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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 Kuwait
When negotiating terms of an employment contract and offer letter with an employee in Kuwait, it may be useful to keep the following in mind.
Employment contracts in Kuwait
Fixed-term contracts are allowed with a maximum length of 60 months, but there is no limit on the number of consecutive contracts an employer can issue.
A copy of all employment contracts must be lodged with the competent Ministry. Generally, only the fixed portion of a compensation package is included in the contract lodged with the Ministry. A separate contract may be needed to document variable compensation. An offer letter and employment contract in Kuwait should always state the salary and any compensation amounts in Kuwaiti dinar rather than another currency.
Working hours in Kuwait
In Kuwait, the work week is generally 40 to 48 hours, although in Ramadan the workday is reduced to 6 hours. Some companies only reduce the hours for Muslim employees, but legally it applies to all workers.
Fridays are a rest day. International companies generally have Saturdays off as well, but local companies are more likely to have Thursdays off.
Holidays in Kuwait
There are 9 official holidays in Kuwait.
- New Year’s Day
- National Day
- Liberation Day
- Isra and Miraj
- Eid Al Fitr
- Edi Al Adha
- Waqfat Arafat Day
- Islamic New Year
- The Prophet’s Birthday
Vacation days in Kuwait
Employees are entitled to a 30-day paid annual leave after having served an initial 9 months for the employer. Once accrued, annual leave should be taken within 1 year.
- Annual leave is to be paid in advance of the employee commencing their leave period.
- Annual leave does not include official holidays and sick leave.
- Employees are entitled to cash out their untaken accrued annual leave at the time of contract termination.
If employees have not previously performed Al-Hajj, they are entitled to 21 days of leave after 2 continuous years of service for the same employer.
Kuwait sick leave
Employees are entitled to the following sick leave provided that a doctor’s medical report is presented:
- 100% of salary for the first 15 days
- 75% of salary for the next 10 days
- 50% of salary for the next 10 days
- 25% of salary for the next 10 days
- No salary for the following 30 days
Maternity/paternity leave in Kuwait
Pregnant employees are entitled to 30 days of maternity leave before the expected due date and 40 days after the birth of the child.
Mothers are also entitled to take 100 days of leave, consecutive or not, after the maternity leave, but they are not eligible for pay and must present a medical certificate as proof that they are unable to work.
There is no statutory paternity leave.
Health insurance in Kuwait
Residence permits are not granted or renewed without proof of the individual’s health insurance policy. Employers are liable to pay for the health insurance premiums, which must provide for the following basic health and medical services:
- Medical examination and necessary treatment at clinics by physicians and specialist doctors
- Laboratory and x-ray tests
- Surgery operations, except plastic surgery
- Treatment, medication, and hospitalization in the event of emergencies
- Normal dental treatment and medication
- Drugs and medicine
Kuwait supplementary benefits
Some common fringe benefits in Kuwait are:
- Housing allowance
- Education allowance
- Car allowance
- Transportation allowance
- Phone allowance
Bonuses
Bonuses are discretionary, and the 13th-month pay is not mandated in Kuwait.
Termination/severance in Kuwait
Any probationary period must be specified in the work contract and may not exceed 100 working days.
- Either party may terminate the contract during the probation period without notice.
- In the event where the termination is made by the employer, then the employer must pay the employee’s end-of-service benefit (see below) for the period of work in accordance with the provisions of the labor law.
For indefinite contracts where the employee is paid on a monthly basis, both the employer and employee have the right to terminate the contract with 3 months’ advance notice.
- If the employer or employee wishes to terminate in advance of the required three month notice period, then the party wishing to terminate must pay the other party a compensation for the notification period equal to the remuneration of the employee for the same period.
- When the employer gives notice, the employee has the right to take 8 hours paid leave per week during the notice period to search for other work.
- The employer may exempt the employee from working during the notice period, but the employee is still entitled to count the notice period within the period of service for purposes of calculating any amounts due.
For employees paid on a monthly basis, the employer must pay an end-of-service benefit equal to 15 days of remuneration for each of the first 5 years of service and 1 month remuneration for every year thereafter. The total of the end-of service benefit should not exceed 1.5 years of remuneration.
The full end-of-service benefits are due when the employer terminates the contract. If the employee terminates the contract, end-of-service benefits are paid as follows:
- 1/2 for periods of service of at least 3 years and less than 5 years
- 2/3 for periods of service of at least 5 years but less than 10 years
- Full benefits for periods of service exceeding 10 years
The worker who terminates their work contract shall be entitled to an end-of service certificate from the employer stating their duration of service, position, and the last remuneration they received. The employer shall not have the right to include, explicitly or implicitly, any expressions that may harm the employee or limit their employment prospects.
Paying taxes in Kuwait
There is no personal income tax in Kuwait. For Social Security contributions, 11.5% of the monthly salary is paid by the employer and 8% by the employee, up to a salary ceiling of KD 2,750 per month.
Why G-P?
At G-P, we help companies unlock the power of the everywhere workforce through our industry-leading global employment 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.
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