G-P’s Employer of Record (EOR) model allows your company to start hiring talent in minutes via our global entity infrastructure. Unlike a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), G-P allows your company to expand your global footprint without the hassle of entity setup and management.
Our global employment products, including G-P Meridian Prime™ and G-P Meridian Core™, are backed by the largest team of HR and legal experts in the industry. We handle the growing complexities of compliant global expansion — so you can focus on opportunities ahead.
As a global EOR expert, we manage payroll, employment contract best practices, statutory and market norm benefits, employee expenses, as well as severance and termination. You’ll have peace of mind knowing you have a team of dedicated employment experts assisting with every hire. G-P allows you to harness the talent of the brightest people in 180+ countries around the world, quickly and easily.
Hiring in Bahrain
When negotiating terms of an employment contract and offer letter with an employee in Bahrain, it may be useful to keep the following in mind.
Employment contracts in Bahrain
It’s legally required to put a strong, written employment contract in place in Bahrain, in the local language, which spells out the terms of the employee’s compensation, benefits, and termination requirements. Employers should create 2 copies of the contract so both parties have one. An offer letter and employment contract in Bahrain should always state the salary and any compensation amounts in Bahraini dinar rather than another currency.
Working hours in Bahrain
In Bahrain, the workweek is generally 40 to 48 hours, 8 hours per day, with daily hours restricted to 6 hours per day for Muslim workers during Ramadan. Friday and Saturday are the weekend days; the workweek runs Sunday through Thursday. Overtime should be paid at an additional 25%.
Holidays in Bahrain
8 holidays are celebrated in Bahrain:
- New Years Day
- Labour Day
- Eid Al Fitr
- Eid Al-Adha
- Hijri New Year
- Ashoora
- Prophet’s Birthday
- National Day
Vacation days in Bahrain
Employees are generally entitled to 30 days of annual paid leave after 1 year of service. During the first year of employment, the employee is entitled to take accrued vacation, which accrues at a rate of 2 1/2 days per month. Employees in Bahrain must take 6 days of the leave consecutively.
Employees are also entitled to a 3-day period of paid leave for marriage if they present a copy of the marriage certificate.
Additionally, Muslim employees are eligible for 14 days of paid leave for a pilgrimage to Mecca, providing they have worked for their employer for at least 5 years.
Bahrain sick leave
Generally, employees are entitled to 55 days of sick leave per year:
- 15 days at full pay
- 20 days at half pay
- 20 days without pay
Maternity and paternity leave in Bahrain
Pregnant employees are generally entitled to 75 days of maternity leave:
- 60 days of paid leave
- 15 days of unpaid leave
Birthing parents in Bahrain are not allowed to work for 40 days after the birth of a child.
Health insurance in Bahrain
Bahrain has a public/private healthcare system. Citizens of Bahrain receive free or heavily subsidized medical care. Nationals from other countries have access to the same facilities and doctors but must pay for care and thus are strongly advised to purchase health insurance. It’ not common for companies to provide supplemental health insurance benefits, but it can in some cases be negotiated.
Bahrain supplementary benefits
Housing, transportation, and utility allowances are common in Bahrain. We generally recommend negotiating the total compensation with an employee in Bahrain before signing the employment contract.
Termination/severance in Bahrain
Employees in Bahrain with indefinite contracts who are terminated after 3 months are generally entitled to receive 2 days of wages for each month served, with a minimum of 1 month pay and a maximum of 12 months of pay, regardless of whether the termination was for cause.
Employees with fixed-term contracts are generally entitled to receive the pay they would have received for the rest of the contracted period. A different arrangement may be made if both parties agree and that agreement is at least 3 months’ pay or the remaining term, whichever is less.
Employees in Bahrain who are not covered by the Law on Social Insurance (GOSI) are generally entitled to an indemnity at the end of their employment contract, also known as an End of Service Gratuity. Such indemnity should be calculated at a half a month for each year of the first 3 years of work and a month for each of the following years.
Paying taxes in Bahrain
There are no personal income taxes in Bahrain. Employees pay a social tax of 1% of wages for unemployment insurance. Local employees must also contribute 7% of their salary for social security; employers pay 12%. For expats, employees pay 1% while employers pay 3%.
Why G-P?
At G-P, we help companies unlock the power of the everywhere workforce through our industry-leading Global Growth Platform™. Let us handle the complex and costly tasks involved in finding, hiring, onboarding, and paying your team members, anywhere in the world, with the speed and guaranteed global compliance your business needs.
Contact us today to learn more.