Employee benefitsin Mauritania

CNAM, the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie, provides compulsory health insurance for covered private-sector employees. The employer contributes 5% and the employee 4% of gross remuneration, including fixed allowances. Employers affiliate staff when hired and remit contributions quarterly by the 15th of the next month. Cover extends to the spouse and eligible children up to age 21, with continued eligibility for qualifying disabled children. Treatment uses contracted providers; overseas treatment requires the insurer’s evacuation approval.

The National Social Security Fund provides occupational-injury and occupational-disease protection. The employment contract is suspended throughout certified temporary incapacity from a workplace accident or occupational disease. Medical care and cash benefits follow the social-insurance eligibility and assessment rules; employers must also observe accident reporting and prevention duties. This protection differs from private accident or life insurance bought as an additional benefit.

Private medical insurance is a principal employer benefit in the formal market. The employer’s policy defines eligible relatives, covered treatment, provider access and cost sharing. This insurance supplements compulsory health protection; employers should distinguish the extra policy’s benefits and employee costs when explaining the package.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, describes employee-and-family care through two company medical clinics and workplace health units. This direct care supplements compulsory health insurance; eligibility follows the company’s arrangements.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, subsidises sports and cultural associations for staff and families; access follows the company’s local arrangements.

CNSS, the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale, administers pensions, family benefits and occupational-injury protection. Covered employers contribute 13% and employees 1% of insurable monthly earnings, capped at MRU 15,000. The ceiling applies to this contribution base rather than the separate compulsory health-insurance contribution. Employers should identify the correct base for each scheme instead of applying a single payroll percentage to the whole salary. Pension and survivor eligibility depend on the insured person’s age, service and contribution history.

The collective agreement grants qualifying dismissed staff severance separate from notice and accrued leave. Ordinary severance depends on service and the applicable agreement’s graduated scale. Collective economic dismissal uses 30%, 40% and 50% for the first 5 years, years 6–10 and later service respectively. Fractions of years count; serious misconduct can exclude entitlement. The base is average global monthly remuneration over the last 12 months, excluding expense reimbursements.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, describes a supplementary pension for Mauritanian nationals on indefinite contracts working in Mauritania. Individual accounts receive 10% of monthly salary from the employer and 7% from the worker. After employment ends, monthly payments run for 120 months. The scheme supplements the National Social Security Fund’s public pension protection and has company-specific eligibility.

Adult resident employees accrue 1.5 working days of paid leave per month, equivalent to 18 working days for a full year, normally exercisable after 12 months of effective service. Workers under 18 accrue 2 days per month; workers habitually resident outside Mauritania accrue 3. Seniority adds 1 day after 10 years, 2 after 15 and 3 after 20; mothers receive an additional day for each qualifying child under 14. More favourable collective provisions can apply. Employers pay leave remuneration when leave starts and settle accrued leave on departure. The collective agreement gives its qualifying expatriation or distance-allowance cohort 2 working days per month where this improves the legal entitlement.

A serious or disabling non-occupational illness or accident, certified by an occupational-health doctor or another approved doctor, suspends employment for up to 6 months. Suspension may continue until replacement is required, and the 2022 amendment preserves contractual remuneration and benefit rights at 50% during the protected period. The rule depends on the statutory medical certification and applicable list of conditions; collective agreements and contracts can provide more favourable sick-pay terms. Ordinary short illness should be assessed against those applicable terms. Covered collective-agreement workers also receive employer sick pay by service: at least 1 month at full pay then 3 at half pay in the first year, 2 then 4 months in years 2–5, and 3 then 6 months after 5 years. Notice-based full-pay minima and annual aggregate limits apply.

The Labour Code protects exceptional paid family permissions of up to 10 days a year from deduction against annual leave; the occasion and applicable agreement determine the permission. A once-in-career Hajj pilgrimage, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, can suspend employment for up to 30 consecutive days with contractual pay and benefit rights maintained. A widowed female employee can receive up to 130 consecutive days for iddah, the religious waiting period following her spouse’s death, with contractual pay and benefit rights maintained. Covered collective-agreement workers receive paid family permissions within a 12-day annual limit, including 3 days for marriage or a spouse’s or child’s death and 2 for a parent’s or sibling’s death, subject to evidence and approval.

Maternity leave lasts 14 consecutive weeks, including an irreducible 8 weeks after childbirth. Certified illness resulting from pregnancy or delivery can extend leave by 3 weeks. Contractual pay and benefit rights are maintained during maternity leave, alongside applicable social-security benefits, and dismissal is prohibited during the protected absence. For 15 months after birth, nursing mothers receive up to one paid hour per day within working time, which can be split into two periods.

