Country guide · 6 min read · Updated October 2026
Payroll in Bahrain: the month, the calendar and a salary worked through
How a payroll month runs in Bahrain: the deadlines, social insurance for Bahraini nationals and expatriates, a salary worked through to net pay and employer cost, overtime, the year's holidays and what is changing.
How does payroll work in Bahrain?
Each month, salaries are paid through the LMRA's WPS portal from a salary file. SIO contributions are due by the 15th of the next month. For Bahraini nationals, that is 18% from the employer in 2026 and 8% from the employee. For expatriates from outside the GCC, it is 3% and 1%. Each expatriate's end of service goes into SIO monthly, at 4.2% of the wage, then 8.4% after three years. There is no income tax.
Know the month's deadlines
Five deadlines shape a Bahrain payroll. Each one sits with your own entity.
| Deadline | What is due |
|---|---|
| Every month | Salaries, paid through the LMRA's WPS portal from a salary file. A file is due even when nothing has changed |
| By the 15th of the next month | SIO contributions, both shares, with each expatriate's end of service contribution |
| Within two weeks of joining or leaving | Telling SIO that the employee has joined or left |
| Each January | A detailed statement of every employee's wage, to SIO |
| When employment ends | Final pay at once, or within seven days when the employee resigned |
Contributions paid late carry interest of 5% of the amount due for each month, or part of a month, they are late. An employer who has not insured someone, or has paid on less than the real wage, owes an additional 20% of what was not paid.
Work out contributions for each group
Social insurance is worked out on the wage, up to BHD 4,000 a month. The rates depend on who the employee is. For an expatriate, the employer also pays end of service into SIO each month, on basic pay plus any social allowance.
| Employer | Employee | |
|---|---|---|
| A Bahraini national, in 2026 | 18% | 8% |
| An expatriate from outside the GCC | 3% | 1% |
| End of service for an expatriate, in the first three years | 4.2% | Nothing |
| End of service for an expatriate, after three years | 8.4% | Nothing |
The employer pays both shares to SIO and deducts the employee's share from pay. A share not deducted when the wage is paid cannot be deducted later.
Nationals of other Gulf states are covered by the Gulf states' unified scheme for extending insurance cover. They are outside these rates.
Follow one salary through the month
Take a salary of BHD 1,200 a month, all of it basic pay. Here is the same salary for a Bahraini national and for an expatriate from outside the GCC.
| A Bahraini national | An expatriate, in the first three years | An expatriate, after three years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | BHD 1,200 | BHD 1,200 | BHD 1,200 |
| Social insurance, from the employee | BHD 96 | BHD 12 | BHD 12 |
| Net pay | BHD 1,104 | BHD 1,188 | BHD 1,188 |
| Social insurance, from the employer | BHD 216 | BHD 36 | BHD 36 |
| End of service, paid into SIO | Nothing: the pension provides it | BHD 50.40 | BHD 100.80 |
| The employer's cost for the month | BHD 1,416 | BHD 1,286.40 | BHD 1,336.80 |
The expatriate's contributions build up half a month's wage for each of the first three years of service, and a month's wage for each year after. SIO pays it when they leave.
There is no income tax to withhold.
Pay overtime at the right rate
| What it earns | |
|---|---|
| Overtime by day | The wage for the hours, plus at least 25% |
| Overtime at night | The wage for the hours, plus at least 50% |
| Work on the weekly rest day | The day's wage plus 150% of it, or another day off, as the worker chooses |
| Work on an official holiday | The day's wage plus 150% of it, or another day off, as the worker chooses |
A working day is 8 hours, or up to 10 by agreement. The working week is 48 hours.
Friday is the weekly rest day, though an employer may set another day for some workers. In Ramadan, a Muslim employee works at most 6 hours a day and 36 a week.
Mark the year's public holidays
Each official holiday is paid at the full wage.
| Holiday | When |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | The 1st of January |
| Labour Day | The 1st of May |
| National Day | The 16th and 17th of December |
| Islamic New Year | The 1st of Muharram |
| Ashura | The 9th and 10th of Muharram |
| The Prophet's Birthday | The 12th of Rabi al-Awwal |
| Eid al-Fitr | The 1st to the 3rd of Shawwal |
| Eid al-Adha | The 10th to the 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah |
The Hijri dates follow the moon, so they move through the year. A holiday that falls on a Friday, or on another official holiday, is given as another day.
Pay on time, and deduct only what the law allows
| The rule | |
|---|---|
| Wage protection | Every private-sector salary has been paid through WPS since January 2022. Since 2026, the salary file goes through the LMRA's WPS portal |
| Late wages | The employee is owed compensation of 6% a year for a delay of up to six months, then a point more for each further month, to at most 12% a year |
| Loans from the employer | No more than 10% of a wage may be deducted to repay one, unless it was for housing. No interest is charged |
| Attachment | No more than 25% of a wage can be attached or assigned, or 50% for alimony |
| Unused leave | Settled with its wage at least every two years, and paid out when employment ends |
| Income tax | None on personal income |
Plan for the changes already scheduled
| When | What changes |
|---|---|
| January 2027 | The employer's SIO rate for Bahraini nationals rises to 19% |
| January 2028 | The employer's SIO rate for Bahraini nationals rises to 20% |
Each change is in our engine before the run it affects. You are told what changed and what it does to your figures.
Run the month from one record
A Bahrain month brings together the WPS salary file, two sets of social insurance rates, an end of service contribution for each expatriate and an employer's rate that rises each January. A payroll fed from several places struggles to keep them in step.
On our payroll, each comes from one record, on an engine we build and maintain for Bahrain's law. Your entity uploads the salary file, pays its people and pays SIO.
Common questions.
When are SIO contributions due?
Do expatriates pay social insurance in Bahrain?
Is there income tax on salaries in Bahrain?
See how a payroll month runs with us.
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