Employee benefitsin Libya

Social-insurance funding is divided into pension protection, basic pension support, lump-sum benefits and health financing. Published allocations are 15% for pensions, 1% for basic pensions, 1% for lump-sum grants, 1% for specialised healthcare and 2.5% for basic healthcare. Basic healthcare funding goes to the Public Health Insurance Fund for contributors and their families. These financing rules do not establish that every treatment or facility is currently accessible.

Employers must arrange pre-employment and periodic medical examinations, provide necessary insurance against occupational disease and hazards, and arrange healthcare and social protection for workers and their families under the applicable rules. Safety equipment and risk-awareness training cannot be charged to employees. A fatal or incapacitating occupational injury must be reported within 48 hours.

Assaray Trade & Investment Bank provides medical insurance for staff and their families, with treatment through hospitals, clinics, laboratories and pharmacies across Libya under its coverage arrangements. Premium shares, covered treatment and access at a particular facility follow the policy and operating conditions.

Assaray Trade & Investment Bank has launched its Lifestyle programme with health and nutrition advice, activities and challenges, and gym discounts. These are bank-specific staff benefits; a discount does not establish a fully employer-paid gym membership.

Libya’s Social Security Fund administers contributory pension and related social protection. The current published contribution table allocates 20.5% of covered remuneration: for national companies and public bodies, 14.35% employer, 5.125% worker and 1.025% Treasury. For foreign companies, the employer pays 15.375% and the worker 5.125%, with no Treasury share. Registration and wage-based contributions cover national and foreign employment; reciprocal-agreement exceptions require individual confirmation. The employer category, rather than a worker’s passport alone, determines which table applies.

A non-national employee outside social-security coverage can qualify for an end-of-service gratuity, subject to applicable international agreements. It equals half a month of last salary for each of the first five service years and one month for each later year. Leaving without the required notice can remove entitlement. Unjustified dismissal compensation is separately assessed by the court.

The Labour Relations Law permits workplace solidarity funds financed through employer support and agreed worker deductions. This legal mechanism does not by itself establish that an employer operates a fund or specify a standard contribution. It is separate from the national Social Solidarity Fund levy.

Covered employees receive 30 days of paid annual leave each year. This rises to 45 days from age 50 or when service exceeds 20 years. The law requires at least 15 consecutive days to be taken annually. Leave may be postponed or interrupted for work needs or at the employee’s request. On termination, compensation for unused leave depends on why it was deferred; employee-requested deferral is compensable only within the statutory six-month limit.

An approved medical certificate supports paid sick leave of up to 45 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days within a year. A medical committee and social-security process applies when absence exceeds the ordinary limits; the total leave under this provision cannot exceed three months in a year. Certification abroad requires approval through the Libyan diplomatic mission.

Compelling emergencies can justify absence without advance permission, with an explanation on return. The allowance is limited to three days for an event and 12 days in a year, is separate from annual leave and does not carry forward.

An employee receives special leave on full salary for the scheduled duration of academic examinations. Examination scheduling determines the duration.

An employee receives 20 days of special leave on full salary to perform Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, once during the entire service period.

An employee receives two weeks of special leave on full salary for marriage, once during the entire service period.

A woman whose husband dies receives special leave of four months and ten days on full salary. This is a specific widowhood entitlement; it does not establish the same duration for every bereavement.

Employees receive 14 weeks of paid maternity leave on medical certification of the expected birth. At least six weeks must follow childbirth. Multiple births extend the total to 16 weeks. Dismissal because of pregnancy or maternity leave is prohibited; dismissal for an unrelated lawful reason remains separately governed.

A mother returning to work receives at least one paid hour each working day for breastfeeding during the 18 months following childbirth. This nursing time is separate from maternity leave.

Employers of women with children must provide a nursery for their children under the applicable implementing conditions. Employers may jointly establish the facility. The duty does not establish a universal cash childcare allowance or demonstrate current facility availability at every workplace.

Assaray Trade & Investment Bank offers educational support for employees’ children and runs a back-to-school event for staff families. School grants supplement the family’s education spending under the bank’s arrangements.

Assaray Trade & Investment Bank offers staff recognition awards and family activities during the year. Staff can also participate in the bank football team and volunteering opportunities.

Employers must provide training and information needed for safe performance. Separate national workforce-development rules require employers to train registered Libyan jobseekers in a number equivalent to 20% of their foreign workforce, or bear the prescribed training-institution cost. Training contracts must be written in Arabic and define stages and remuneration.

Employers at remote worksites, including mines and oil operations, must arrange access or transport, housing and meals under implementing rules. Those rules determine specifications and any worker charges. Meals cannot simply be replaced by cash. These occupational obligations do not create a universal office-worker housing or meal allowance.

Assaray Trade & Investment Bank offers professional-development training for staff. Course access, selection and budgets follow the bank’s arrangements.

Assaray Trade & Investment Bank reported LYD 660,633 in staff-training costs, LYD 1,595,589 in staff medical expenses and LYD 190,345 in children’s education grants for 2024. These are aggregate employer expenses, rather than per-employee benefit entitlements or a national benchmark.

Employment involves work for remuneration under an employer’s direction and supervision. A contract label alone does not establish genuine independent-contractor status. The Labour Relations Law covers contractual, statutory and participatory work subject to special regimes and the family-activity exception. Self-employed social-insurance rules are separate from employee leave rights.

An employment contract must be written in Arabic in three copies for the parties and labour office, with the required authority approval and authentication. If no written contract exists, the employee can prove the relationship by other evidence. Fixed-term contracts may last up to two years and be renewed once; further renewal or continued performance can convert the relationship to indefinite employment.

Equal-value work must receive equal pay without discrimination on sex, race, religion or colour. Deductions for attachments and loan repayments are limited to a quarter of remuneration under the relevant statutory rule. Interest on worker loans is restricted, with a specified bank housing-loan exception.

Law 16/2023 sets a minimum wage of LYD 1,000 for public- and private-sector workers. The value of a worker’s production or service share must also meet that floor where that remuneration system applies. The law was issued on 22 May 2023; its statutory scope should be distinguished from actual payment and enforcement at a particular workplace.

Overtime attracts at least the normal hourly pay plus 50%, and is limited to three hours a day. Work on the weekly rest day attracts either compensatory time off within three days or additional normal hourly pay. The cash option therefore totals twice normal hourly pay. Special occupational rules can affect scheduling.

Ordinary statutory limits are 48 hours per week and ten hours per day, subject to special occupational rules. Employees receive at least 24 continuous hours of weekly rest, preferably Friday. Break arrangements must avoid more than six continuous hours of work; the Arabic provision limits total ordinary breaks to one hour. Remote and continuous operations have separate arrangements for accumulating rest.

Probation lasts 30 actual working days under the Labour Relations Law. This is a working-day period, which can extend across more than a calendar month.

Either party ending an indefinite contract must ordinarily give at least 30 days’ written notice with proof of delivery. Pay in lieu covers the unserved notice period. During employer-served notice, the employee receives at least two paid working hours each day to seek work. Employees can request a free service certificate recording employment, work, pay and benefits.

Employing a foreign worker requires prior permission from the competent authority. National and foreign employers are generally subject to a 75% national-workforce requirement, with authorised temporary reductions where necessary skills are unavailable. Permission, workforce quotas and individual visa conditions are separate requirements.