Employee benefitsin Papua New Guinea

Workers’ compensation protects employees and their dependants when injury or death arises out of employment. Employers must comply with compulsory workers’ compensation insurance requirements. The regulator’s claims procedure requires notice of injury or death within seven days and a compensation application within 12 months of the loss.

Injury claims need worker and employer forms, medical evidence and supporting records. Death claims require dependant and employer forms, death evidence and proof of dependency. This protection is separate from ordinary sick pay and private medical insurance.

At an employee’s request, the employer must arrange necessary treatment or hospitalization for the employee or an accompanying dependant living at or near the workplace. Treatment the employer provides at the workplace is free to the employee. For employees under an attested contract, a contract formally approved by a labour officer, necessary treatment for the employee and accompanying dependants is also employer-funded, subject to the Act’s fault and refusal-of-care exceptions. Necessary transport must be arranged if requested.

BSP Financial Group includes health and wellness programmes in its employee proposition in Papua New Guinea. These are employer programmes supporting wellbeing; participation, services and any personal costs follow the relevant programme terms.

Superannuation is a savings fund for retirement. For qualifying Papua New Guinean citizen employees, employers with at least 15 employees must contribute 8.4% of base salary and deduct an employee contribution of 6% after an employee has completed at least three months of continuous employment. Employer contributions must reach an authorised superannuation fund within 14 days after each calendar month ends. Employee deductions must be remitted within 14 days of deduction. Smaller employers and their employees can participate voluntarily.

Eligible employees receive 14 consecutive days of annual leave for each year of continuous service, including non-working days within that period. A public holiday falling on what would have been an ordinary working day adds an extra ordinary working day. The employer pays ordinary wages before leave starts.

Leave accrues after each 12 months; employer and employee can agree to accumulate credits for up to four years. When employment ends after at least six months, the entitlement is one day for each completed month of service. Casual workers and piece-rate workers, who are paid for agreed units of work, are excluded. Registered awards, legally registered employment terms for specific workers or industries, can modify the entitlement.

After six months with the employer, eligible employees receive six paid sick days a year for non-work-related illness or injury. The employee must provide an acceptable medical certificate. Pay is at the ordinary rate; rest days, public holidays and paid annual-leave days do not also attract sick pay. Casual employees and piece-rate employees, who are paid for agreed units of work, are excluded.

Unused credits can accumulate to 18 days in addition to the current year’s credits. Employees should notify or attempt to notify the employer within 72 hours of becoming absent; the Act removes entitlement where both the certificate and notification requirements are unmet.

Maternity leave covers necessary hospitalization before childbirth and six weeks after childbirth. A further period of up to four weeks is available where sickness following childbirth prevents a return to work. Eligibility requires employment for at least 108 days with the employer in the previous 12 months, or 90 days in the previous six months.

The leave is unpaid unless the employee chooses to use accrued annual leave or sick leave for pay. Employment cannot be terminated during this maternity leave except by mutual consent. Returning during leave requires a medical fitness certificate.

An employee nursing her child receives at least two half-hour breaks during normal working hours each day. These breaks count as working time, and the employer cannot deduct wages for taking them.

The general statutory framework does not provide paternity leave. Employers can provide paid or unpaid partner leave through the employment contract or company policy.

The general statutory framework does not provide a separate parental leave entitlement or leave for adoptive parents. Any additional employer leave follows the terms of the employment contract or company policy.

An eligible employee employed on the day before a public holiday receives usual wages if not required to work that holiday. Casual workers and piece-rate workers paid for agreed units of work are excluded from this non-working holiday-pay rule. Employees who work on the holiday receive usual wages plus the statutory payment for the hours worked. An employer ending an eligible employee’s employment the day before a holiday must still pay the holiday wages.

BSP Financial Group operates reward programmes recognising employee contributions. The employer sets the award form, assessment criteria and value; this example does not establish a fixed cash bonus or a national award scale.

BSP Financial Group offers flexible working arrangements as part of its employment proposition in Papua New Guinea, supporting employees who balance work and family responsibilities. The arrangement is set by the employer and role; it does not establish a countrywide entitlement to work remotely.

BSP Financial Group provides structured training, informal mentoring and leadership development opportunities for its employees. Its graduate programme adds practical experience across business areas and mentoring by senior colleagues. This is a named employer example rather than a standard annual training allowance.

Employment rights depend on the working relationship. The Employment Act defines an employee as a person working under a contract of service, including an oral or implied agreement. Calling someone a contractor does not by itself determine their legal status. Genuine independent contractors negotiate their own fees and client-funded support; employee leave entitlements should not be assumed to apply to them.

Employees must be told who employs them, where and in what role they will work, the period of employment, wages, deductions and payment arrangements. Oral employment contracts require a written record of their terms. A literate employee’s written contract must be signed and confirmed as read and understood; a copy goes to the employee. Contracts involving employees unable to read require a labour officer’s approval and attestation, the formal process for checking informed consent and lawful terms.

For employees other than casual workers or piece-rate workers paid for agreed units of work, wages are normally paid at intervals of no more than two weeks. Employer and employee can agree to intervals of up to one month. Wages are payable in Papua New Guinean currency, with an itemised statement showing ordinary wages, additional pay and deductions.

The national minimum wage is PGK 5 per hour from 1 January 2026. It is the legal pay floor; an applicable registered award or employment contract can require higher pay.

Ordinary overtime is paid at 1.5 times the hourly rate, with Sunday overtime at twice the hourly rate. Public-holiday work attracts the usual holiday wages plus payment for the hours worked at the hourly rate. The employer and employee can agree to substitute time off during ordinary hours for overtime pay, within the statutory payment window.

Work on Good Friday or Christmas Day also earns equivalent time off within seven days, in addition to the overtime payment. The Act calculates overtime hourly rates using 44 hours a week and 52 weeks a year; a daily wage is divided by eight.

The general maximum is 12 hours of work in a day, subject to statutory exceptions and registered awards, which are legally registered terms for particular workers or industries. Non-shift employees normally receive at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week. An employee working eight hours or more receives meal or rest breaks totalling at least 50 minutes.

For non-shift employees, overtime includes work beyond eight hours on an ordinary weekday, work after midday Saturday, and Sunday or public-holiday work. For shift employees it includes work beyond eight hours a day or 44 hours in seven days. Employees paid for agreed units of work, called piece-rate employees, are outside these working-time rules.

Where the contract does not specify notice, the Act sets one day for service under four weeks, one week from four weeks to under one year, two weeks from one to under five years, and four weeks from five years of service. Notice is equal for employer and employee. These statutory notice rules do not apply during the first two years of a written contract unless the parties agree otherwise.

Notice for a literate employee’s written contract must be in writing; other contracts allow oral or written notice. The day notice is given counts in the notice period. Mutual agreement and lawful summary termination are separate routes to ending employment.