Namibia PEO & Employer of Record

WeHG provides an International PEO and global Employer of Record service in Namibia to companies willing to enter the Namibian market or hire local/expat employees in this area.

Wide-spread approach requires establishing a subsidiary in Namibia.  At the same time, our solution allows you to start the operations in Namibia within days hence save time and money.  WeHG would hire job-seekers on your behalf while you maintain full operational control of their work. Moreover, they would be our employees legally, on our local payroll, 100% reasonable but will work on your behalf.

Namibia fast facts

Population, million: 2
Land area: 825,615 km²
Capital: Windhoek
Local currency: Namibian dollar (NAD), South African rand (ZAR)

GDP per capita:$ 11,516
GDP in currency:$ 27.505 billion

Namibia, officially Republic of Namibia, also called (internationally until 1968) South West Africa, Afrikaans Namibië or Suidwesafrica, country located on the southwestern coast of Africa. It is bordered by Angola to the north, Zambia to the northeast, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the southeast and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It ranges from arid in the north to desert on the coast and in the east. The landscape is spectacular, but the desert, mountains, canyons, and savannas are perhaps better to see than to occupy.

Hiring, Negotiating and Doing Business in Namibia

Necessity of written employment contract

An employer must provide a copy of the written contract but before the contract is signed the employer must explain to the domestic worker the terms of the contract in a language which the domestic worker understands.

Different forms of engagement: employment, contracting, work with private entrepreneur

There are two forms of companies commonly used by foreign investors:

• Private or public limited liability companies.
• Close corporations

The following steps need to be taken in order to incorporate a company:

• Reservation of a company name involves a company name search and reservation at the Registrar of Companies within the Ministry of Trade and Industry. If the proposed name is acceptable, it will be reserved for sixty days.
• Fees and revenue stamps at the Receiver of Revenue will need to be paid.
• An attorney will register the company with the Registrar of Companies and obtain a certificate of incorporation and a certificate of business commencement.
• The funds for the initial capital deposit must be paid into a bank account.
• The company must apply to receive a fire and health inspection in order to obtain a certificate of fitness prior to the commencement of business operations.
• The company will then receive the certificate of fitness from the local municipality.

A business would have to register for tax, workmen’s compensation and with the social security commission. Trading licenses are not required. It takes between ten and fifteen business days to incorporate a company in Namibia.

Defensive name registrations are possible and will take between 5 and 10 business days. A defensive name registration is valid for 2 years.

Namibia Employment Contract

Types of employment agreements

Types of employment agreements

Generally, in Namibia employees and employers use a fixed-term employment contract.

Fixed-term contracts typically offer a lower level of protection to workers in terms of termination of employment as compared to contracts of indefinite duration. This is because the employer generally does not need to provide a justification for ending the employment relationship, as the FTC includes a set end date. In the majority of cases, no severance pay is paid. Convention No. 158 specifies that member States may exclude workers engaged under “a contract of employment for a specified period of time or a specified task” from all or some of the provisions of the Convention. However, it also provides that “adequate safeguards” must be provided against recourse to such contracts that would aim at avoiding the protection resulting from the Convention.

The Termination of Employment Recommendation, 1982 provides guidance on adequate safeguards that can be implemented.   It provides, for example, that “provision may be made for one or more of the following:

• limiting recourse to contracts for a specified period of time to cases in which, owing either to the nature of the work to be effected or to the circumstances under which it is to be effected or to the interests of the worker, the employment relationship cannot be of indeterminate duration;
• deeming contracts for a specified period of time, other than in the cases referred to in clause of this subparagraph, to be contracts of employment of indeterminate duration;
• deeming contracts for a specified period of time, when renewed on one or more occasions, other than in the cases mentioned in clause of this subparagraph, to be contracts of employment of indeterminate duration”.

While some national systems do not regulate the use of fixed-term contracts, others consider one or several types of safeguards: establishing the list of reasons under which enterprises are allowed to use fixed-term contracts, placing limits on the maximum number of successive fixed-term contract with the same worker, or placing limits on the maximum cumulative duration of successive FTCs.

Namibia working hours

The normal hours of work should not exceed 45 hours a week but this does not apply to security guards. For security guards a maximum of 60 hours a week applies.

However, if the working week is five days, then the working day may not exceed nine hours a day. For those working six days per week, ordinary working hours should not exceed 7.5 hours a day. This translates to 12 hours a day and 10 hours day respectively for security guards.

Casual employees should not work more than nine hours a day and not for more than two days a week.

Overtime

No matter how important you may be to a company or no matter how hardworking you may be, every employee in Namibia should have time to rest.

However, if you want to work overtime then you may not work more than three hours per day or 10 hours per week.

Overtime rates are 1.5 times the hourly rate on normal working days and double the hourly rate on Sundays and public holidays.

Vacation leave in Namibia

Annual leave is intended to allow employees to have some rest from their working environment.

According to the country’s Labour Act, an employee is entitled to 24 consecutive days of annual leave with full remuneration.

Namibia Maternity Leave

According to the Labour Act, 2007, where a female employee has completed six months of continuous service, she is entitled to maternity leave of four weeks before her expected date of confinement. After her date of confinement, she is entitled to eight weeks of maternity leave in every case. Total duration of maternity leave is 12 weeks. Thus, if the pre-natal leave is less than 4 weeks for some reason, the remaining duration is adjusted in the post-natal leave.

