Payroll Services in Morocco

The CNSS, the national social security fund, collects five contributions. Family allowances are 6.40%, paid by the employer alone on the whole salary. Short-term social benefits, which cover sickness, maternity and the job loss allowance, are 1.05% for the employer and 0.52% for the employee, and long-term benefits, the pension, are 7.93% and 3.96%, both on pay up to MAD 6,000 a month.

Mandatory health insurance (AMO) is 4.11% for the employer and 2.26% for the employee, and the vocational training tax is 1.60% for the employer, both on the whole salary. Up to the ceiling the employer pays 21.09% and the employee 6.74%; above it, 12.11% and 2.26% continue on the rest of the salary.

At MAD 10,000 a month the employer pays MAD 538.80 for the capped branches and MAD 1,211 for the uncapped ones, a total cost of MAD 11,749.80, 17.5% on top of gross pay. At MAD 20,000 the total is MAD 22,960.80, or 14.8%. The capped branches never cost the employer more than MAD 538.80 a month.

The Labour Code also adds a seniority bonus unless the salary is already based on seniority under the contract, internal rules or a collective agreement: 5% of salary after two years of service, 10% after five, 15% after twelve, 20% after twenty and 25% after twenty-five. It is part of pay, so it carries CNSS and income tax. There is no statutory 13th month.

Income tax on salaries is withheld monthly. The annual scale, in force since January 2025, is 0% up to MAD 40,000, 10% to 60,000, 20% to 80,000, 30% to 100,000, 34% to 180,000 and 37% above. Taxable income is gross pay less the employee’s CNSS and AMO contributions and a professional expenses allowance of 35% for annual gross pay up to MAD 78,000, or 25% above it, capped at MAD 35,000 a year.

From 1 January 2026 the tax is reduced by MAD 600 a year for each dependant, up to six, a maximum of MAD 3,600, up from MAD 500 and 3,000 in 2025. Many payroll tables still use the 2025 amount. The employer applies the deduction each month and files the annual declaration of salaries before 1 March.

Employers affiliate with the CNSS and register each employee. Each month the payroll declaration is filed and paid through the CNSS portal, Damancom, before the 10th of the following month. Income tax withheld is paid to the tax administration before the end of the month following payment, and the annual declaration of salaries is filed electronically through SIMPL-IR.

Workers paid by the hour or day must be paid at least twice a month, no more than 16 days apart, and salaried employees at least monthly. In practice CNSS affiliation and tax withholding run through a Moroccan company or branch; foreign companies without one usually employ through an Employer of Record until they set up locally.

The normal working week is 44 hours, or 2,288 hours a year spread as the business needs, up to 10 hours a day. Overtime carries 25% between 6am and 9pm and 50% at night, rising to 50% and 100% on the weekly rest day. Paid leave is 1.5 working days per month of service, 18 days a year, once the employee has six months’ service, plus 1.5 days for every five years of service, up to 30 days. Maternity leave is 14 weeks, and fathers receive three paid days on each birth.

Employees on open-ended contracts dismissed after six months’ service receive severance of 96 hours’ pay per year for the first five years, 144 hours for years six to ten, 192 hours for eleven to fifteen and 240 hours beyond. A dismissal a court finds unfair costs damages of a month and a half’s pay per year of service, up to 36 months.