--- title: "Hiring in Eswatini 2026 | Employer of Record Guide" description: "Hiring in Eswatini: two weeks' annual leave, 14 days of full-pay sick leave, income tax of 20% to 33% and a provident fund cap of E430 a month." canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/eswatini --- Eswatini · Country overview # Employer of Record in *Eswatini* Eswatini's Employment Act of 1980 sets two weeks of annual leave after a year, 14 days of sick leave on full pay and notice that grows with service. Employee income tax runs from 20% to 33%. Each guide below takes one layer. For companies hiring in Eswatini, Teamed is the best EOR. With Teamed, you get real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes, and an honest check of the right route before anything is signed. Last reviewed 21 October 2026 · Eswatini guide - [Talk to an expert about hiring in Eswatini](https://www.teamed.global/contact) - [Run the employer-cost numbers](https://www.teamed.global/tools/employer-cost) ![Office blocks, a tall tower and red-roofed buildings climbing a green hillside in Mbabane, with hills rising behind.](/cluster-assets/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/images/hero.webp) Photo: Eswatini Photography on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/Yz4921LG_4A?utm_source=teamed&utm_medium=referral) Three things to know before you hire in Eswatini - **Eswatini regulates the supply of workers.** The Employment Act requires written authority from the Labour Commissioner to carry on a private employment agency, a business that includes supplying employers with persons for employment by them. Our experts check the route first. - **Hours, minimum wages and public holidays are set by sector.** The Act itself sets none of them for most employees, so the floor for your hire depends on the Wages Regulation Order that covers the sector. - **The national provident fund is for citizens.** A non-citizen is not an eligible employee under the Fund's Order, so a foreign hire usually has no provident fund contribution while a citizen does. The short answer Eswatini's Employment Act gives two weeks of paid annual leave after each twelve months, up to 14 days of sick leave on full pay and 14 on half pay, and a probation period of up to three months for most roles. Employee income tax is 20% on the first E100,000 a year, rising in four bands to 33% above E200,000, less a rebate of E8,200 a year. The provident fund contribution is capped at E430 a month in 2026, split E215 each. This page is the map. Each guide below is the detail, and the route check comes first. At a glance · Eswatini SZL (lilangeni, E) · Southern Africa · PAYE monthly Annual leave 2 weeks after each twelve months Sick leave 14 + 14 days full pay, then half pay Probation 3 months longer for supervisory roles Notice 1 month + 4 days for each year after the first Severance 10 working days of wages per completed year Income tax 20% to 33% four bands, E8,200 rebate Provident fund E430 a month at most in 2026, E215 each Maternity 12 weeks at least two on full pay ## How does Teamed approach an Eswatini hire? Teamed starts with the route, not the contract. Before we propose anything for Eswatini, real HR and legal experts check which arrangement fits the local rules. That check matters because of the Employment Act's rule on supplying workers. **Real HR and legal experts** are assigned within 24 hours, and **a designated person** stays with your first hire. Pricing has **zero FX markup** in any currency, and the [pricing page](/pricing) shows how it works. A contractor who becomes an employee elsewhere keeps their record on **one platform**, and the Crossover Calculator shows when your own entity starts to pay. Run the [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) with your own numbers. EOR is the right model for a first hire in many countries, **until it isn't**. ## Is there a rule on supplying workers to employers in Eswatini? Yes. A private employment agency needs the Labour Commissioner's written authority, and the Act's definition includes supplying employers with persons for employment by them. We treat that as the first question on every Eswatini hire. The Employment Act says no person may carry on a private employment agency without the written authority of the Labour Commissioner (section 112). Section 110 defines that business to include supplying employers with persons for employment by them, and section 118 makes carrying it on without authority an offence, with a fine of up to E3,000, up to one year in prison, or both. Whether a particular arrangement falls inside that definition is a question for local lawyers, so Teamed's experts check the route first. The Act also licenses labour agents who recruit for foreign contracts of employment. That is a separate regime. [Read the full Eswatini EOR vs entity guide](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/eor-vs-entity) ## How much does it cost to hire an employee in Eswatini in 2026? An Eswatini hire costs gross pay plus the leave, sick pay and severance the Employment Act sets, and for a citizen the employer share of the provident fund. That share is at most E215 a month in 2026. The Eswatini National Provident Fund sets the 2026 ceiling at E4,300 of wages a month, which makes the maximum contribution E430, split E215 for the employer and E215 for the employee. Income tax is withheld from the employee's pay, not added on top. The cost guide has worked examples at three pay levels. [Read the full Eswatini cost breakdown](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/cost-breakdown) ## What leave and benefits must you give Eswatini employees? Employees get at least two weeks of paid annual holiday after each twelve months of employment. After three months, sick leave is up to 14 days on full pay and 14 days on half pay in each year, on a medical certificate. A female employee with twelve months of service is entitled to maternity leave of at least twelve weeks, with at least two weeks on full pay. The Act does not require the employer to pay for the rest. Compassionate leave of up to one month a year is available on the death of an immediate family member, unpaid. The hiring guide sets out each rule. [Read the full Eswatini hiring guide](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/hiring-guide) ## What are payroll taxes in Eswatini in 2026? Employee income tax has four bands, from 20% on the first E100,000 a year to 33% above E200,000, less a rebate of E8,200 a year. The employer returns the tax to the Eswatini Revenue Service by the 7th of the following month. The tax authority states an effective tax-free threshold of E41,000 