Zambia
Min. wage
(x12 payments)
Varies by sector
About the minimum wage
Employer tax
~6.5%+
Understand employer tax
Annual leave
24 days
Learn about annual leave
Notice period
1-30 days (by tenure)
Termination and notice info
Updated
Sep 2026
The standard and most common employment relationship in Zambia under the Employment Code Act, 2019. It has no fixed end date and continues until terminated by either party in accordance with statutory notice and, where applicable, severance requirements. Indefinite contracts must be in writing if the engagement exceeds 6 months.
Permitted for specific tasks, projects, or seasonal work, or where the nature of the work is genuinely temporary. Must be in writing, specifying the duration or task and the applicable terms. On expiry, the employer must pay severance of at least 25% of the employee's basic pay earned during the contract period, unless the contract is renewed into further fixed-term or indefinite employment.
Standard working hours are 40 hours per week at 8 hours per day, typically across a 5-day work week. Overtime is payable for hours worked beyond the standard schedule, at rates set out in the Employment Code Act and applicable collective agreements or minimum wage statutory instruments.
Employers may place new employees on probation for up to 3 months under the Employment Code Act, 2019, to assess suitability for the role. During probation, either party may terminate the contract with 24 hours' notice.
Zambian law does not require a statutory 13th or 14th month salary. Some employers voluntarily provide an annual bonus or 13th-month payment as a discretionary benefit or per collective bargaining agreement, but it is not a legal entitlement.
There is no specific statutory registry governing job titles in Zambia, but the Employment Code Act, 2019 requires every written contract of employment to state the employee's job title and a description of the work to be performed. Certain regulated professions (e.g., health, law, engineering) require title-holders to be registered with the relevant professional body.
Employers contribute 5% of the employee's basic salary to NAPSA (capped at the monthly insurable earnings ceiling), 1% of gross salary to NHIMA (uncapped), and 0.5% of total payroll to the Skills Development Levy. Employers also fund Workers' Compensation Fund premiums at a variable rate based on industry risk classification, which is not included in the 6.5% figure.
Employees contribute 5% of basic salary to NAPSA (capped at the monthly insurable earnings ceiling, approximately ZMW 1,861.80/month as of 2025) and 1% of gross salary to NHIMA (uncapped). Employees are also subject to PAYE income tax on a progressive scale administered by the Zambia Revenue Authority.
In addition to statutory leave, employees are entitled to the following statutory benefits:
Zambia's social security system is administered by the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), supplemented by the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA).
NAPSA is calculated on basic salary only, while NHIMA is calculated on gross salary including allowances.
Employers in Zambia must register with and contribute to the Workers' Compensation Fund Control Board (WCFCB), which covers employees for work-related injury, disease, or death.
Severance entitlements under the Employment Code Act, 2019 depend on the type of termination:
Severance is generally not payable for dismissal on disciplinary grounds or resignation.
Zambia has no statutory requirement for a 13th or 14th month salary.
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.
