Lebanon
Min. wage
(x12 payments)
LBP 28,000,000 /mo
About the minimum wage
Employer tax
~22.5%
Understand employer tax
Annual leave
15 days
Learn about annual leave
Notice period
1-4 months (by tenure)
Termination and notice info
Updated
Sep 2026
The default and most common employment relationship under the Lebanese Labor Code is an open-ended (indefinite) contract with no predetermined end date. It can be terminated by either party subject to statutory notice requirements and, for employer-initiated termination without valid cause, severance/end-of-service compensation.
Lebanese labor law does not set one universally-cited statutory maximum duration for fixed-term contracts. In practice, contracts run 1-3 years and may include a renewal clause. Successive renewals or continued work beyond expiry without a new contract exposes the employer to reclassification as indefinite, triggering standard notice and severance obligations. This section should be confirmed with Lebanese labor counsel before publication.
The Lebanese Labor Code sets a standard workweek of 48 hours (six 8-hour days). Employees are entitled to at least 9 consecutive hours of daily rest and at least 36 hours of weekly rest. Overtime is compensated at 1.5x the regular hourly wage; work on weekly rest days or public holidays is compensated at 2x plus a compensatory rest day. Total daily hours (including overtime) generally capped around 12 hours.
The Labor Code allows a probationary period of up to three months, specified in the written contract. During probation, either party may terminate without statutory notice or cause, and without severance liability. Employees are generally not eligible to accrue/use paid annual leave during probation.
Lebanon has no statutory requirement for a 13th- or 14th-month salary. Some employers - particularly multinationals and larger local companies - voluntarily provide a discretionary year-end bonus to help offset currency devaluation, but this remains a matter of policy or agreement rather than law.
Foreign nationals require a work permit issued by the Ministry of Labor, valid up to 3 years and renewable. Lebanon maintains a periodically-updated list of professions reserved exclusively for Lebanese nationals (law, medicine, engineering, pharmacy, various skilled trades). Employers are generally expected to maintain a predominantly Lebanese workforce ratio when employing foreign staff; verify current quotas with the Ministry of Labor before hiring commitments.
Total employer NSSF contribution of approximately 22.5% of gross monthly salary: Sickness & Maternity branch 8% (ceiling cited as LBP 90-120 million/month depending on source/date); Family Allowances branch 6% (ceiling reportedly raised to LBP 28 million effective May 1, 2026 per Decree No. 2923); End-of-Service Indemnity 8.5% of total salary with no ceiling (one tax source cites 5% instead - flagged for verification).
Employees contribute 3% of gross monthly salary to the NSSF Medical/Sickness scheme, subject to the same salary ceiling as the employer's sickness-maternity branch. Separate from progressive personal income tax (2%-25%), which is withheld but not a social-security contribution.
In addition to statutory leave, employees are entitled to the following statutory benefits:
All employers and employees in Lebanon must register with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), which operates three main contribution branches.
Total commonly cited as approximately 22.5% employer + 3% employee, though some sources round to 23.5% employer.
Lebanon does not have a dedicated NSSF branch exclusively for occupational injury insurance. The Labor Code places direct liability on employers to compensate employees for work-related accidents and occupational illness.
Employees dismissed without valid cause are generally entitled to end-of-service compensation.
A reported transition toward a new pension scheme ('Law 319') around 2026 should be verified for current status.
Lebanon has no legal requirement for a 13th- or 14th-month salary. Where offered, it is a discretionary benefit, more common recently among multinationals to help offset currency devaluation.
P.S. our team speaks multiple languages and we'd love to chat in your preferred language if requested.
Your employee's hours, time off, holidays, bonuses, and commissions are automatically calculated into payroll. RemoFirst will invoice you in either US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Australian Dollars (AUD), or Singapore Dollars (SGD) around the 15th of each month to make sure your employees are paid on time. To make it even easier, you can summarize your entire global team's salaries to aggregate them into one payment (instead of many individual payments).
Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.
Whenever the employee or employer has a question about, or anything else related to international employment, they can speak with our customer support team to get answers from our team of experts.
