Country guide · 11 min read · Updated October 2026
Hiring in Gabon: the employment authorisation, the contract and what comes off pay, step by step
How you hire in Gabon without an entity of your own: the employment authorisation step by step, moving someone already in Gabon, who a role is open to, the contract, the employee test, what comes off pay, leave, and ending employment.
What does it take to hire a foreign national in Gabon?
A foreign national needs an employment authorisation from Gabon's Minister of Labour before being recruited. The Directorate-General of Labour examines the application. The decision comes within a month. The authorisation covers one worker, one post and one business, for up to two years. It is renewable. At equal competence, nationals come first. Through Global Kinect EOR, the authorisation is arranged without an entity of your own.
Follow the steps for a foreign national
Gabon's labour code needs one approval for a foreign hire: the employment authorisation, which the Minister of Labour gives before the person is recruited. The other steps lead up to it or follow from it.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. The offer | For skills not available on the local market. At equal competence, a national comes first |
| 2. The application | Made by the employer to the Minister of Labour. It carries an unconditional undertaking to repatriate the worker, and their family where they come too, with the papers the labour code lists, among them the worker's residence card and a certificate of accommodation |
| 3. The examination | The Directorate-General of Labour examines the request and the content of the contract. The decision comes within a month of the application. A refusal can be appealed to the Minister, who has 15 days to look at it again |
| 4. The authorisation | For one worker, one post and one business, for up to two years, and renewable. Recruitment follows it |
| 5. The first month's pay | Social security, health insurance and income tax are handled from the first month |
Employing a foreign national without an authorisation, or in a post or business other than the one it names, is an offence punishable by a fine, imprisonment or both. So is failing to tell the labour inspector when a foreign worker's contract ends. Someone brought to Gabon for a temporary mission of up to three months, with a mission order, stays outside these rules. A foreign worker on rotation does not, once their time in Gabon passes three months in a calendar year. Through Global Kinect EOR, the authorisation is arranged where the role needs it.
Move someone who is already in Gabon
An authorisation covers one worker, one post and one business. A foreign national who moves to a new employer needs a new authorisation for the new post. Employing a foreign worker who entered Gabon with an entry authorisation tied to another business's needs is prohibited.
When a foreign worker's contract ends, the employer tells the labour inspector and the immigration services within eight days. It also asks the Minister to end the authorisation, so the residence permits of the worker and their family are withdrawn when they leave.
A Gabonese national needs no authorisation. Their move turns on the notice they give, which rises with their service: 15 days in the first year, then a month, and more with longer service. A resignation is given in writing, and the employer acknowledges it within 48 hours.
Check the role is open to a non-Gabonese
At equal competence, nationals come first. Foreign labour is for skills not available on the market. Depending on the sector, the assessment weighs mobility clauses within groups of companies, the technical know-how and expertise the job needs, and the country's labour needs in its development areas. A decree sets the quotas for foreign labour.
Particular arrangements can be granted to a foreign worker whose spouse is Gabonese, to one available locally and in good standing with at least 15 years' residence, and to one awaiting naturalisation. Each still goes through the formalities, with the papers that show their situation.
Set the contract up right
A contract of employment is agreed freely, orally or in writing, in the official language. The candidate produces a medical certificate showing they are free of contagious disease and fit for the job. A written contract is free of stamp duty, and without one the contract can be proved by any means. A contract performed wholly or partly in Gabon follows the labour code wherever it was signed.
A fixed term, whatever its reason, cannot fill a job tied to the business's normal, permanent activity for good. One with a set end date is written and states its length and its purpose. It runs for no more than two years, renewals included, and past that it becomes open-ended. So does a fixed term that goes on after its end. A fixed term for a specific job or task, whose end is not known in advance, is written too and names the work.
A trial period is agreed in writing, in the contract or separately. With any renewal, it lasts no more than six months for managers, three for technicians and supervisors, and a month for employees and other workers, counted in actual work. Unless a collective agreement gives more, either side can end it before its term with no formality, notice or indemnity, apart from leave pay. Work that goes on after it, without a new contract, makes the contract final from the start of the trial.
A clause barring the employee from competing applies only where the employee ends the contract, or for gross misconduct. It covers only unfair competition, for no more than 12 months and within five kilometres of the workplace.
Pay is in legal tender, in cash, by cheque or by bank transfer. Monthly pay is paid within five days of the month's end, with a payslip.
The legal week is 40 hours. Hours beyond it are paid at a higher rate, which regulations and collective agreements set. Overtime is notified to the staff delegates and the labour inspector is told of it. Night work runs from 21:00 to 06:00, for no more than eight hours in a row. The weekly rest is at least 24 hours in a row, in principle on Sunday.
Know the employee test before you engage a contractor
Gabon's labour code treats as a worker anyone, whatever their sex or nationality, who has undertaken to put their professional activity under the direction and authority of another person, for pay. The legal status of either side does not count in deciding it.
A contract of employment is distinct from a contract for services, which the labour code does not govern. A contract performed in Gabon follows the code wherever it was signed. A role that needs an employment authorisation goes through employer of record.
Know what comes off pay each month
| Contribution | From you | From the employee |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance, to the CNAMGS | 4.1% | 2% |
| Family benefits, to the CNSS | All of it | Nothing |
| Work accidents, to the CNSS | All of it | Nothing |
| Pensions, to the CNSS | The rest of it | No more than 50% of it |
Health insurance is worked out on the pay subject to income tax, up to XAF 2,500,000 a month. Pay at or below the minimum wage is exempt. Health insurance contributions are declared and paid each quarter, in the month after it ends.
