Discover the global hiring and employment landscape in Tunisia—a North African country with a strategic location and a diverse economy. Tunisia offers a favorable business environment with significant opportunities in sectors like manufacturing, ICT, and renewable energy.
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 Tunisia market with Slasify's global premium HR platform.
| Capital | Tunis |
| Currency | Tunisian Dinar (TND) |
| Payroll Cycle | Weekly or Monthly |
| Minimum Wage | TND 459.264 per month |
| Annual Leave | 12–18 working days |
| Personal Income Tax | Up to 35% |
Certain foreign employees are required to pay their personal income tax at a flat rate of 20% on their gross income. These include those who work in Tunisia for no more than 6 months in a fiscal year or those who work in totally exporting companies, companies based in Free Trade Zones, financial institutions engaging mainly with non-Tunisian residents or certain oil and gas companies.
All other employees shall pay their personal income taxes in accordance with the following progressive rate:
| Taxable Income (TND) | Progressive Tax Rate (%) | Progressive Tax Rate including Solidarity Contribution (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 5,000 | - | 0.5** |
| 5,001–20,000 | 26 | 26.5 |
| 20,001–30,000 | 28 | 28.5 |
| 30,001–50,000 | 32 | 32.5 |
| Over 50,000 | 35 | 35.5 |
**The 0.5% solidarity contribution shall not apply to those whose annual net income does not exceed TND 5,000.
There are no local taxes on employment income in Tunisia.
| Contribution rate | |
|---|---|
| CNSS | 16.57% |
| Vocational training tax | 2% |
| Housing fund | 1% |
Employers are required to contribute an additional 0.4%–4% to cover work accidents and occupational diseases.
| Contribution rate | |
|---|---|
| CNSS | 9.18% |
The wages of hourly or daily employees shall be paid at least once a week, while those of monthly employees shall be paid once a month.
Minimum wage in Tunisia for non-agricultural employees working 48-hour weeks is set at TND 459.264 per month or TND 2.208 per hour. Other categories of employees have their minimum wages set as follows:
| Employee category | Minimum wage |
|---|---|
| Agricultural employees | TND 17.664 per day |
| Non-agricultural employees working 40-hour weeks | TND 2.254 per hour or TND 390.692 per month |
There are no statutory bonus in Tunisia.
An employment contract can be terminated by mutual agreement or by the unilateral will of either party following a serious fault committed by the other party.
Employers intending to dismiss their employees must indicate the reasons for the dismissal in their termination notice letter. Dismissal that occurs without the existence of a real and serious cause justifying it or without compliance with legal, regulatory or conventional procedures is considered unfair.
In the event of a termination of an employment contract, the terminating party is obligated to observe a month's notice period.
Employees are allowed to be absent for the entire second half of the notice period to look for other employment, the duration of which shall be considered effective work and does not result in any reduction in wages or compensation.
The dismissal of an indefinite-term employee after the expiry of their trial period, except in cases of serious misconduct, entitles the employee to a severance equivalent to a day's salary per month of service.
Severance pay is subject to a maximum of 3 months' salary regardless of the employee's length of service unless more favorable provisions are provided by law or by collective or individual agreements.
In any employment contract, the length of the probationary period are determined by the relevant collective or specific agreements, custom or the law, subject to the following maximums:
| Employee | Probationary period |
|---|---|
| Operatives | 6 months |
| Supervisors | 9 months |
| Executives | 1 year |
Employees whose contract are terminated before the completion of their probationary period shall not be entitled to any severance pay, nor will any notice period be observable.
Standard working hours in Tunisia are subject to a maximum of 48 hours per week or an equivalent average over a period of no more than a year.
| Extended working hours to cover lost hours | Extended working hours in an emergency |
|---|---|
| Working hours may be increased, for certain companies or certain categories of staff, to a maximum of 64 hours per week to take into account the loss of time resulting from either the interruption of work or the nature of the work, by order of the Minister responsible for Social Affairs | The territorially competent labor inspectorate may authorize the extension of working hours in certain exceptional circumstances for the execution of urgent work in the event of accidents, necessary repairs or rescue |
| The territorially competent labor inspectorate may authorize the extension of working hours in the event of an extraordinary increase in work without the daily duration exceeding 10 hours |
In the event that the working hours are extended in an emergency, the employee must be compensated during the year by equivalent hours of rest, which is carried out by reducing working hours by at least an hour, and must be done by the first quarter of the following year before the use of any new authorization.
The employer's reporting obligations to the labor inspectorate to secure these extensions can be found in Article 87 of the Labor Code.
The working day must be broken up by one or more rest periods, the total duration of which shall not be less than an hour, where work is prohibited. Break periods must be set so that employees cannot be required to work for more than 6 consecutive hours without an interruption of at least 30 minutes.
If the duration of actual work during the same day does not exceed 7 hours, the work can be done without interruption.
In addition to their regular breaks, breastfeeding employees shall be entitled to 2 rest periods of 30 minutes each during working hours to breastfeed for a year from the date of childbirth. These periods are considered working hours and give rise to the right to remuneration.
