Employee benefitsin Haiti

The statutory sickness-and-maternity insurance framework administered by the Office of Work Accident, Sickness and Maternity Insurance (OFATMA) sets a 6% contribution on basic salary, split equally between employer and worker. Basic salary for this rule excludes overtime remuneration. Registration is required within fifteen days of the establishment opening. Insurance contributions, employer-paid absence and the worker’s actual claim eligibility are separate matters.

Employers fund work-injury insurance through the Office of Work Accident, Sickness and Maternity Insurance (OFATMA): 2% for commercial enterprises, 3% for agriculture, industry, construction, navigation agencies and export enterprises, and 6% for mining. The contribution is paid in advance entirely by the employer on total salaries paid under any title. Food or accommodation increases the assessed salary by 25%; both together increase it by 50%. Apprentices use the minimum-wage basis.

The Office of Work Accident, Sickness and Maternity Insurance (OFATMA) includes covered public employees, agricultural/industrial/commercial wage workers and paid domestic personnel in its statutory scope. Employers return the initial enterprise form within eight days of receiving it and keep payroll and insured-person records for at least five years. Free-zone extraterritorial status does not remove labour-law obligations.

Solidarités International’s Artibonite field-coordinator offer provides expatriates with insurance reimbursing medical and surgical treatment, dental and optical care and repatriation. The package includes war-risk protection and reimbursement of essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment. Cover follows the assignment’s insurance terms.

Partners In Health’s June 2024 account describes actual psychological support for Zanmi Lasante health workers in Haiti. After the September 2023 attack at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, clinicians provided small-group therapy and telephone support to affected staff. Earlier site debriefings helped colleagues process grief and trauma. This is a dated healthcare-employer example.

A National Old-Age Insurance Office (ONA) member continuing to contribute after 240 months can use the equitable-pension rule, adding 5% for each further five-year tranche. A member aged at least 55 with more than ten but fewer than twenty contribution years, without physical or mental incapacity, can receive the proportional pension at one fifth of the previous ten years’ average monthly salary.

Private-sector employees contribute 6% of monthly salary to the National Old-Age Insurance Office (ONA), and the employer contributes the same amount. The combined monthly contribution is 12%. Members use an insurance booklet or digital card to access fund services.

A National Old-Age Insurance Office (ONA) member can claim a pension at age 55 after 240 contributions and cessation of remunerated activity. The monthly pension equals 50% of the average monthly salary corresponding to contributions in the last ten working years. Seasonal contribution patterns can require more than twenty calendar years to reach 240 payments; an application and membership documentation are required.

The National Old-Age Insurance Office (ONA) provides survivor pensions to dependants of a deceased pensioner or person already entitled to a pension. Where no pension is due, its restitution routes cover specified permanent incapacity, death and definitive departure of foreign workers. Restitution deducts 1% and outstanding debts. Incapacity routes distinguish members aged 55 or older who are unfit for work and younger members with total incapacity, with fewer than ten contribution years.

The general Labour Code termination framework provides notice or notice indemnity, accrued leave and the accrued annual salary supplement. Contractual or collective benefits can improve these rights; justified damages for unlawful or abusive dismissal are a separate remedy.

For work that does not run regularly throughout the year, including the Code’s small-industry and seasonal examples, annual leave is calculated from days worked including Sundays and public holidays, divided by 30. The ordinary permanent-work rule and termination accrual remain distinct.

Permanent employees receive at least 15 consecutive paid leave days after one year, comprising 13 working days and two Sundays. Non-working holidays and sickness or maternity interruptions are not deducted. Termination before a full year produces a prorated entitlement of 1.25 days per month or 30-day work period. Pay includes normal remuneration and other remuneration actually received, including benefits in kind. Leave pay is separate from notice pay; accumulation requires force majeure, written agreement and Labour Directorate permission, for no more than two years.

Employees receive 15 days of sick leave per year without a reduction in salary, supported by a medical certificate from the company doctor or a public-health service. Employees with less than a year receive proportionate leave according to service already completed. Leave does not ordinarily accumulate; the authorised force-majeure accumulation route remains available.

Solidarités International’s Artibonite expatriate offer includes a 10% monthly annual-leave indemnity alongside base salary. Advertised starting gross monthly remuneration is EUR 3,080, comprising starting base salary of EUR 2,800 plus that indemnity, with pay depending on experience. The offer’s assignment-break programme provides separate rest periods.

