Country guide · 7 min read · Updated October 2026
Hiring in Algeria: the work permit, the resident card and the contract, step by step
How you hire in Algeria without an entity of your own: the work permit step by step, moving someone already in Algeria, who can fill a role, the contract, the employee test, leave, and what has changed.
What does it take to hire a foreign national in Algeria?
A foreign national needs a work permit, granted only where no qualified Algerian is available. The Ministry of Labour first approves the hire in principle. The provincial employment office then issues a provisional work authorisation for the work visa. The permit is applied for within 15 days of arrival and runs up to two years. A resident card follows. Through Global Kinect EOR, each step is arranged without an entity of your own.
Follow the steps for a foreign national
Algeria's law lets an employer recruit a foreign worker only where no qualified Algerian is available. A foreign national in salaried work needs a work permit. A job of up to three months needs a temporary work authorisation instead.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Approval in principle | The Ministry of Labour approves employing foreign workers, on a file lodged with the provincial employment office. The file sets out the planned hires, Algerian and foreign, post by post. The job is then advertised to Algerian jobseekers through the provincial employment agency within a month |
| 2. The provisional work authorisation | The provincial employment office authorises the named person for the post. The file carries their diploma, certified by an Algerian national consulate, and a commitment to repatriate them |
| 3. The work visa | Issued by the Algerian consulate where the person lives, on the provisional authorisation |
| 4. The work permit | Issued by the provincial employment office, on an application made within 15 days of arrival. The file carries a general medical certificate, a tuberculosis certificate and a signed fixed-term contract. The permit runs for the contract's length, up to two years, and can be renewed |
| 5. The resident card | Issued by the wilaya, the province where the person lives, on the work permit. It is applied for 15 days before the visa runs out. It never runs past the permit |
| 6. Social security | The employee is affiliated with the CNAS within 10 days of hiring |
A renewal is applied for at least 45 days before the permit expires. Employing a foreign national is declared to the employment services within 48 hours.
Government fees are left out here. Through Global Kinect EOR, the work permit and the resident card are arranged where the role needs them.
Move someone who is already in Algeria
A work permit is valid for one job with one employer. A foreign worker cannot move to another employer on the same permit.
After their contract ends, the provincial employment office can, as an exception, let them offer their services to another employer, after consulting the last one. The new employer then applies for a work permit of its own.
That file carries a certificate from the last employer on the person's conduct and the reasons the work ended. It also carries a work certificate showing they left free of any commitment.
The last employer tells the employment office within 48 hours that the contract has ended. The permit goes back to the office within 15 days.
Check the role is open to a non-Algerian
A work permit is granted only where the post cannot be filled by an Algerian national, through promotion or by recruiting, Algerian nationals living abroad included. The person must hold the diplomas and qualifications the job needs.
A foreign worker must be qualified to at least technician level. Nationals of a country with a treaty with Algeria, and recognised political refugees, are the exceptions.
The file carries the employer's reasoned report and the opinion of its workers' representatives. Each year, in the first quarter, the employer sends the employment office a named list of its foreign staff.
Set the contract up right
An employment relationship exists from the moment someone works for an employer, with a written contract or without one. A contract is open-ended unless it says otherwise in writing.
A fixed-term contract is allowed only in five set cases, such as replacing an absent employee or a seasonal peak. It states its length and the reason for it. One made outside those cases is open-ended.
A foreign national works on a fixed-term contract, and the work permit runs for its length. They are paid as an Algerian national in the same post would be.
A trial period can last up to six months, or twelve for highly qualified posts. Either side can end it at any time, without notice or compensation.
The legal week is 40 hours, over at least five days. Friday is the weekly rest day.
Know the employee test before you engage a contractor
Algeria's Labour Law treats as an employee anyone who provides manual or intellectual work for pay, within the organisation and on behalf of another person. The relationship exists from the mere fact of working for an employer.
A foreign national in salaried work in Algeria needs a work permit or a temporary work authorisation. The permit covers one job with one employer. Employing them in another job is an offence.
A foreign national working on their own account, in commerce, industry, a craft or a profession, meets that activity's own legal conditions instead.
A role that needs a work permit goes through employer of record.
Know the leave your people are entitled to
| Leave | What the law gives |
|---|---|
| Annual leave | Two and a half days for each month worked, up to 30 calendar days a year, paid by the employer. At least 10 more days in the southern provinces |
| Public holidays | Each one a paid day off, with three days for Eid al-Fitr and three for Eid al-Adha |
| Sick leave | Paid by the CNAS, on a medical certificate, as a share of the daily wage after social security and tax: 50% for the first 15 days and 100% from day 16. It is 100% from the first day in hospital or for a long illness |
| Maternity leave | 150 consecutive days, starting no earlier than 42 days before the expected birth. Paid by the CNAS at 100% of the daily wage after social security and tax |
| Paternity leave | Three paid working days for the birth of a child |
| Family events | Three paid working days each for the employee's marriage, a descendant's marriage, a child's circumcision, and the death of a spouse or close relative |
| Hajj | Paid leave, once in a working life |
| Unpaid leave | Special leave without pay, for a pressing need, as the employer's internal rules allow |
End employment on the law's terms
A contract ends when its term runs out, or by resignation, dismissal, redundancy, retirement or death, among other causes. A resignation is given in writing.
The law sets no minimum notice. Collective agreements set it. During notice, a dismissed employee has two paid hours a day to look for work. The employer can pay the notice instead.
A disciplinary dismissal is for serious misconduct. It ends employment without notice or compensation. It follows the internal rules, with a written decision and a hearing at which the employee can bring a colleague.
A dismissal that skips that procedure is annulled. The employee receives at least the pay they would have earned had they kept working. A disciplinary dismissal without serious misconduct is presumed unfair. The court then orders reinstatement or, where either side refuses it, at least six months' pay.
The law sets no severance. A collective agreement may set one.
When a foreign national's contract ends, the employment office is told within 48 hours. The work permit goes back to it within 15 days. A resident who leaves Algeria returns the resident card to the province that issued it.
See what has changed
| When | What changes |
|---|---|
| July 2025 | Maternity leave is 150 consecutive days, paid by the CNAS at 100% of the daily wage after social security and tax |
| 1 January 2026 | The minimum wage is DZD 24,000 a month for the legal week of 40 hours |
Common questions.
Does someone moving from another employer in Algeria need a new work permit?
Can someone work for us in Algeria as a contractor?
How long does a work permit last in Algeria?
Hiring where you have no entity? Name the country and the role.
The next change, in your inbox.
A monthly round-up of HR and employment news across the Gulf and Egypt, and a real example of it going wrong.