A decree sets the CNSS rates, the pay they count and its ceiling. The employee's share comes off each payment of salary, and neither side can refuse it. The employer answers for the whole contribution, its own share and the employee's, and a late payment carries a surcharge.
Income tax on pay, the IRPP, follows the tax code. A decree sets the minimum wage.
Know the leave your people are entitled to
| Leave | What the law gives |
|---|---|
| Annual leave | Two working days for each month of service, or 2.5 for a worker under 18. It is taken after twelve months' actual service, and rises with seniority to no more than two months. A mother gets one more day a year for each dependent child under 16 |
| Leave allowance | At least the average pay of the twelve months before the leave, paid before it starts. Leave is claimed within two years of the right opening |
| Leave on leaving | An allowance for the leave earned, where the contract ends before the right to take it is earned. Otherwise leave cannot be paid out in its place |
| Family events | Permission for family events, up to ten days, is not taken from annual leave |
| Sick leave | The contract is suspended for up to six months, with pay kept for as long as the notice period. Sickness of up to six months is not taken from annual leave |
| A family member's illness | The contract is suspended for 15 working days for a certified illness or accident of the spouse or a child, without pay unless agreed. A collective agreement can set a longer suspension |
| Maternity leave | 14 weeks in a row, six before the expected birth and eight after it, on full pay and with free care from social security. It can be extended by three weeks for certified illness from the pregnancy or the birth. A multiple birth adds three weeks after it |
| Nursing | For 12 months from the return to work, paid breaks of two hours a day for the first six months, then one hour a day. During that time the mother can leave on a month's notice, owing nothing |
| Paternity leave | Three days in a row on full pay, with a birth certificate. The employee tells the employer at least a month before the expected birth |
| Sabbatical | Unpaid, by agreement, for up to two years |
End employment on the law's terms
Every termination is in writing, by the side that ends the contract. A fixed term ends at its term, with no indemnity beyond leave pay. Before then, it ends only in the cases the contract sets or for gross misconduct, which a court assesses. An employee can leave a fixed term early for an open-ended job, on the notice an open-ended contract carries.
A dismissal for a personal reason needs a real and serious one. The employer calls the employee to an interview by a letter that reaches them at least five working days ahead, giving the reasons and the right to bring someone. The interview is minuted, and no dismissal is made at it. The employer then waits five working days, and sends the dismissal letter, giving its reasons, within 48 working hours after that. For gross misconduct, the time limits come down to 24 hours, and the staff delegates attend the interview. In a dispute, the employer proves the reason. A breach of the procedure exposes the employer to an indemnity of three months' pay, on top of any damages the court awards. Dismissing a pregnant employee, or one within 15 months of the birth, needs the labour inspector's prior authorisation.
An economic dismissal needs the labour inspector's authorisation too. The employer first gives the staff representatives the reasons, the workers concerned and the measures to avoid or limit dismissals, with a social plan where ten or more workers are concerned. They have eight working days to study it before a minuted meeting. The inspector then has 30 working days, and silence counts as authorisation. The least able for the jobs kept go first, then the least senior, with a year of seniority added for each dependent child. Each is owed at least three months' notice, whatever their service, with six months of family allowances. Each keeps priority for rehiring for one year. Where this procedure is breached, a court orders the employer to pay each worker dismissed three months' pay, on top of the legal indemnities. A business that dismisses more than ten workers at once for an economic reason waits six months before doing so again.
Notice rises with service. The side that does not give it in full pays the pay and benefits for the part not worked.
| Service | Notice |
|---|---|
| Up to a year | 15 days |
| From 1 to 3 years | A month |
| From 3 to 5 years | Two months |
| From 5 to 10 years | Three months |
| From 10 to 15 years | Four months |
| From 15 to 20 years | Five months |
| From 20 to 30 years | Six months |
| Above 30 years | Six months, and ten more days for each year above 30 |
During notice, the employee has one paid day a week to look for work. A dismissed employee who has worked at least half the notice and finds a new job can leave on 48 hours' warning, owing nothing.
A dismissal indemnity is owed on any dismissal except during a trial or for gross misconduct, whatever the service. It is at least 20% of the average monthly pay of the last twelve months for each year of service, counting part years. An indemnity for services rendered, at the same rate, is owed instead on retirement, on death, on an amicable departure and on a resignation after two years' service. The retirement age is 60, which a particular sector can bring down to 55 or raise to 65.
A dismissal without grounds, or for the employee's opinions, union activity, pregnancy, or a claim for a right, is abusive. So is a dismissal made without an authorisation the labour inspector must give, or one in reprisal for a complaint against the employer. So is a refusal to take an employee back when a suspension of the contract ends, the one the code allows during pregnancy and after the birth included. A court decides whether a dismissal is abusive, and then sets damages by the harm done, weighing service, age and family situation among other things.
A certificate of work is owed when any contract ends.
See what changed this year, and what is next
No change to the rules this guide sets out took effect in the last twelve months. None is scheduled in a published text.
Common questions.
Does a foreign national need a new authorisation to change employer in Gabon?
Can someone work for us in Gabon as a contractor?
How long does an employment authorisation last in Gabon?
Hiring where you have no entity? Name the country and the role.
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