Solidarités International’s expatriate Artibonite role provides seven working days of assignment break every three months, with a USD 850 allocation. One additional rest day is added for each month worked. These assignment breaks are distinct from the offer’s monthly paid-leave indemnity.

A pregnant employee has 12 weeks of maternity leave with medical certification and job protection. Six weeks are normally taken before and six after childbirth; a late birth extends prenatal absence without reducing postnatal leave. The certificate identifies a start at least four weeks before the expected birth. The Code assigns payment to the Office of Work Accident, Sickness and Maternity Insurance (OFATMA) for workers duly registered for maternity insurance once its compulsory system operates; pending that system, the employer pays six weeks at the employee’s working remuneration.

A breastfeeding employee can take two paid half-hour breaks in the working day, or choose a paid fifteen-minute break every three hours. Pregnancy or breastfeeding alone cannot justify dismissal; proposed dismissal of a protected worker requires advance Labour Directorate notification and authorisation.

Miscarriage or premature birth of a non-viable child gives two to four weeks’ paid leave at the salary received when leave starts, supported by a medical certificate stating the event and required rest. A viable premature birth uses maternity-leave rules.

Where a medical certificate shows work endangers an employee during pregnancy or after childbirth, the employer must offer a change of work within the business. If that is impossible, unpaid leave can last up to 90 days, separate from maternity leave. During visible pregnancy, the worker receives two additional breaks of at least half an hour a day beyond the meal break.

Covered employees retain pay during weekly rest and legally non-working holidays, with the Code’s temporary-work exception. Exceptional Sunday or non-working-holiday work attracts a 50% premium, without removing applicable weekly-rest pay or night premiums. Listed continuous-service establishments may agree normal Sunday/holiday work with paid compensatory rest, which changes the premium treatment.

Covered employers pay the annual salary supplement, known as the boni, between 24 and 31 December regardless of employment length. It is at least one twelfth of annual remuneration, including cash, benefits in kind, accommodation and commission. New employees receive a service-based proportion, and the accrued share is payable on termination. Duly registered and authorised non-profit and philanthropic institutions have a statutory exemption.

Meal allowances are a common addition to base salary in Haiti. The employer’s policy or contract sets eligibility, payment arrangements and how the allowance relates to wages.

Transport allowances are a common addition to base salary in Haiti. The employer’s policy or contract sets the commuting support, eligibility and payment arrangements.

Phone stipends are a common addition to base salary in Haiti. The employer’s policy or contract sets the phone support, eligibility and payment arrangements.

Housing allowances are a common addition to base salary in Haiti. The employer’s policy or contract sets the housing support, eligibility and payment arrangements.

Solidarités International’s expatriate Artibonite field-coordinator offer includes a USD 750 monthly living allowance alongside salary. The allowance supports assignment living expenses under the employer’s mission arrangements.

For its expatriate Artibonite field-coordinator assignment, Solidarités International covers housing and travel between the expatriate’s home country and the duty location. The assignment’s arrangements determine the accommodation and travel supplied.

Employment involves paid services under another person’s control, direction or dependence. The relationship can be express or implied, verbal or written. A genuine independent contractor agrees services and fees commercially; calling controlled work a consultancy does not itself remove employee protections. An intermediary engaging workers for another business can itself be an employer.

Contracts can be fixed-term or indefinite, oral or written. A written individual contract is made in French in two originals, one for each party, and identifies the parties, work, place, hours, pay and other terms. Agreed and applicable collective terms can improve statutory protection.

