Employee benefitsin the Gambia

The employer pays for the required pre-employment medical examination in specified occupations, including dock work, processing, driving, security, food, hotels and fishing, and qualifying major foreign-funded projects. The examination is arranged within the month before employment or as soon as practicable afterward. This occupational requirement is distinct from ongoing private medical insurance.

Employers fund the Industrial Injury Compensation Fund through a contribution of 1% of gross monthly salary, capped at GMD 15 per employee per month when salary reaches GMD 1,500. The fund provides protection for occupational injury and disease. This employer-only contribution is separate from retirement contributions.

Employers must provide necessary protective equipment without charging employees and maintain workplace welfare facilities, including clean drinking water, washing and sanitary facilities, appropriate seating and first aid.

The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine provides staff primary care at Fajara and a staff clinic in Basse. Its services include outpatient consultations, medicines, dressings, diagnostic laboratory services, X-rays, ultrasound and ambulance referrals. Specialist care outside the unit’s facilities requires referral. Access to staff care and any reimbursement follow the employer’s arrangements.

The Federated Pension Scheme is a separate retirement arrangement administered by the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation. Participating employers contribute 15% of gross salary, including basic salary and fixed allowances. The employer funds this contribution. It is an alternative scheme, so its 15% must not be added automatically to National Provident Fund contributions for the same employee.

The National Provident Fund is an individual retirement savings scheme administered by the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation. Covered employees contribute 5% of basic salary and employers contribute 10%. Contributions are due by the 15th of the following month. At age 60, the member receives accumulated contributions and interest; an annuity can be requested. Coverage includes eligible employees of registered businesses regardless of nationality, with exclusions including certain short casual engagements. This is distinct from the alternative Federated Pension Scheme.

National Provident Fund members aged 45–54 who become unemployed can apply to withdraw 70% of their balance after a six-month cooling-off period. Members aged 55–59 can apply for 85% after three months. The remaining balance is payable at age 60. These are withdrawals from the member’s savings, not additional employer severance, and returning to employment cancels unemployment-based entitlement.

Paid annual leave is set by the applicable Joint Industrial Council agreement, collective agreement or employment contract. A Joint Industrial Council is an industry negotiating body. Leave accrues proportionately each month; the employer consults the employee about timing. Leave pay uses the normal contractual rate excluding overtime and bonuses. Accrued untaken leave is paid when employment ends.

Paid sick leave entitlement is determined by the applicable Joint Industrial Council agreement, collective agreement or employment contract. A medical certificate supports the claim. Accumulation is capped at the entitlement for 12 months of employment. Sick pay must be no less than the normal contractual workday rate including overtime and bonuses.

A 2026 Research Fellow appointment based at Fajara with the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine offers 30 working days of annual leave, pro rata for part-time work. This is a disclosed international academic appointment; it does not establish a universal policy for all locally hired staff or employers.

A 2026 Fajara Research Fellow appointment at the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine includes additional discretionary Wellbeing Days. The number and timing of these additional days are discretionary.

An employee is entitled to six months of maternity leave with pay after producing a medical officer’s certificate stating the expected date of childbirth. Dismissal during maternity leave is prohibited.

A male employee is entitled to 10 working days of paid paternity leave. The leave must be claimed within six months after the child’s birth.

An employee nursing an unweaned child may take two 30-minute breaks or one hour each working day, at a time convenient to her, to nurse the child. The Act defines a nursing mother by reference to the first 18 months after delivery. Pregnant employees cannot be required to work at night between 22:00 and 07:00. Overtime requires written consent during pregnancy and while the mother’s child is under eight months old.

Employees receive regular remuneration for public holidays. A public holiday falling during annual leave adds one paid working day when it falls on a day the employee would ordinarily have worked.

The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine identifies flexible working as part of its working environment. Its 2026 Fajara Research Fellow appointment refers to the school’s hybrid-working framework, subject to role suitability. Remote-working frequency depends on the role and employer policy.

The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine identifies continuous learning as part of its staff offer. Eligibility, learning support and time for training follow the employer’s arrangements.

Employment protection depends on the actual working relationship and the Labour Act’s definitions, rather than a contract’s label alone. The Act covers private-sector employment while excluding specified public and disciplined-service employment. Genuine independent service engagements require separate contractual and tax treatment; employee leave and retirement contributions should not be promised automatically under a contractor agreement.

Every employment contract must be in writing. An employee must have 48 hours to read the contract and seek advice before signing. The employer must provide written employment particulars by commencement or no later than 14 working days afterward, including remuneration and working hours. Failure to put the agreement in writing does not prevent the employee enforcing it.

Wages based on hourly, daily, weekly or piece rates must be paid at least fortnightly. Monthly or annual salaries must be paid at least monthly. Employees receive an itemised statement showing gross pay, deductions, net pay, payment date and pay period.

Working hours form part of the employee’s written employment particulars. Applicable sectoral agreements and the employment contract need to be checked before setting a working schedule or overtime arrangements.

The maximum probation period is 12 months for skilled employees, six months for semi-skilled employees and three months for unskilled employees. Either party may terminate employment without notice during probation.

On expiry of a fixed-term contract, the employee is entitled to a gratuity of at least 25% of basic pay earned during the contract period or retirement-scheme benefits, as applicable. Early termination of a fixed-term contract also carries a minimum 25% gratuity under the statutory rule. Casual employees and employees on probation are excluded. The separate two-months-per-year payment for insolvency, winding-up, specified business transfers or death in service must not be treated as an entitlement on every termination.

An employer making an employee redundant must give six months’ notice and pay a redundancy allowance equal to six months of regular remuneration. These are separate requirements. Redundancy requires sound business reasons and consultation about alternatives, retraining and possible re-engagement, subject to the Act’s limited consultation exceptions.

The revenue authority states an annual employer expatriate quota payroll tax of GMD 10,000 for a worker who is a citizen of the Economic Community of West African States and GMD 50,000 for other expatriates. The employer cannot recover this tax from the worker. This tax is separate from work permission and social-security obligations.

Employers deduct Pay As You Earn income tax from employment remuneration, including wages, salaries and bonuses, and file the return within 15 days after month-end. Annual taxable employment income is taxed progressively: 0% on the first GMD 36,000, then 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% on each successive GMD 10,000 band, with 25% on income above GMD 76,000. Each rate applies to its own band. The annual tax-free amount is equivalent to GMD 3,000 monthly. Employers separately pay fringe benefits tax at 27% on taxable benefits such as housing, vehicles and loans; valuation rules determine that taxable amount.