Employment Contracts

The quantity of long-term contracts that may be signed is not limited, but the maximum duration of any temporary contract is 60 months.
All employment contracts must be submitted in duplicate to the appropriate Ministry. The contracts must, therefore, follow a structure. Usually, the contract they submit to the Ministry just includes the necessary portion of a benefits package. It is possible that variable compensation needs to have its own contract in place. The offering letter and work contract must always state the pay and any other remuneration amounts in Kuwaiti dinar.

Working Hours

In Kuwait, a usual workweek is 40 to 48 hours long, however during Ramadan, the workday is just 6 hours long. Notwithstanding the fact that some companies only decrease hours for Muslims, this breaks the law for all workers.
On Fridays, there is a holiday. Saturdays are frequently off for both domestic and foreign firms, while Thursdays seem to be the more common off day.

Holidays

There are 9 national holidays.

Annual Leave

Employees become eligible for a 30-day annual leave with compensation after working for the company for the first nine months. As it appears in the contract, annual leave must be spent within one year of employment.

• Annual leave must be paid for before the worker’s leave term begins.
• Annual leave does not include holidays or sick days.
• At the time of termination of the contract, employees have the option to use any unspent vacation time.

Workers who have never performed Al-Hajj are subject to 21 days of leave after two years of continuous service with the same employer.

Sick Leave

With a valid doctor’s note, employees are entitled for the following sick time:

• The entire salary is due within the first 15 days.
• 75% of wages for the next 10 days.
• 50% of the next ten days’ wages.
• 25% of your pay for the next ten days.
• There will be no salary for the next 30 days.

Parental Leave

A woman’s right to maternal leave extends for 40 days after the birth of the child and for 30 days before the anticipated due date.
Expecting women have the right to an extra 100 days of unpaid leave after the maternity leave, regardless of whether those days are continuous. Yet, they cannot receive compensation and are required to present a medical certificate attesting to their incapacity to work.
There is no mandate for paternity leave in the law.

Insurance

Without proof of health insurance coverage, a residence permit cannot be issued or renewed. The employer is responsible for paying the costs of the medical insurance, which must provide the following basic health and medical services.

• Practitioners and specialists provide necessary medical evaluation and treatment at clinics.
• X-ray and lab examinations.
• Surgical operations, but not plastic surgery.
• Hospitalization, care, and medication are available in the event of an emergency.
• Usual dental and medical treatment.
• Pharmaceuticals and medications.

Extra Benefits

These are a few noteworthy advantages in Kuwait:

• Housing allowance.
• A stipend for education.
• The use of vehicles.
• Compensation for travel.
• Phone allowance.

Termination

Any probationary period must be in the employment contract and cannot exceed 100 working days.

If the employee receives compensation on a monthly basis, both the company and the worker may terminate an indefinite-term contract of employment with three months’ notice.

The employer is bound to provide monthly-paid employees an end-of-service bonus that is equal to 2 weeks of pay for the first five years of service and one month of pay for each additional year. Also, the total end-of-service benefit cannot exceed 1.5 years’ worth of compensation.

The total sum of end-of-service compensation is due in cases where the employer terminates the agreement.

When an employee leaves a job, the employer is required to give them an end-of-service certificate that details their position, length of employment, and the last payment they received. The employer may not make any express or implied remarks that could harm the employee or limit their employment possibilities. Therefore, the employer must give back to the employee all documents, credentials, and equipment that they received from the employee.

Taxes

Personal income is not taxable in Kuwait.
The worker and the employer each deposit 11.5% of the monthly salary for Social Security, up to a salary ceiling of KD 2,750.

Why Choose Us?

The process of setting up a business in Kuwait to hire a small staff is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Yet, our personnel make the process of entering Kuwait easy and swift.

We can help you hire the applicant of your choice, handle HR and payroll concerns, and ensure that you are in compliance with local laws; all without needing to deal with the complexity of setting up a foreign local office or subsidiary. Additionally, with our Global Employer of Record and Kuwait PEO service, you can focus on running your business.