Pay dates are agreed, with intervals no longer than fifteen days for manual workers and one month for non-manual workers. Cash wages use legal tender and payment takes place on working days at the workplace. For a task lasting longer than a fortnight, progress payments are made each fortnight and the balance within a fortnight after delivery. Wages include normal work and applicable overtime, night, Sunday and holiday earnings.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 1,000 for an eight-hour workday. Segment A covers private electricity, banks and financial institutions, telecommunications, import-export commerce, supermarkets, jewellery and art galleries, furniture and appliance stores, computer-equipment stores, car rental, air transport, courier and cargo, gambling, vehicle dealers, communications/advertising and non-community media, private schools and universities, private clinics and professional or consulting practices, funeral services, maritime/airport agencies, travel agencies, hotels rated four hibiscus or higher in the local classification and real-estate agencies.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 900 for an eight-hour workday. Segment B covers construction/public works, truck/heavy-equipment and construction-material rental, construction-material transport and hardware stores, cooperatives/credit unions/microfinance, wholesale commerce, cosmetics and clothing stores, bulk-water delivery, land transport, hotels rated three hibiscus or lower in the local classification, printing/photocopying/graphics/lithography/computer services, hairdressing/massage, laundry/dry cleaning, mines/quarries, maritime transport and local-market manufacturing, bottling and breweries.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 760 for an eight-hour workday. Segment C covers restaurants, agriculture/forestry/livestock/fishing, agricultural processing, retail other than the listed Segment A/B exceptions, craft and leather shops, community media and non-market services including national/international non-governmental organisations, foundations, associations and production and financial-service cooperatives.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 500 for an eight-hour workday. Segment E covers domestic service personnel working in private homes.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 1,000 for an eight-hour workday. Segment F covers export-oriented assembly and other export manufacturing. The order separately fixes the production wage at HTG 1,300.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 925 for an eight-hour workday. Segment G covers private security agencies and petroleum-product distribution enterprises.

From 6 May 2026, the minimum reference wage is HTG 900 for an eight-hour workday. Segment H covers private vocational schools and private health institutions employing more than ten people and offering inpatient hospital services.

Unless the parties agree otherwise with written Labour Directorate authorisation, an employee receives at least one and a half hours’ break around the middle of the working day; the break is outside normal working time. Industrial and commercial employees receive at least 24 consecutive hours of paid weekly rest after six consecutive workdays, or after completing 48 hours in fewer days, preferably on Sunday.

Night work runs from 18:00 to 06:00 and ordinarily carries at least a 50% premium above daytime work, alongside applicable overtime and holiday premiums. It is permitted where the service cannot be provided during the day and cannot be imposed for normally daytime work. A regular night contract identifies the premium separately. A specific authorised international-subcontracting exception allows daytime rates for qualifying permanent rotating teams under approved rules and a registered collective agreement.

Normal work is eight hours a day and 48 hours a week in covered agricultural, industrial and commercial establishments. An agreed redistribution can reach nine hours a day in industry or ten in commercial establishments and offices under the statutory 48-hour/six-day conditions. Continuous successive shifts may reach 56 hours a week, with weekly-rest compensation protected. Special establishments, management/confidential roles and approved exceptions have separate rules.

Authorised overtime beyond normal hours carries a 50% premium above ordinary pay. Industrial establishments are limited to 80 overtime hours per quarter. Commercial establishments have a two-hour daily limit and 320-hour annual limit. Labour Directorate approval and consultation with an existing workers’ union apply; dangerous or unhealthy work needs express permission. Statutory exceptions and more favourable terms remain relevant.

An employer relying on a no-notice ground informs the Labour Directorate. The Code lists serious misconduct, damage or safety breaches, unjustified absence for three consecutive days or four occasions in a month, refusal after warning to follow safety/internal rules, specified deception or inability within the first four months, final imprisonment over one month and serious contractual breaches. Labour inspection and conciliation investigate disputes. Unlawful or abusive termination can produce separately justified court-awarded damages up to twelve months’ salary.

At termination, the worker receives outstanding remuneration, qualifying unused annual leave and the accrued boni separately from any notice indemnity. On request, the employer provides a free certificate showing entry date, last day, job and salary. These rights remain distinct from court-awarded abusive-dismissal damages.

Outside the Code’s specified immediate-termination grounds, either party gives notice after at least three consecutive months’ service. The service bands are 15 days for three to twelve months, one month for one to three years, two months for three to six, three months for six to ten and four months from ten years. Written contracts require written notice; a verbal contract permits oral notice before two witnesses. Immediate termination instead requires payment based on the last salary for the notice period. Piece/task workers use average daily earnings over the preceding three months.

A foreign employee ordinarily obtains an employment permit from the Labour Directorate before working; a foreign independent professional requires the work-permit route. A permit lasts no more than one year and renewal is limited to five consecutive years at the authority’s discretion, subject to statutory exemptions. A stay beyond three months/90 days also requires residence permission; entry permission alone does not authorise work.