceed without notice or, if notice has already been partially given, without waiting for its expiry, by paying to the other party a sum equal to the amount of salary at the gross rate of pay which would have accrued to the employee during the notice period.
Regardless of the above, either party may terminate the employment contract without notice in the event of any willful breach by the other party of a condition of the contract, provided that the breaching party becomes liable to pay the other in lieu of the notice period not served.
| Employee's breach of contract | Employer's breach of contract |
|---|---|
| An employee shall be deemed to be in breach of their contract with the employer if they have been continuously absent for more than 2 days without prior leave or without reasonable excuse, or without informing or attempting to inform their employers of such excuse. | An employer shall be deemed to be in breach of their contract with the employee if they fail to pay salary in accordance with the Employment Order. |
There are no statutory requirements for the employer to pay any severance under the Employment Order, though employees with at least 5 years of service may be entitled to receive a retrenchment benefit in the event that they are dismissed on the grounds of redundancy.
The Employer Order does not have explicit regulations surrounding probationary periods for private sector employees in Brunei.
The standard working hours in Brunei are subject to a maximum of 8 hours per day or 44 hours per week.
| Derogation to the daily working hours limit | Derogation to the weekly working hours limit |
|---|---|
| If the number of hours of work on one or more days of the week is less than 8, the daily working limit of 8 hours may be exceeded, provided that no employee shall be required to work for more than 9 hours per day or 44 hours per week | Where under a contract of service, the number of hours of work in every alternate week is less than 44, the limit of 44 hours per week may be exceeded in the other week, provided that no employee shall be required to work for more than 48 hours per week or for more than 88 hours in any 2 consecutive weeks. |
| The above shall apply for the case whereby the number of days on which the employee is required to work in a week is not more than 5 days |
Employees shall not be required to work more than 6 consecutive hours without break. However, those who are engaged in work which must be carried on continuously may be required to work for 8 consecutive hours, inclusive of a period or periods of not less than 45 minutes in aggregate, during which they shall have the opportunity to have a meal.
Employees shall not be permitted to work overtime for more than 72 hours per month and, unless the employer have proper justification, they cannot permit their employees to work for more than 12 hours per day.
Employees required to work in excess of the legal maximum hours shall be paid for such extra work at 150% of their hourly basic rate of pay.
Employees shall be entitled to a rest day per week, which falls on Sundays or on other days as the employer may determine.
Where an employee's rest days are determined by the employer, the employer shall, before the commencement of the month in which the rest days fall, prepare a roster of the days appointed to be rest days therein.
No employee shall be compelled to work on a rest day unless they are engaged in work which by reason of its nature requires to be carried on continuously by a succession of shifts. Those who do work on rest days shall be paid as follows:
| Duration of work | Work at the employee's request | Work at the employer's request |
|---|---|---|
| Less than half of the employee's normal hours | Basic rate of pay for half a day's work | Basic rate of pay for a full day's work |
| More than half, but less than the employee's normal hours | Basic rate of pay for a full day's work | Basic rate of pay for 2 days' work |
Employees who work more than their normal hours must be paid at 150% of their hourly basic rate of pay for each hour or part thereof that exceeds their normal hours.
Employees shall be entitled to a paid holiday at their gross rate of pay on every public holiday that falls during the time that they are employed. There are 15 days of public holidays in Brunei for 2025.
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | January 1 |
| Israk and Mikraj | January 27 |
| Chinese New Year | January 29 |
| National Day Holiday | February 24 |
| Ramadan | March 3 |
| Nuzul Al-Quran | March 18 |
| Eid al-Fitr | March 31–April 2 |
| Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Day Holiday | May 31 |
| Eid al-Adha | June 7 |
| Islamic New Year Holidays | June 28 |
| His Majesty the Sultan's Birthday | July 15 |
| Prophet Muhammad's Birthday | September 6 |
| Christmas Day | December 25 |
By agreement between the employer and the employee, any other day or days may be substituted for any one or more public holidays. Furthermore, the following shall apply:
| If any public holiday falls on a rest day | If any public holiday falls on a non-working day |
|---|---|
| The working day next following that rest day shall be a paid holiday | The employer may either pay the employee for that holiday or give them a day off in substitution for that holiday. |
In any case, an employee who absents themselves from work on the working day immediately preceding or succeeding a public holiday without the employer's approval or without reasonable excuse shall not be entitled to any holiday pay for that public holiday.
An employee may also be required to work on public holidays, provided that they are paid an extra day's salary at the basic rate of pay for a day's work, in addition to the gross rate of pay for that day and to a travelling allowance, if payable under their contract, for a day. No employee shall be entitled to receive double any housing allowance or food allowance unless otherwise agreed to.
Note: If any public holiday falls on a half working day, the gross or basic rate of pay payable shall be that of a full working day.
Employees who have served their employers for at least 3 months shall be entitled to 7 days of paid annual leave for their first year of service, and an additional day of paid annual leave for every subsequent year thereafter, up to a maximum of 14 days.
The employer shall grant, and the employee shall take, such annual leave not later than 12 months after the end of every year of continuous service and any employee who fails to take that leave by the end of such period shall thereupon cease to be entitled thereto.
Those who are absent from work without the employer's permission or a reasonable excuse for more than 20% of the number of working days in the months or year in which their leave entitlement accrues shall forfeit their entitlement to annual leave.
Note: An employee who has served the employer for a period of at least 3 months but who has not completed 12 months of continuous service in any year shall have their annual leave entitlements be prorated according to the number of months worked.
Employees who have served their employers for at least 6 months shall, after undergoing a medical examination at the employer's expense, be entitled to paid sick leave not exceeding the following in aggregate:
| No hospitalization is necessary | Hospitalization is necessary |
|---|---|
| 14 days per year | 60 days per year |
Notwithstanding the above, if an employee is hospitalized for less than 46 days in any one year, their entitlement to paid sick leave for that year shall not exceed the aggregate of 14 days, plus the number of days on which they were hospitalized.
Employees shall be entitled to 4 weeks of pre-natal leave and 5 weeks of post-natal leave. Alternatively, the maternity leave can be arranged so that the employee commence their leave not earlier than 28 days immediately preceding the day of their confinement, and not later than the day of their confinement.
Employees entitled to maternity leave pay shall be paid by their employees at their gross rate of pay for the first 4 weeks of their pre-natal leave and the first 4 weeks of their post-natal leave. In other words, these employees shall be paid for the first 8 weeks of their maternity leave.
Note: Maternity leave pay is only afforded to employees who have served the employer for at least 180 days immediately preceding the day of their confinement.
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