Labour Code in Morocco: what rules apply to employers in 2026?

Law No. 65-99 enacting the Labour Code applies to every private-sector employer from the first employee, whatever the company form. It governs:

• Employment contracts (CDI, CDD, special contracts)
• Working hours, overtime and rest
• Remuneration and the SMIG (minimum wage)
• Paid leave and public holidays
• Health and safety at work
• Employee representatives (delegates, works council depending on headcount)
• Discipline, dismissal and termination indemnities
• Internal regulations (règlement intérieur) (mandatory from 10 employees) and collective agreements

These rules are a matter of public policy: a clause less favourable to the employee is void.

The CDI is the default form, the CDD is allowed only in the cases provided for by Law 65-99 (a new business may conclude a CDD of one year, renewable once) and the probation period is limited to 3 months for managers, 1.5 months for employees and 15 days for workers, renewable once (Article 14). Choosing and drafting the contract are covered in detail in our guide to the employment contract: CDI, CDD and probation period. The recruitment formalities, including the approval (visa) of a foreign employee's contract by the ministry in charge of Labour, are described in the steps for hiring an employee in Morocco.

• Statutory working hours: 44 hours per week, i.e. 2,288 hours per year, in non-agricultural activities
• Overtime: increased by 25% between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. and by 50% between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.; increases are doubled on the weekly rest day and on public holidays
• Weekly rest: at least 24 consecutive hours, on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or the day of the weekly market
• Paid public holidays: list set by decree

• The SMIG (minimum wage) in non-agricultural activities: 17.92 MAD per hour since 1 January 2026, i.e. 3,422.72 MAD gross per month for 191 hours; the SMAG (agricultural minimum wage) is 97.44 MAD per day
• A payslip is provided with each payment (at least once a month)
• Equal treatment, prohibition of discrimination and the principle of equal pay for equal work

After six months of service, the employee acquires paid annual leave of 1.5 working days per month of work (18 days per year), increased with seniority up to a limit of 30 days. Added to this are leave for family events (marriage, birth, death), maternity leave of 14 weeks and sick leave, compensated by the CNSS subject to conditions.

The employer has a general safety obligation:

• Risk prevention, compliant premises and personal protective equipment
• Occupational medicine: in-house medical service from 50 employees or in the case of a hazardous activity, inter-company service below that threshold
• Workplace accident insurance mandatory with an insurer (Law No. 18-12), declaration of any accident within 48 hours

• Employee representatives (délégués des salariés): election mandatory from 10 employees
• Works council (comité d'entreprise) and health and safety committee (comité de sécurité et d'hygiène): from 50 employees
• Internal regulations: mandatory from 10 employees, submitted to the labour inspectorate (inspection du travail)

The employer affiliates its company with the CNSS, registers each employee upon hiring (Dahir No. 1-72-184 of 27 July 1972, Law 65-00 for AMO, managed by the CNSS) and declares salaries every month on DAMANCOM; in 2026, contributions amount to 21.09% payable by the employer and 6.74% payable by the employee, i.e. 27.83%, with a ceiling of 6,000 MAD per month for social benefits. The breakdown of the rates and worked examples are set out in the guide to the cost of an employee in Morocco, and the monthly declarations in the employer's CNSS obligations.

With Charikaty, the CNSS affiliation application is made online as part of the formation, so that the affiliation number is available for the first hire.

Income tax (Impôt sur le Revenu, IR) on salaries is withheld at source by the employer according to the CGI 2026 scale (Article 73: 0% up to 40,000 MAD per year, 37% above 180,000 MAD), paid to the DGI within the month following payment, and the employer files the annual return of wages and salaries before 1 March (CGI, Article 79): the full scale and the step-by-step calculation are set out in the calculation of the cost of an employee and of IR. Young companies may benefit from the Tahfiz and Idmaj exemptions, presented in our guide to ANAPEC hiring incentives.

Failure to comply with the Labour Code exposes the employer to:

• Fines recorded by the labour inspectorate (contract, working hours, SMIG, safety)
• Damages in the event of an individual dispute (unfair dismissal, back pay)
• Surcharges and a reassessment by the CNSS in the event of undeclared salaries
• Criminal penalties in serious cases (undeclared work, endangering employees)

The tax and legal penalties that add to these risks are presented in the guide to penalties for corporate non-compliance.

Here are the Labour Code rules to comply with. With Charikaty, you do everything online. Charikaty is a private Moroccan legal-tech platform specializing in 100% online company formation: we set up your company remotely, we file the CNSS affiliation application as part of the formation and, with our accounting service, we put you in touch with our payroll and accounting partners for contracts, payroll, DAMANCOM declarations and IR withholding. More than 250 companies have already been set up with Charikaty.