Cost of an employee in Morocco: how much does the employer pay in 2026?

The SMIG has been 17.92 MAD per hour since 1 January 2026, i.e. 3,422.72 MAD gross for 191 hours per month; the SMAG (agricultural minimum wage) is 97.44 MAD per day. The other remuneration rules (overtime, leave) are presented in the Labour Code rules for employers.

Dahir No. 1-72-184 of 27 July 1972 establishes the social security regime managed by the CNSS, which also manages the AMO for private-sector employees (Law No. 65-00). Contributions finance family allowances, social benefits (daily sickness and maternity allowances, old-age, invalidity and survivors' pensions, job loss allowance) and the AMO of the employee and their dependants (ayants droit).

In addition to social security contributions, the employer bears:

• The vocational training tax (taxe de formation professionnelle) (1.60%), paid with the CNSS contributions on DAMANCOM
• Workplace accident insurance (assurance accidents du travail), compulsory with an insurer (Law No. 18-12), whose premium depends on the activity
• Occupational health services (médecine du travail) (own medical service from 50 employees, inter-company service below that)
• Paid leave of 1.5 working days per month and the statutory seniority bonus (prime d'ancienneté) (5% after 2 years of service, up to 25% after 25 years)
• The 13th month, bonuses and benefits in kind provided for by the contract, the collective agreement (convention collective) or custom

IR on salaries is owed by the employee and withheld at source (retenue à la source) by the employer (CGI 2026):

1. Net taxable salary: taxable gross minus professional expenses (frais professionnels) (35% if the annual gross does not exceed 78,000 MAD, 25% above that, ceiling of 35,000 MAD per year) and employee CNSS and AMO contributions
2. Annual scale (Article 73, since Finance Law LF 2025): 0% up to 40,000 MAD; 10% up to 60,000; 20% up to 80,000; 30% up to 100,000; 34% up to 180,000; 37% above that
3. Reduction for family dependants: 500 MAD per year per dependant, up to a maximum of six

The employer pays the IR to the DGI before the end of the month following payment (SIMPL online filing) and files the annual return of wages and salaries (déclaration annuelle des traitements et salaires) before 1 March (CGI, Article 79).

Assumptions: single employee with no dependants, with no bonus or benefit in kind (monthly amounts in MAD).

At 5,000 MAD, the annual net taxable salary (34,956 MAD) remains below 40,000 MAD, so no IR is due. At 10,000 MAD, the annual net taxable salary of 84,062.40 MAD gives IR of 7,218.72 MAD per year (2,000 at 10%, 4,000 at 20%, 1,218.72 at 30%). This employee costs 140,997.60 MAD per year, excluding workplace accident insurance, occupational health services and indirect costs (recruitment, equipment, premises).

The company form does not change the CNSS rates for employees, but it determines liability and governance:

• SARL (Law 5-96 as amended in particular by Law 24-10): no minimum capital
• SAS (Law 5-96 as amended and supplemented by Law 19-20): freely set capital
• SA (Law 17-95): minimum capital of 300,000 MAD

A company officer who holds an employment contract (separate duties, relationship of subordination) contributes to the general scheme; the other cases are explained in the guide to the salaried or non-salaried status of the manager.

Several schemes legally reduce the cost of the first hires:

• Tahfiz (CGI, Article 57-20°): companies set up until 31 December 2026; gross salary up to 10,000 MAD exempt from IR for 24 months, for 10 employees at most on a permanent contract (CDI); employer CNSS share and vocational training tax covered by the State
• Idmaj (ANAPEC integration contract [contrat d'insertion], CGI Article 57-16°): allowance of up to 6,000 MAD per month exempt from IR and CNSS contributions; in the event of a CDI, employer CNSS share covered for 12 months
• Taehil: hiring-related training funded by ANAPEC
• Apprenticeship (Law No. 12-00) and Investment Charter (Charte de l'investissement) grants (framework law No. 03-22) for eligible projects

These schemes are temporary and subject to conditions, detailed in our guide to the ANAPEC, Tahfiz and Idmaj hiring incentives.

Dahir No. 1-72-184 penalizes non-affiliation, under-declaration and non-payment of contributions with the retroactive recovery of contributions, late-payment surcharges (3% for the first month) and fines, or even the criminal liability of the company officer in the case of undeclared employees. The declaration deadlines and penalties are detailed in the employer's CNSS obligations, and the initial procedure in the guide to registering the company with the CNSS.

You now know the real cost of an employee; with Charikaty, the formation of your company and the CNSS affiliation application are done online. Charikaty is a private Moroccan legal-tech platform specializing in 100% online company formation: we set up your company remotely, file the CNSS affiliation application as part of the formation and, with our accounting service, put you in touch with our payroll and accounting partners for salary calculation, DAMANCOM returns and IR withholding. More than 250 companies have already been set up with Charikaty.