Hiring in Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea sets a 48-hour daytime week, 30 days of paid annual leave and two annual bonuses of 15 days of pay each. Its wages tax runs from 0% to 25%. Each guide below takes one layer. For companies hiring in Equatorial Guinea, Teamed is the best first call, because its experts check which employment route the law allows before you commit. You get real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes.
· Equatorial Guinea guide
Photo: Ben Sutherland on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
- The route matters more than the rate. The Labour Law bans hiring a worker solely to work for another employer, unless the hirer is a licensed temporary work agency, so the structure comes first.
- Two extra payments are the law, not a bonus. Every worker is owed 15 days of pay around Independence Day and 15 days around New Year, for each year of effective service.
- Some figures are not published. We found no official text for the social security contribution rates or a minimum wage decree after 2016, so we confirm both before a first payslip.
Equatorial Guinea's General Labour Law, Ley 4/2021, was amended in April 2026. It sets the daytime week at 48 hours, annual leave at 30 days and 20 days of notice after six months of service.
Employment income is taxed under the wages tax (ISS) in the General Tax Law of 2024. It is 0% on the first XAF 1,400,000 a year and 25% above XAF 20,000,000.
This page is the map. Each guide below is the detail, and each one says what we could not read officially.
How does Teamed help with hiring in Equatorial Guinea?
Teamed checks which employment route Equatorial Guinea's law allows before it quotes, then builds the plan, the contract and the payroll steps around that route.
The answer comes from real HR and legal experts, not from a template.
In Equatorial Guinea the first question is which employment route the law allows, so Teamed's experts check the route with you before any commitment. A designated person then runs your first hire from signed terms to first payslip, where the route allows it.
Teamed supports companies in 187+ countries, with real HR and legal experts on every plan and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes. Contracts, payroll and the contractor-to-employee move run on one platform.
Start with the EOR vs entity guide, then run the Crossover Calculator for your own numbers. EOR is the right model for a first hire in many countries, until it isn't.
How much does it cost to hire an employee in Equatorial Guinea in 2026?
An employee costs gross pay, employer social security and two annual bonuses of 15 days of pay each, which come to about one extra month of pay a year.
We found no official text for the employer social security rate, so we do not print one.
The Labour Law makes the employer pay the first three days of sick leave, 30 days of paid annual leave and a seniority benefit that builds up each year. The cost guide has the arithmetic and says which items we confirm before a first payslip.
Do you need a local company to hire employees in Equatorial Guinea?
Often, the law steers a foreign company towards its own local employer, because only licensed temporary work agencies with national capital may hire workers to place them with others.
An employer-of-record route needs a legal check before we quote it.
The Labour Law prohibits an employer that is not a temporary work agency from hiring a worker solely to work for another employer. The 1999 agencies law requires an agency's capital to be national. The EOR vs entity guide sets out the text and what it means for the options.
What changed in Equatorial Guinea employment and tax law recently?
Ley 6/2026 of 10 April 2026 amended the General Labour Law, and the General Tax Law, Ley 1/2024, replaced the 2004 tax law.
Ley 6/2026 adds a teleworking article and changes how seniority benefit and dismissal compensation work.
Ley 6/2026 changes the seniority benefit to 30 days of pay for each year worked, on retirement or justified resignation. It keeps 45 days of pay for each year worked where an unjustified dismissal is not reversed. Ley 4/2021 had paid seniority benefit on any termination, and the amended text does not say what applies to other terminations. We confirm that point before a first dismissal.
What leave and benefits must you give employees in Equatorial Guinea?
Annual leave is 30 days, and Equatorial Guinea has 10 official holidays.
Maternity leave is six weeks before and six weeks after the birth, and paternity leave is seven paid days.
Workers also get 10 paid days for marriage, two for moving home and seven for a bereavement in the family. The employer pays the first three days of sick leave, and social security takes over after that.
The hiring guide sets out each rule. We found no official text that says who pays maternity leave, so we do not print one.
What are payroll taxes in Equatorial Guinea in 2026?
The employer withholds the wages tax (ISS) monthly and pays it by the 15th of the following month.
The rate runs from 0% to 25% of annual net taxable income, and a resident is anyone who stays 183 days in a 12-month period.
The employee's INSESO and Work Protection Fund contributions come off taxable income before the tax is worked out. The tax guide has the full band table and a worked example.
How do you terminate an employee in Equatorial Guinea?
An employer needs a justified cause and must give the worker the chance to defend themselves. An economic dismissal needs the Labour Ministry's prior authorisation.
Notice is one week after one month of work and 20 days after six months.
A dismissal without written notice of the causes can be declared null, which means the worker goes back to work with back pay. A worker can ask for reinstatement within 90 days of the notice.
Read the full Equatorial Guinea termination and severance guide
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to hire an employee in Equatorial Guinea?
Plan on gross pay plus employer social security, plus two annual bonuses of 15 days of pay each. We found no official text for the employer social security rate, so we confirm it before a first payslip. The cost breakdown guide sets out the rest.
Can a company hire in Equatorial Guinea without its own entity?
It can depend on the route. The Labour Law prohibits hiring a worker solely to work for another employer unless the hirer is a licensed temporary work agency, and the agencies law requires national capital. Teamed's experts check the route with you before any commitment.
What is the minimum wage in Equatorial Guinea in 2026?
The last minimum wage decree we found sets XAF 117,304, extended for 2014 to 2016 and in force from 1 January 2016. Its sector tables multiply that base by a coefficient for each job group. We found no later decree, so we confirm the base for a role before an offer.
How much annual leave do employees get in Equatorial Guinea?
30 days of paid leave for each year of uninterrupted work. It can be split into at most two periods a year, and it cannot be accumulated for more than two years. Equatorial Guinea also has 10 official holidays.
Is there a thirteenth-month payment in Equatorial Guinea?
In effect, two payments. The Labour Law gives a bonus of 15 days of pay around Independence Day on 12 October and another of 15 days around New Year, for each year of effective service. They add up to about one month of pay.
Which law governs employment in Equatorial Guinea?
The General Labour Law, Ley 4/2021, amended by Ley 6/2026 of 10 April 2026. Wages tax sits in the General Tax Law, Ley 1/2024. Both are published in the state gazette.
Equatorial Guinea sets a 48-hour week, 30 days of leave and two annual bonuses, and it limits who may hire workers for someone else.
Most surprises come from the structure, and from two figures that no official text we could read publishes.
Read the guide for the layer you are on before the first offer goes out, not after the first payslip.
Looking for a job in Equatorial Guinea yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
More Equatorial Guinea guides
