Employee benefitsin Samoa

Employers and employees each pay a 1% wage levy to the Accident Compensation Corporation, Samoa’s statutory accident compensation scheme. These levies are separate from provident-fund contributions.

The Accident Compensation Corporation may pay reasonable first-aid, hospital, physiotherapy and prescription expenses for a covered accident. It may also pay reasonable transport costs for treatment and checkups when advised by a medical practitioner. Employer registration under the accident levy is required for employee claims.

An employee living with a disability who needs medical attention receives sufficient time off to seek it, as reasonable in the circumstances. The employer may provide transport when practical and reasonable. The rule does not prescribe a fixed leave duration or pay amount.

Bank South Pacific (BSP) Samoa’s careers programme includes health and wellness programmes for employees. These employer programmes support wellbeing alongside statutory accident compensation.

For a covered worker’s loss of earnings, the Accident Compensation Corporation may pay weekly compensation of up to 70% of earnings, capped at WST 1,000 a week, for up to five years. The payment is not taxable. Claims remain subject to the scheme’s accident and registration rules.

Employees and employers each contribute at least 10% of gross wages to the Samoa National Provident Fund, a retirement savings scheme. Gross wages include overtime, allowances, bonuses and other monetary employment compensation. Employers register themselves and their employees and remit the combined 20% by the seventh day after month-end. Employees may authorise higher payroll contributions in writing.

At age fifty-five, a Samoa National Provident Fund member may withdraw the account as a lump sum or choose a lifetime fortnightly pension. Under the pension option, 75% of net contributions after fund debts finances the pension and 25% is paid as a lump sum. On the pensioner’s death, the spouse receives half the pension for up to ten years, ending earlier on death or remarriage.

Before redundancy, the employer considers suitable redeployment, consults the relevant union, gives written reasons and provides statutory notice or pay in lieu. Where more than twenty employees are affected, the ministry’s Chief Executive Officer must be notified at least one month in advance. Accrued leave and contractual benefits are settled on exit.

Employees receive at least ten days of paid annual leave after twelve months of continuous service with the same employer, including probation. Leave can be taken proportionally during the year of accumulation. Up to twenty unused days carry forward, with a longer carryover by agreement. With employer approval, the employee may choose payment instead of taking leave.

Employees receive at least ten days of sick leave at their normal rate of pay after twelve months of continuous service, including probation. Proportional sick leave may be taken after three months of employment. A medical certificate is required for an illness absence of at least three days. Up to twenty unused sick days carry forward, with an agreed extension possible.

An employee returning from maternity leave receives one or more daily breaks, or a daily reduction in working hours, to breastfeed or express milk. The law protects return to the same or an equivalent position on the same rate of pay.

After twelve months of continuous service and medical confirmation of pregnancy, an employee receives maternity leave under one of two payment options, following consultation: at least four consecutive weeks at full pay plus two weeks unpaid, or at least six consecutive weeks at two-thirds of normal salary. Leave may start at the employee’s requested time during or after pregnancy. Third-trimester miscarriage and stillbirth also qualify. The employee gives written intended start and return dates and may return to the same or an equivalent job at the same pay.

A male employee receives at least five days of paid paternity leave after twelve months of continuous service. A medical certificate gives the expected birth date, and the employee’s wife or qualifying partner makes a written request. A qualifying de facto partner has cohabited with the employee for at least nine months.

If a public holiday falls on an employee’s ordinary workday, the employee receives the day off at the ordinary wage. For required public-holiday work on a day not ordinarily worked, the employer pays double ordinary wages or ordinary wages plus another working day off. Non-ordinary Sunday work is paid at least double ordinary pay unless a whole day within three days before or after Sunday is agreed instead. Normal Sunday shift work follows its own employment terms.

Bank South Pacific (BSP) Samoa provides recognition and reward programmes that recognise employee contributions. The employer’s programme determines the form and timing of an award.

Employers must not discriminate in access to fringe benefits, training or promotion for employees in comparable circumstances. Employment terms may provide more favourable training and development support.

A foreign employee covered by the permit requirement must hold a valid employment permit before starting work. The employer applies for the specific role and employer; the permit is not transferable. Permits may last up to three years, and the employee also needs valid residence permission. Evidence may include the offer, qualifications, medical and police clearance, local advertising and the employer’s tax and contribution records.