Breastfeeding breaks shall be scheduled during morning work and during the afternoon, and can be taken by the employee at times mutually agreed upon. In the absence of ay such agreement, these breaks are placed in the middle of each period
Hours of work beyond an employee's normal weekly hours shall be considered overtime, and they shall be paid as follows:
| Employee's normal working hours | Overtime pay |
|---|---|
| Full-time work regime of 48 hours per week | 175% of the employee's normal pay |
| Full-time work regimes of less than 48 hours per week | 125% of the employee's normal pay for work up to 48 hours per week, and 150% thereafter |
| Part-time work arrangements | 150% of the employee's normal pay |
The execution of overtime or the recovery of lost hours shall not have the effect of increasing the weekly working time to more than 60 hours, except in the case of urgent work which is necessary to prevent imminent accidents or organize rescue measures.
| Working overtime due to increasing production | Recovering lost hours due to collective action |
|---|---|
| With a view to increase production, the labor inspectorate may, after consulting the workers' union organizations concerned, authorize the heads of establishments to work overtime in addition to those already provided for by the regulations on working hours | Hours lost as a result of a collective interruption of work in an establishment or in part of an establishment can be recovered within 6 months following the interruption of work. The hours thus recovered are paid at the normal rate. |
The labor inspectorate shall be informed in advance by the head of the establishment of collective work interruptions and the recovery arrangements. However, if work is interrupted by an unforeseen event, notice shall be given immediately.
Note: Hours lost as a result of strike or lockout cannot be recovered unless agreed by the parties.
Employees shall be entitled to a daily rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours and a weekly rest period of 24 consecutive hours.
An employee's weekly rest day can fall on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday, or any other day by agreement the concerned parties or by authorization of the governor of the region when the necessity of the work requires it.
Weekly rest days may be suspended for the employee to carry out the urgent work whose immediate execution is necessary to organize rescue measures, prevent imminent accidents or repair accidents occurring to the equipment, installations or buildings of the establishment.
Employees required to work on their weekly rest days must benefit from compensatory rest of a duration equal to the period worked.
Employees are entitled to take time off during public holidays without pay reduction. There are 15 days of public holidays in Tunisia for 2024.
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | January 1 |
| Independence Day | March 20 |
| Martyrs' Day | April 9 |
| Eid al-Fitr | April 10–12 |
| Labor Day | May 1 |
| Eid al-Adha | June 16–17 |
| Islamic New Year | July 7 |
| Republic Day | July 25 |
| Women's Day | August 13 |
| Prophet Muhammad's Birthday | September 15 |
| Evacuation Day | October 15 |
| Revolution and Youth Day | December 17 |
In activities where work cannot be interrupted, employees required to work during paid, non-working public holidays are entitled to 200% of their normal rate.
Employees who, during the reference year, have worked for at least a month shall be entitled to a day of paid annual leave per month worked, without the total duration of leave required to exceed a period of 15 days, including 12 working days.
The duration of annual leave shall be increased by a working day for every 5 years of service with the same employer, without this increase being able to bring the duration considered to more than 18 working days.
In any case, regardless of seniority, younger employees may be entitled to longer annual leave periods depending on their age on December 31 of the year, as follows:
| Age | Annual leave | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 2 days of paid annual leave per month worked | 30 days, including 24 working days |
| 18–24 | 1.5 days of paid annual leave per month worked | 22 days, including 18 working days |
The start date of the period taken into consideration for the assessment of the right to annual leave is set on January 1 for each year.
The employer sets the order of departures on leave possibly after consultation with the company consultative commission or staff delegates, taking into account the requirements of the company and the employee's position regarding their family situation and seniority.
| Annual leave not exceeding 6 working days | Must be continuous |
|---|---|
| Leave lasting more than 6 working days | May be split by the employer with the employee's approval, provided that a split is at least 6 working days and falls between 2 weekly rest days. |
There are no specific provision regarding the duration of sick leave an employee may be entitled to, though they are generally able to receive payment during such a leave from the CNSS.
Female employees shall be entitled to 30 days of maternity leave upon child delivery, provided that a medical certificate is produced. This can be extended each time for a period of 15 days upon proof of medical certificates.
Maternity leave allowance shall be covered by the CNSS.
Employees shall be entitled to a day of paid paternity leave for each childbirth, to be taken either on the day of birth or within the 7 days thereafter,
Paternity leave allowance shall be paid by the employer on the pay day immediately following the expiration of the leave, which shall then be reimbursed by the CNSS upon production of supporting documents.
The employee who had to leave their job because they were called to serve in the military in any capacity have the right to resume their job or a job in the same professional category with the same employer.
Slasify is a one-stop platform offering Global Payroll, Employer of Record (EOR), and HR Outsourcing functions for the remote working generation. Our proven track record with Forbes Top 100 Companies and dedication to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) make us your ultimate payroll partner. Join us on a global HR journey, where we cater to your needs across 150+ countries and unlock HR solutions tailored to you—Book a free consultation now!