The minimum period for maternity leave is twelve weeks. However, this period can be extended where there have been complications in birth. Where there are complications in the birth, either because of the health of the employee or the employee’s child, the employer must grant an extended maternity leave of one month or the amount of accrued sick leave that the employee has at the time.

Namibia Severance Laws

• Termination

For termination of employment contract on notice whether by employer or employee, the period of notice cannot be less than one day if the employee has been employed in the establishment for four weeks or less. If the employee has been employed for more than four weeks but not more than one year, the period of notice should not be less than one week. Where the employee has been employed for than one year, the notice period should be of at least one month.

• Severance Pay

In accordance with the Labour Act, 2007, an employer is to give severance pay to an employee who was dismissed, died while employed, or resigns/retires upon reaching the age of 65, as long as at least 12 months of continuous service were completed. However, severance pay does not need to be paid where there were fair grounds for dismissal due to misconduct or poor performance, if the employee refuses to be reinstated, where the employee refuses to accept less favorable terms of employment with the next of kin of the deceased employer upon one month from the latter’s death, or refuses to accept employment with former partner(s) upon dissolution of partnership.

Severance pay must be in an amount equal to at least one week’s remuneration for each year of continuous service with the employer. The payment of severance pay does not affect an employee’s right to any other amount that the employee is obliged to pay the employee. Where the contract of employment was terminated as a result of the employee’s death, then in the absence of a will, the employer must pay severance to the employee’s surviving spouse. Where there is no spouse, then to the children of the deceased employee and where there are no children, to the employee’s estate.

Namibia Tax

There are social security taxes paid to the Commissioner of Social Security.

Social security is payable on 50/50 contributions from employers and employees.

The contributions are calculated at 0.9% of earnings, with a minimum monthly contribution of N$2.70 and a maximum monthly contribution of N$81.00 by each.

Payments must be made within 20 days after the month-end.

Health Insurance Benefits in Namibia

The Labour Act, 2007, provides sick leave for employees. if the employee works five days during a week, he/she is entitled to 30 working days of sick leave. If the employee ordinarily works six days a week, he is entitled to 36 working days. The above leave entitlement is applicable for a sick leave cycle which means a consecutive period of 36 months. Thus, sick leave is not on annual basis rather calculated on three-year basis. Where the employee ordinarily works fewer than five days during a week, the sick leave is to be calculated on a proportional basis. However, even then, an employee is entitled to one day’s sick leave for every 26 days worked during the employee’s first year of employment. After the first year of employment, a worker can accrue up to 30/36 days of sick leave in one sick leave cycle (36 months). Where the employee does not ordinarily work a fixed number of days per week, he/she is entitled to sick leave to calculated annually on the basis of average number of days worked per week over the previous 12 months.

Any employee registered under the Social Security Act, 1994, is to be a member of the Maternity Leave, Sick Leave and Death Benefit Fund, the National Medical Benefit Fund and the National Pension Fund. In return, every employer and employee are to be liable to pay contributions to every fund of which the employee is a member.

Additional Benefits in Namibia

Guaranteed and performance-based bonuses are common in Namibia.

General market practice benefits/additional allowances

Namibia offers excellent opportunities for investment across sectors such as agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, tourism, services and mining. We invite you to explore unlimited business opportunities available in Namibia.

The Namibian Investment Centre (NIC) is Namibia ‘s official investment promotion agency and first port of call for investors. Created under the Foreign Investment Act of 1990 , it is designed to facilitate the process of investment.

The Act provides for:

• Liberal foreign-investment conditions
• Equal treatment of foreign and local investors
• Openness of all sectors of the economy to foreign investment
• No local participation requirement
• Full protection of investments
• Granting the Certificate of Status of Investment (CSI)

Namibia has a highly competitive incentive and fiscal regime that adds to its attraction for investors and creates an ideal business environment. The Special Incentives for Manufacturers and Exporters are designed for companies whose main target market is the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU).

Manufacturers receive greater benefits than those who export only finished goods. To benefit from the scheme, an investor must register with the Ministry of Finance as a manufacturer or an exporter of manufactured goods. The Namibian Investment Centre assists investors with this registration process.

The Namibian Investment Centre (NIC) liaises closely with the Offshore Development Company (ODC), the flagship of Namibia ‘s tax – free Export Processing Zone (EPZ) regime. The Government of Namibia adopted the EPZ regime as a legal framework for promoting export-led industrialization of the highly primary sector-driven national economy.

Namibia offers a wide range of Investments Opportunities and Projects in the areas of agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, energy industry, fruit and dairy, manufacturing, mining, port facilities, railways and airports.

Namibia Holidays

Namibia celebrates 12 national holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Independence Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Worker’s Day
• Cassinga Day
• Africa Day
• Ascension Day
• Heroes’ Day
• International Human Rights Day
• Christmas Day
• Family Day

Why Choose WeHireGlobally

WeHG takes care of all the onboarding hurdles, payroll, compensation and benefits, tax filing, and termination of employment. Our Employer of Record solution allows you to manage your overseas teams efficiently while minimizing cost and risk.