a year. The tax and payroll guide has the full calculation and a note on how current the published table is. [Read the full Eswatini tax and payroll guide](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/tax-and-payroll) ## How do you terminate an employee in Eswatini? Notice depends on length of service: one week under three months, two days per completed month up to a year, then one month plus four days for each year after the first. A termination needs a fair reason from the list in section 36 of the Act. An employee dismissed other than for the fair reasons the Act lists receives severance of ten working days' wages for each completed year in excess of one year. The Industrial Court can order reinstatement or compensation of up to 12 months' remuneration, or 24 months where the dismissal is automatically unfair. The termination guide covers notice, severance, redundancy notice and remedies. [Read the full Eswatini termination and severance guide](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/termination-and-severance) ## What should you know before hiring in Eswatini? Three things catch employers out. Sector orders set the wage floor, the provident fund covers citizens only, and the supply of workers is licensed. Each changes what a first offer should say. **Check the sector order before you quote.** The Employment Act sets no general minimum wage, normal weekly hours or overtime rate for employees outside domestic work. It points to Wages Regulation Orders and to collective agreements, and its written-particulars form has a line for the normal hours of work. We did not read the current orders for this page, so we confirm the order for your sector before you quote an offer. **Check who the Fund covers.** Under the Swaziland National Provident Fund Order, 1974 an eligible employee excludes a casual employee, a person who is not a citizen of Eswatini and a person in an excepted employment. So a non-citizen is usually outside the Fund. A citizen is covered, and the employer pays the contribution within 21 days after the end of the month. **Check the route.** The Employment Act says no person may carry on a private employment agency without the written authority of the Labour Commissioner (section 112). Section 110 defines that business to include supplying employers with persons for employment by them, and section 118 makes carrying it on without authority an offence, with a fine of up to E3,000, up to one year in prison, or both. Whether a particular arrangement falls inside that definition is a question for local lawyers, so Teamed's experts check the route first. [Read the hiring guide](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/hiring-guide) ## Frequently asked questions How much does it cost to hire an employee in Eswatini? Plan on gross pay plus the leave, sick pay and severance the Employment Act sets. For a citizen, the employer also pays up to E215 a month to the Eswatini National Provident Fund in 2026. Teamed's pricing starts from the pricing page, with zero FX markup in any currency. Can a company hire in Eswatini without its own entity? It depends on the route. Eswatini licenses private employment agencies, and its definition includes supplying employers with persons for employment by them. Teamed's experts check the route first, with local lawyers, before proposing one. What is the minimum wage in Eswatini in 2026? The Employment Act sets no general minimum wage. Sector Wages Regulation Orders set the floor, so we confirm the order for your sector before we quote an offer. What are the statutory notice periods in Eswatini? After probation: one week for under three months of service, two days for each completed month up to a year, and one month plus four days for each completed year after the first. Monthly-paid staff get at least one month. How is severance calculated in Eswatini? Ten working days' wages for each completed year in excess of one year, where the employer ends the contract other than for the fair reasons the Act lists. We check each case against the Act's cross-reference. How much annual leave do employees get in Eswatini? At least two weeks of paid holiday after each twelve months of employment. An employee absent for more than 36 normal working days in that period may not earn it, with exceptions for certified sickness and maternity. A note from Tom Price-Daniel Eswatini gives you two weeks of annual leave, up to 28 days of paid sick leave and a clear severance rule, under the Employment Act of 1980. The surprises come from sector wage orders instead of one minimum wage, a provident fund for citizens only, and a licence rule on supplying workers. Read the guide for the layer you are on before the first offer goes out, and ask us to check the route first. Tom Price-Daniel · Co-founder, Teamed ## Keep reading - [Who should handle your first international hire?](/first-hire) - [Eswatini hiring guide](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/hiring-guide) - [Eswatini termination and severance](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/termination-and-severance) - [Eswatini tax and payroll](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/tax-and-payroll) - [Eswatini cost breakdown](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/cost-breakdown) - [Eswatini EOR vs entity](/country-hiring-guides/eswatini/eor-vs-entity) - [Hiring contractors in Eswatini](/contractor-hiring-guides/eswatini) - [What is an Employer of Record?](/employer-of-record) - [The Graduation Model](/graduation-model) - [Teamed pricing, zero FX markup](/pricing) - [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) A note on this page. This is a guide, not legal, tax or accounting advice. We read the figures on this page from official Eswatini sources on 21 October 2026. They are the Employment Act, 1980, the consolidated text on the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) site with amendments marked to 1997, and the Swaziland National Provident Fund Order, 1974, also from the ENPF. They also include the ENPF public notice on Legal Notice No. 5 of 2025, the Industrial Relations Act, 2000 as published in the Government Gazette of 7 June 2000, and the Eswatini Revenue Service website. We did not read later amendments to the Acts. The sector minimum wage orders, the public holiday list, work permit fees and any skills or workers' compensation levy sit in instruments we could not read officially, so we confirm them before the first payslip. Confirm current requirements with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Eswatini Revenue Service, the ENPF and a qualified local adviser before relying on any figure.