The default and most common contract type in North Macedonia. Indefinite contracts must be in writing and registered with the Employment Agency, and may only be terminated for a legally recognized reason (personal incapacity, conduct/misconduct, or business/economic redundancy) following statutory notice and, where applicable, severance pay.
Fixed-term contracts may be used for temporary, seasonal, project-based, or replacement work and are capped at a cumulative 5 years with the same employer across successive renewals; beyond that limit the relationship automatically converts to an indefinite contract. Fixed-term employees have the same statutory rights and protections as indefinite employees.
Standard full-time working week is 40 hours, typically 8 hours per day across 5 days. Overtime is capped at 8 hours per week and 190 hours per year, and must be paid at a premium (minimum 135% for night work, 150% for work on Sundays/public holidays). Employees who work 150+ overtime hours in a year (with fewer than 21 unexcused absences) are entitled to an additional bonus equal to one month's average national salary.
Probation is not mandatory but may be agreed in the employment contract, generally for up to 6 months under the Law on Labour Relations (many employers use shorter periods, e.g. up to 4 months, for standard roles). Either party may terminate during probation with 3 days' written notice, without needing just cause or severance pay.
North Macedonia has no statutory 13th or 14th month salary — any year-end bonus is discretionary, based on company policy or a collective agreement. However, private-sector employers are legally required to pay an annual leave allowance ("regres") of at least 40% of the national average net salary once a year, usually alongside annual leave. This regres payment is not counted in the employer/employee social-contribution percentages above.
There is no general statutory restriction on job titles. However, the job title and duties recorded in the employment contract must genuinely reflect the work performed, since job classification affects social security registration, minimum-wage compliance, and licensing requirements for certain regulated professions.
North Macedonia has no separate employer-paid social security rate. All statutory contributions — pension & disability insurance 19.9% (18.8% before 1 July 2026) + mandatory health insurance 7.5% + additional/occupational health insurance 0.5% + unemployment insurance 0.1% (1.2% before 1 July 2026) = 28.0% total — are calculated on gross salary and withheld from the employee, not added on top by the employer. The employer's calculation, withholding, and remittance obligation therefore equals 0% of gross salary in additional employer-side statutory contributions.
Total 28.0% of gross salary, withheld from the employee: pension & disability insurance 19.9% (effective 1 July 2026; was 18.8%) + mandatory health insurance 7.5% + additional/occupational-injury health insurance 0.5% + unemployment insurance 0.1% (effective 1 July 2026; was 1.2%) = 28.0%. The July 2026 change only reallocated the split between pension and unemployment funds — the 28% total and net take-home pay are effectively unchanged. Contributions are calculated on a base of at least 50% and at most 16x the national average salary.
In addition to statutory leave, employees are entitled to the following statutory benefits:
North Macedonia funds pension, health, and unemployment insurance through a single combined social contribution rate of 28% of gross salary, withheld entirely from the employee — there is no separate employer-paid social contribution added on top of gross pay.
Contributions are calculated on a monthly base of at least 50% of the national average salary and capped at 16 times the national average salary; no contributions are due above that ceiling. Employers are responsible for calculating, withholding, and remitting all contributions and the 10% flat personal income tax to the Public Revenue Office on the employee's behalf.
North Macedonia does not operate a standalone workers' compensation insurance scheme separate from the general social security system. Coverage for workplace injuries and occupational diseases is folded into the mandatory "additional health insurance" contribution (0.5% of gross salary, part of the 28% total social contribution).
Statutory severance applies when an employee is dismissed for business/economic (redundancy) reasons and has at least 2 years of continuous service; it is not payable for dismissals for cause. Severance is calculated on the employee's average net salary over the preceding 6 months, with a floor of 50% of the national average salary.
Employees are also entitled to payment for any accrued, unused annual leave upon termination.
North Macedonia has no legal requirement for a 13th or 14th month salary. Some employers pay a discretionary year-end bonus as a matter of company policy, industry practice, or collective bargaining agreement.
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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.
