Employer of Record in Mauritania

An Employer of Record (EOR) in Mauritania is a company that legally hires employees on your behalf. This means you can build a team in Mauritania without setting up a local entity. The EOR handles all the legal and HR tasks that come with employment. This includes payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance with local labor laws. Think of it as a way to simplify your global expansion. For a practical solution, you can explore services like Rivermate, an Employer of Record provider.

How an Employer of Record (EOR) Works in Mauritania

Using an EOR in Mauritania simplifies the process of hiring employees. It allows you to focus on your business while the EOR manages the legal and administrative tasks of employment. Here is how it typically works:

• You Find the Talent: You identify the candidate you want to hire in Mauritania.
• The EOR Hires Your Candidate: The EOR legally hires the employee through its local entity in Mauritania.
• A Service Agreement is Signed: You and the EOR sign a service agreement. This outlines the terms of your partnership.
• An Employment Contract is Created: The EOR creates a compliant employment contract for your new employee. This contract adheres to Mauritanian labor laws.
• The EOR Manages HR and Payroll: The EOR handles all HR tasks. This includes onboarding, payroll, taxes, and benefits administration.
• Your Employee Works for You: Your new team member performs their daily tasks for your company, just like any other employee.

Why use an Employer of Record in Mauritania

Using an Employer of Record in Mauritania can save you time and money. It allows you to enter the Mauritanian market quickly and compliantly. You avoid the lengthy and expensive process of setting up a legal entity in the country. This means you can focus on growing your business while the EOR takes care of the complexities of local employment laws.

Here are some key benefits of using an EOR in Mauritania:

• Market Entry Speed: Hire employees and start operations in Mauritania in a fraction of the time it would take to establish a local company.
• Compliance with Local Laws: EORs are experts in Mauritanian labor laws. They ensure that your hiring practices are fully compliant, reducing your legal risks.
• Reduced Administrative Burden: The EOR manages all payroll, tax, and benefits administration. This frees up your internal resources to focus on core business activities.
• Cost-Effective Expansion: Avoid the high costs associated with setting up and maintaining a legal entity in a new country.
• Access to Local Expertise: Benefit from the EOR's local knowledge and experience. This can be invaluable for navigating the local business culture and regulatory environment.

Rivermate's transparent pricing model eliminates complexity with a single, competitive monthly fee per employee. Unlike traditional PEO providers, our pricing in Mauritania includes comprehensive HR support, benefits administration, compliance management, and access to our proprietary dashboard for real-time workforce analytics. No hidden costs, no setup fees—just straightforward pricing that scales with your business needs while ensuring full legal compliance in Mauritania.

Hiring in Mauritania can seem complex, but it follows a structured process. The country's economy relies heavily on mining, creating opportunities for skilled professionals in that sector. You will also find roles in technology and engineering. Understanding the local labor laws is key to a successful hiring process. This guide breaks down the essential things you need to know.

Employment contracts & must-have clauses

Every employee in Mauritania needs a written employment contract. You can use a fixed-term contract for a specific project or a short-term need. For ongoing roles, you should use an indefinite-term contract.

Your contracts must include some basic information:

• Your company's details: Name and address.
• The employee's details: Full name, address, and job title.
• The basics: Start date, salary, and working hours.
• The extras: Any benefits you offer, like health insurance.

Probation periods

You can include a probation period in your employment contracts. This gives you and the new hire time to see if it's a good fit. For most employees, the maximum probation period is three months. For managers and highly skilled workers, you can extend this to six months.

Working hours & overtime

The standard workweek in Mauritania is 40 hours, spread over five or six days. Anything more than that is overtime. You must pay employees a higher rate for any overtime hours they work. The exact rate depends on when the overtime happens.

Public & regional holidays

Your employees get paid time off for public holidays. Mauritania has several national and religious holidays throughout the year.

• New Year's Day (January 1)
• Labour Day (May 1)
• Africa Day (May 25)
• Eid al-Fitr
• Eid al-Adha
• Prophet's Birthday
• Independence Day (November 28)

The dates for Islamic holidays change each year because they follow the lunar calendar.

Hiring contractors in Mauritania

You might choose to hire independent contractors for specific projects. This can give you more flexibility. A contractor manages their own work and is not your employee. They handle their own taxes and social security contributions.

This is where things can get tricky. If you treat a contractor like an employee, the law might see them as one. This is called misclassification. It can lead to fines and other penalties. You could be responsible for back taxes and benefits.

An Employer of Record (EOR) can help you avoid this risk. An EOR legally employs workers on your behalf. They handle all the HR tasks, like payroll, taxes, and benefits. This ensures you comply with Mauritanian labor laws. Using an EOR makes it easier to hire in Mauritania without setting up your own legal entity. It simplifies the process and protects you from misclassification risks.

Navigating compensation and payroll in Mauritania means understanding the local rules. You need to get the details right to build a strong team. This includes knowing the minimum wage, typical payment schedules, and what taxes both you and your employees need to pay. Competitive salaries are key, but staying compliant with the law is just as important.

Payroll cycles & wage structure

In Mauritania, the payroll cycle is typically monthly. You will pay your employees once a month, usually at the end of the month.

Your wage structure should be clear. It starts with a base salary. On top of that, it's common to offer allowances. These can include payments for:

• Transportation
• Housing
• Food

Overtime & minimums

The standard workweek in Mauritania is 40 hours. The government sets a national minimum wage that applies to all sectors. As of 2025, the minimum wage is MRU 30,000 per month.

Rules for overtime pay are not set by a single national law. Instead, they depend on collective bargaining agreements within specific industries.