Bank South Pacific (BSP) Samoa offers flexible working arrangements to help employees balance family and work. The arrangement sits within the employee’s role and employment terms.

Bank South Pacific (BSP) Samoa provides continuous learning opportunities, from structured training programmes to informal mentoring, together with leadership development opportunities.

The employment statute defines an employee broadly by the actual contractual service relationship, including clerical, manual, managerial and apprenticeship work. A genuine independent business supplies services under a commercial arrangement and deals with its own applicable business taxes. A service label alone does not establish that an employment relationship falls outside employee protections.

A contract lasting more than two months must be written. A written contract uses Samoan or English at the employee’s choice, with three original copies: one for each party and one available to the ministry’s Chief Executive Officer on request. More favourable employment terms remain enforceable alongside the statutory minimum.

A wage period cannot exceed one month. Wages are paid within seven days after the period ends, normally directly to the employee at work on a working day. Samoan currency is the default, with another currency, cheque or bank deposit allowed with the employee’s written request or consent. Each period’s statement itemises wages, hours, overtime, allowances, deductions and net pay. Employees may request employment records in writing and receive them within five working days.

The minimum wage for covered private-sector and state-owned enterprise employees is WST 5.24 an hour from 1 July 2026. The enacted schedule increases it to WST 5.65 from 1 July 2027 and WST 6.05 from 1 July 2028. Public Service Act workers are outside this wage notice’s scope.

Ordinary work is generally capped at eight hours a day and forty hours a week, excluding meal times. A one-hour meal interval normally follows no more than four and a quarter continuous hours. A five-hour work period is permitted where a fifteen-minute rest is provided within a period of at least three hours. Continuous operations may use eight consecutive hours including at least forty-five minutes for meals. Agreed redistribution may reach nine hours a day while staying within forty hours a week. Employees receive at least thirty-six consecutive hours of rest in seven days and eight hours of daily rest; an employer cannot require twelve consecutive hours of work. Domestic and shift work have separate rules.

Employer-requested work beyond eight hours in a day or forty hours in a week attracts at least one and a half times the ordinary rate of pay; the same hours are not paid twice under both tests. An employee may request time off instead. An annual-salary managerial contract may include compensation for additional hours and exclude these overtime payments. Regular shift-work overtime uses average hours above forty a week over two weeks.

An employer may appoint an employee on probation for no more than three months at the start of employment. Confirmation or termination during probation must be in writing. If the appointment is not confirmed before probation ends, it is deemed confirmed.

For ordinary conduct or performance dismissal, the employer must give at least three written warnings, an opportunity to improve, a chance to respond, written reasons and the applicable notice. Serious misconduct may permit dismissal without notice after written allegations and a reasonable opportunity to respond. On exit, wages, accrued unused annual leave and other contractual benefits are payable.

Statutory notice increases with service: one week from three months to one year; two weeks from one to four years; three weeks from four to seven; four weeks from seven to ten; five weeks from ten to thirteen; six weeks from thirteen to sixteen; seven weeks from sixteen to nineteen; and eight weeks beyond nineteen years. The schedule’s exact adjoining endpoints apply. Seasonal workers, trainees at the end of training and casual workers with less than two months’ service have specific notice exceptions. Employers may pay full notice remuneration instead, including applicable bonuses, allowances and overtime.

Employee salary and wage income is subject to progressive annual income tax: the first WST 15,000 is untaxed, the portion above WST 15,000 through WST 25,000 is taxed at 20%, and the portion above WST 25,000 at 27%. Employers withhold Pay As You Earn tax, including on taxable allowances, and file a monthly P4 payroll return.

Samoa’s Labour and Employment Relations Act covers private and non-government businesses and public bodies, with separate provisions for domestic work and other employee categories. Public service and police employment, traditional service to a chief within the extended-family system and subsistence agriculture are excluded. More favourable contractual terms can supplement the statutory minimum. Samoa is a separate jurisdiction from American Samoa.

Fortnightly pay is reported as common for wage workers in Samoa, while monthly pay is typical for salaried and professional roles. The employment contract sets the pay arrangement within the statutory maximum wage period.