Covered collective-agreement employees receive one paid day when a child is born, within the agreement’s aggregate family-permission limit. Prior approval applies except in force majeure, and the employee must provide supporting civil-status evidence promptly. This is birth-event leave under the collective agreement, distinct from maternity leave.

National public holidays are paid non-working days under the holiday law. The recurring calendar includes New Year’s Day, Labour Day, Africa Day, Independence Day and four Islamic festivals. The President can designate extra days by decree, specifying their treatment. Work on a legal paid holiday attracts the premium required by the applicable collective agreement or implementing order. Islamic dates follow national moon decisions, and exceptional days should be checked for the particular year.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, reports general and merit-related pay increases and exceptional staff bonuses; awards depend on company rules.

An employer must provide suitable housing where a permanently engaged worker is recruited away from the habitual residence and cannot obtain adequate accommodation for the family. Where a worker cannot obtain essential food supplies regularly, the Labour Code also places a supply duty on the employer. These conditional protections depend on the employment situation and differ from a general cash housing or grocery allowance for every employee. Relocation and family travel obligations require the applicable contract and statutory travel rules.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, operates subsidised essential-goods stores in Zouerate and Nouadhibou; household eligibility and purchasing conditions follow company terms.

Kinross Tasiast adjusted employee working arrangements during Ramadan in 2024, with modified schedules, meal-service arrangements and fatigue-management support. Such practical accommodations help align work with fasting and prayer while maintaining operational safety. The arrangement is an employer-specific mining example; it does not establish a national hybrid-work entitlement or a standard reduction in weekly hours.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, provides initial and continuing staff training, including partnerships with equipment manufacturers; individual development depends on the role.

In its May 2023 workforce disclosure, SNIM, Mauritania’s national industrial and mining company, provides employee housing in Zouerate and Nouadhibou, subject to its allocation rules; this is a specific employer arrangement.

An employee performs paid work under another person’s direction and authority. The relationship’s actual supervision and organisation therefore matter alongside its written label. Genuine independent contractors negotiate their fees, expenses and any additional support with the client; employee paid leave and compulsory employer contributions do not automatically become client-funded benefits.

Employment can generally be proved in any form, but specified contracts require writing and labour-inspector approval, including contracts exceeding 3 months and those involving relocation from the worker’s normal residence. Fixed-term contracts are generally renewable once, subject to statutory exceptions; the 2024 amendment limits their total duration, including renewals, to 2 years. Non-resident foreign-worker arrangements have separate implementing rules. Employers should distinguish labour approval from a business-entry visa.

Monthly employees must be paid at intervals no longer than one month. Hourly or daily workers generally receive pay at intervals no longer than 15 days, with specific arrangements allowing monthly payment and a fortnightly advance in larger establishments. Monthly wages are payable within 8 days after the month ends. Final wages fall due when service ends. Contracts should specify the pay period, salary components and any collectively required allowances.

From 1 April 2026, the general minimum wage is MRU 28.846 per hour for occupations subject to the 40-hour week. Agricultural and assimilated workers have a minimum of MRU 25 per hour. These are new-ouguiya amounts: payroll should use the hourly rate and applicable working-time framework rather than treating old-ouguiya figures in historical material as current MRU wages. Sectoral minima and more favourable agreements may require higher pay.

The general non-agricultural limit is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Agricultural work follows a 2,400-hour annual framework. Employees receive at least 10 consecutive hours of daily rest and 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, and may not ordinarily work more than 6 days in a week. Overtime and holiday-work premiums depend on the applicable collective agreement or implementing instrument; an employer must determine the correct schedule before setting additional hours.

Probation must be agreed in writing. Its total duration, including renewal, cannot ordinarily exceed 6 months; the Labour Code permits up to 12 months for qualifying executives and workers whose habitual residence is outside Mauritania, subject to more favourable collective terms. During a valid trial, termination generally carries no notice or compensation unless the agreement or an abuse-of-rights rule changes the result.

Dismissal requires a real, serious and legitimate reason. Before deciding, the employer gives written allegations and allows 48 hours for the employee’s written explanation; the subsequent decision and reasons are notified in writing. Applicable collective notice periods distinguish 15 days for lower-category manual workers, 1 month for other workers and employees or technicians and supervisors, and 3 months for engineers and executives. Paid job-search time is one day a week during notice. Pay in lieu must include the remuneration and benefits the employee would have received.