Employer taxes and contributions

As an employer, you must contribute to social security and medical funds for your employees. These are your responsibilities. You will make monthly payments to two main bodies: the CNSS (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale) and the CNAM (Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie).

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Employee taxes and deductions

Your employees also contribute to social security and health insurance. You will deduct these amounts directly from their paychecks through a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. Employees also pay income tax on a progressive scale from 0% to 40%, depending on their earnings.

Here are the deductions from the employee's salary:

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In Mauritania, employee benefits and leave are grounded in the Labor Code. This framework provides for basic entitlements. However, many companies, especially larger international ones, offer more than the legal minimum to attract and keep talented people. Understanding both the required and the common supplemental benefits is key to hiring in the country.

Statutory Leave

Mauritanian law sets minimum leave requirements for employees.

• Annual Leave: You are entitled to 1.5 working days of paid leave for each month of service. This comes out to 18 days per year. Your total leave increases by 2 additional days for every 5 years you work with the same company.
• Maternity Leave: Female employees get 14 weeks of maternity leave. Typically, this is taken as 6 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after. Pay during this time is usually covered by social security.
• Sick Leave: You are entitled to paid sick leave. The length and amount of pay can depend on your employment contract. You will need to provide a medical certificate to justify your absence.
• Family Event Leave: You may be granted short periods of leave for important family events, such as a marriage.
• Paternity Leave: There is no statutory requirement for paternity leave.

Public Holidays & Regional Holidays

Employees are entitled to paid time off for national public holidays. If you work on a public holiday, you are entitled to extra pay or a substitute day off.

Note: Islamic holiday dates are based on the lunar calendar and may vary.

Typical Supplemental Benefits

Many companies offer benefits beyond what the law requires. This helps them stay competitive.

How an EOR Can Help with Setting Up Benefits

Setting up a competitive and compliant benefits package in a new country can be complex. An Employer of Record (EOR) simplifies this process for you.

An EOR already has a legal entity in Mauritania. This means you don't have to go through the lengthy process of setting one up yourself. They handle all the administrative and legal requirements of hiring employees.

Here’s how an EOR can help:

• Compliance: An EOR ensures your benefits packages meet all of Mauritania's legal requirements.
• Administration: They manage everything from payroll to contributions to social security.
• Local Expertise: An EOR understands the local market. They can help you create a benefits package that is attractive to local talent.
• Speed: You can hire employees and have them set up with benefits much faster than if you did it all on your own.

Using an EOR allows you to focus on your business goals while they take care of the complexities of employee benefits and compliance.

When you part ways with an employee in Mauritania, you need to follow a clear process. It involves written notices and specific timelines. This ensures you handle everything fairly and legally. The process protects both you and your employee.

Notice periods

When you decide to terminate an indefinite contract, you must provide written notice. The law does not set a specific notice period. Instead, the employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement determines the length of the notice period. After you give notice, the employee has at least 48 hours to respond.

For fixed-term contracts, the agreement ends on a set date or when the project is finished. You can end these contracts early only under specific conditions, such as:

• Mutual agreement
• Serious misconduct
• Force majeure (unforeseeable circumstances)

Severance pay

Mauritanian law does not require you to pay severance. However, a collective agreement or the employee's individual contract might require it. If so, you must follow the terms of those agreements. You can also choose to offer a severance package even if it's not required.

How Rivermate handles compliant exits

At Rivermate, we make sure your company stays compliant with local laws when an employee leaves. We manage the entire offboarding process for you.

Here's how we help:

• Contract Review: We check the employment contract to ensure we follow all agreed-upon terms for notice and final pay.
• Documentation: We prepare all necessary legal documents for the termination.
• Final Payments: We calculate and process all final payments, including any outstanding salary and benefits.
• Clear Communication: We facilitate clear communication between you and the employee to ensure a smooth process.

We handle the details so you can focus on your business.

Foreign nationals need a work permit to be employed in Mauritania. You must have a work permit before you can apply for a work visa, which allows you to enter the country for employment. The process of getting a work permit can take between two and six weeks, and a visa can take an additional one to two weeks.

Employment visas & sponsorship realities

An Employer of Record (EOR) can legally hire employees in Mauritania on your behalf, removing the need for you to set up a local entity. The EOR is responsible for ensuring that all employment contracts are in compliance with Mauritanian labor laws.

An EOR in Mauritania can sponsor work permits and residence visas for expatriate employees. This includes handling visa applications and ensuring compliance with immigration regulations. To be eligible for a work permit, the foreign national must have skills that are not readily available in the local job market.

The general requirements for a work visa in Mauritania include:

• A passport that is valid for at least six months
• Four recent passport photos
• Two completed and signed visa application forms
• A cover letter from the employer
• Proof of vaccination against yellow fever

Work permits are linked to the employer, so if an employee changes jobs, they will need a new work permit.

There are three main types of work permits:

• Work permit A: Valid for one year and is renewable.
• Work permit B: Valid for a maximum of four years.
• Work permit C: For expatriates who have been in Mauritania for over ten years.

Business travel compliance

For short-term business trips, you will need a business visa. This type of visa is for activities like meetings and negotiations and is not for long-term employment. You can get a visa at the airport when you arrive in Nouakchott.

When traveling to Mauritania for business, keep the following in mind:

• Customs: Professional equipment can be temporarily imported free of duties and taxes.
• Health: A yellow fever vaccination is required to enter the country. Other recommended vaccinations include hepatitis A and B, rabies, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and typhoid.
• Safety: It is recommended to travel in a convoy of at least two vehicles when outside of urban areas. Avoid driving at night between cities.
• Business Etiquette: Business meetings usually start with a period of small talk before getting down to business. Gift-giving is a common tradition. The work week is from Monday to Friday, with most businesses closing at noon on Fridays.