How do you end employment in Eswatini?
An Eswatini employee past probation needs notice that grows with service, and severance is ten working days' wages for each completed year after the first. A dismissal needs a fair reason from section 36 of the Employment Act. If you need to end an Eswatini contract, Teamed is the best EOR. With Teamed, you get a designated person, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes.
· Eswatini guide
Photo: Jimmy Phillips on Unsplash
After probation, the employer's minimum notice is one week 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.
Severance is 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.
How much notice must you give in Eswatini?
After probation, the employer's minimum notice depends on continuous service: one week under three months, two days per completed month up to twelve months, then one month plus four days for each year after the first.
Monthly-paid staff get at least one month.
| Continuous service | Employer's minimum notice |
|---|---|
| More than one month, under three months | One week |
| Three to twelve months | Two days for each completed month |
| More than twelve months | One month plus four days for each completed year after the first |
| Monthly or fortnightly paid | Not less than one month, or a fortnight |
An employee with three months of service or more gives one week, or any longer period in the written particulars or a collective agreement. Notice starts on the working day after it is served. Either side can pay wages in lieu of notice.
During the employer's notice the employee is entitled to twelve hours a week off to look for other work, without reduction in wages. Failing to give the notice, or to allow that time, is an offence.
When can you dismiss an employee in Eswatini?
Only for a fair reason from the list in section 36 of the Employment Act, and the employer must prove it and that dismissal was reasonable.
The list includes conduct, redundancy and the normal retiring age.
The fair reasons include these:
- conduct or work performance, after a written warning;
- dishonesty, violence, threats, wilful damage or revealing confidences;
- absence for more than a total of three working days in any thirty days without permission or a medical certificate;
- redundancy, or reaching the normal retiring age for the position.
Some reasons make a termination unfair: union membership or activity, filing a complaint in good faith, race, sex, marital status, religion, political affiliation, certified sickness for up to six months, and pregnancy. An employer cannot end the contract during maternity leave, or give notice that expires during it, except for a fair reason in section 36.
An employee who has not completed probation, or who works fewer than 21 hours a week, cannot bring this complaint. An employer may also suspend without pay for up to one month while it investigates an act that could justify dismissal.
How is severance worked out in Eswatini?
An employee dismissed other than for the fair reasons the Act lists receives ten working days' wages for each completed year in excess of one year.
The wages are those payable when the services ended.
| Situation | Severance |
|---|---|
| Dismissed other than for the listed fair reasons, more than one year of service | Ten working days' wages for each completed year in excess of one year |
| Dismissed for the listed fair reasons | None under the Act |
| Employer runs its own gratuity, pension or provident fund | The employer may recover its own contributions, up to the severance paid |
The section's cross-reference to the fair reasons in the amended text is not clear for redundancy and retirement age, so our experts check the reading before any reduction. An employer that fails to pay severance commits an offence, with a fine of up to E3,000, up to one year in prison, or both.
A redundancy or retirement lump sum of up to E60,000 is exempt from income tax, as the tax authority states it, and any excess is taxed at concessionary rates.
What must you do before reducing staff in Eswatini?
If you are thinking of ending the contracts of five or more employees for redundancy, give the Labour Commissioner at least one month's written notice.
Copy it to any union you have a collective agreement with.
The notice states the number of employees, their jobs and pay, the reasons, the likely date, the latest financial statements and audited accounts, and the other options you looked at to avoid or reduce the redundancies. Seasonal employees, casual employees and those on fixed contracts of six weeks or less are not counted.
Ending five or more contracts without the notice is an offence. A business sale has its own rule: the seller must first pay all accrued benefits unless the buyer gives a written guarantee to pay them within 30 days, approved by the Commissioner. Breach carries a fine of up to E6,000, up to two years in prison, or both.
What must you give an employee when employment ends?
Pay any wages due and any untaken annual holiday, and give a certificate of employment on request.
Annual holiday pay on leaving is at least one day's wages for each completed month after the last year earned.
- Final wages. An employee dismissed for just cause is paid the wages due up to and including the date of dismissal.
- Holiday pay. The wages for any untaken annual holiday, plus at least one day's wages for each completed month since the last year for which a holiday was earned.
- Certificate of employment. On request, showing the dates of engagement and termination and the nature of the work.
- Repatriation. Where the employer brought the employee to the workplace, the cost of travel and subsistence back to where they were brought from.
What happens if an Eswatini dismissal is unfair?
The employee complains to the Labour Commissioner, who tries to settle it. If that fails, it goes to the Industrial Court.
The Court can order reinstatement, re-engagement or compensation.
In the Industrial Relations Act as published in 2000, the Court must require reinstatement or re-engagement unless the employee does not want it, the relationship would be intolerable, it is not reasonably practicable, or the dismissal was unfair only because of procedure. Compensation for a dismissal without a proven fair reason is capped at 12 months' remuneration, and for an automatically unfair dismissal at 24 months'. It is in addition to severance. We did not read the later amendments to the Act, so we confirm the current caps before any case.
The employer carries the burden of proving the reason and that dismissal was reasonable. Plan the reasons and the record before you end a contract.
How does Teamed support an Eswatini termination?
A designated person and real HR and legal experts guide the notice, the reasons and the record before you serve anything.
The notice, severance and protected-reason rules above are applied to your case.
Real HR and legal experts are assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support answers within 15 minutes. Employer costs pass through at cost, itemised on every invoice. Notice, records and payroll sit on one platform where the route allows.
Start from the Eswatini hiring overview for the wider picture. EOR is the right model for a first hire in many countries, until it isn't.
Frequently asked questions
How much notice does an employer give in Eswatini?
After probation, one week 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.
Is severance payable on every termination in Eswatini?
No. It is 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 the cross-reference in each case.
Can you dismiss a pregnant employee in Eswatini?
Not because she is pregnant. An employer cannot end the contract during maternity leave, or give notice that expires during it, except for a fair reason in section 36.
What must an Eswatini employer do before reducing staff?
If five or more contracts may end for redundancy, give the Labour Commissioner at least one month's written notice with the reasons, the numbers and the latest accounts. Ending them without it is an offence.
Eswatini counts notice by length of service and severance by the year at ten working days' wages, and every dismissal needs a fair reason.
A redundancy of five or more employees needs a month's notice to the Labour Commissioner, and the Industrial Court can order reinstatement.
Call your designated person before you serve notice, not after.
Looking for a job in Eswatini 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.
