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Recruiting your Personnel

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Hiring Tunisian Staff

Tunisia offers investors an educated workforce capable of being swiftly trained in new techniques and new skills. It has recourse to a large pool of young, highly-qualified new graduates whose skills and qualifications in various fields meet the needs of the business world.

Hiring Tunisians is free and competitive. To recruit staff, a foreign entrepreneur may resort to national support organizations such as the National Agency for Employment and Self-Employment (ANETI), the National Bureau of Employment of Graduates and Executives (BNEC) or their regional offices, as well as private hiring consultancies.

Recruiting your foreign personnel

In order to engage in a paid employment in Tunisia, a foreign person must have an employment contract or a certificate of the exemption from an employment contract and a valid residence permit.

The employment contract shall be concluded for a period not exceeding one year, renewable only once.

Any employment contract may be renewed more than once in the case of employment of foreigners in the company operating in Tunisia within the framework of the realization of development projects approved by the competent authorities.

Companies can recruit 30% of foreign executives during the3 first years by simple declaration and 10% thereafter with 4 executives guaranteed in any case,

Beyond this limit, businesses must comply with a recruitment program pre-approved by the Ministry of Employment.

Upon hire, a foreign worker is entitled to the following:

  • the payment of a tax set at 20% of gross income

  • exemption from customs duty and from taxes concerning the import of personal effects and the import of one automotive vehicle for each person.

Paying your Personnel

Tunisian salaries are advantageous compared with neighboring and industrialized countries.

Salaries are generally determined either :

  • by reference to collective agreements of the private sector

  • by free negotiation between employers and employees subject to compliance with the minimum wage established by law.

Training your Personnel

In Tunisia, vocational training is provided both by public operators, such as the Tunisian Agency for Vocational Training (ATFP), which operates the Centers for Training and the Technical Centers for Training in areas under their purview, and by private operators licensed by the Ministry in charge of vocational Training.

The Investment Law promotes continuous training within the company. To this end, companies participating in the national effort can benefit from State financial support which consists in a subsidy of the cost of training programs leading to certification representing up to 70% of the initial training cost and capped at TND 20 000.

Paying your Social Contributions

The rate of employer social security contributions required by law is fixed for the industrial sector as follows :

Industry Totally exporting industrial companies
Registration fees to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) 5 TND 5 TND
Employer’s contribution to the CNSS 16.5 % 16.5 %
Special State Fund 0.5 % Exonerated
Vocational Training Tax (TFP) 1 % Exonerated
Contribution to the Fund for the Promotion of Social Housing (FOPROLOS) 1 % 1 %

Note that the Professional Training Tax is 2% for other sectors. This tax is not payable by fully exporting companies or by companies having already been granted regional development benefits in accordance with the legislation in force.

For the agricultural sector, the social security contribution rate payable by the employer is 7.7%.

Although social security contributions are mandatory, in certain cases, exemptions are granted :

  • investments in industry and services which are established within regional development zones are exempt from payroll taxes when they start production

  • companies operating in the sectors covered by the Investment Incentives creating new work crews are exempt from 50 % of social security charges over a period of 5 years.

Working hours and holidays

In Tunisia, the 5 day work week is applied and the most current labor schedules are as follows

For overtime work, the hours worked beyond the normal weekly working period are paid by reference to the basic salary plus the premium rate.

As for holidays considered as paid legal holidays, the Framework Collective Agreement provides for 9 days of paid holidays.

FIPA Contact

  • Address :

    Rue Saleheddine el Ammami Centre Urbain Nord 1004,Tunis

  • Tel:

    (+216) 70 241 500

  • Fax:

    (+216) 71 231 400

  • E-mail :

    fipa.tunisia@fipa.tn

Useful Addresses

IORT