How do you terminate an employee in Morocco in 2026?
Morocco's severance formula kicks in after just 0.5 years of service and rises across four tenure bands. And every indefinite-contract dismissal requires a valid reason, from the very first day.
· Morocco guide
Illustration · Marrakech, Morocco
Morocco requires a valid reason to dismiss any employee on an indefinite contract. You cannot fire someone simply because the relationship is not working out. The law sets out permitted grounds and a procedure you must follow.
Severance pay builds from 0.5 years of service. The rate rises across four bands as tenure grows. There is no total service cap on the formula. Longer-serving employees receive substantially more.
Notice periods depend on the employee's category and length of service. Executives get longer notice than non-executives. Both sides owe the same notice to each other. Dismissing without notice means paying the full notice period out. (Labour Code, Law 65-99)
What grounds justify dismissal in Morocco?
You must have a valid reason before dismissing any employee on an indefinite contract. Morocco does not allow dismissal at will. The law lists permitted grounds, and a court will test whether your reason fits.
Firing someone for being pregnant, joining a union, making a complaint, or taking leave is not valid. Those dismissals are not lawful under any circumstances.
The Moroccan Labour Code (Law 65-99), Articles 35 to 62, sets the framework for individual dismissal. Valid grounds fall into two broad categories.
Serious misconduct (faute grave)
Serious misconduct allows immediate dismissal without notice or severance. Examples under the Labour Code include assault on a colleague or supervisor, serious theft, disclosure of trade secrets, serious negligence causing harm, and repeated absence without justification after a formal warning. The employer must notify the employee within 8 days of the employer becoming aware of the misconduct and must give the employee a chance to respond before the decision is made.
Non-serious personal or economic reasons
All other dismissals, whether for persistent underperformance, redundancy, economic necessity, or restructuring, require notice and severance. The Labour Code also mandates a written warning process for performance issues and a formal investigation process before any decision is issued. An employee who disputes the reason can bring a claim and seek damages under Art. 41.
Protected employees
Dismissal is not valid where the reason is pregnancy, maternity leave, union activity, membership of an employee delegation, whistleblowing, disability, or legal strike action. Courts treat these as wrongful dismissals regardless of any other justification offered.
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Identify the valid reason
Anchor the dismissal to a permitted ground under the Labour Code: serious misconduct, persistent underperformance after warning, genuine economic or structural necessity, or statutory bar. Dismissal without a valid reason is wrongful from day one of an indefinite contract.
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Issue a written warning
For non-misconduct dismissals, issue a formal written warning setting out the problem and the improvement expected. Give the employee a reasonable period to meet the standard. Record the outcome.
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Notify and hear the employee
Before issuing any dismissal decision, notify the employee in writing of the proposed action and give them a genuine opportunity to respond. Document the response and your consideration of it.
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Issue the dismissal letter
Send the formal dismissal letter stating the grounds clearly. The employee may challenge the stated reason at a Labour Tribunal, so precision in the letter matters.
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Calculate and pay final amounts
Pay statutory notice and severance based on tenure band, accrued annual leave, and any outstanding salary. Issue the work certificate and CNSS documentation promptly on the last day.
How much notice must you give in Morocco?
Notice in Morocco depends on two things: the employee's category (non-executive or executive) and their length of service. Longer-serving employees get longer notice.
Both sides owe the same notice. If you dismiss without notice, you pay the full notice period out.
Notice periods are set by Labour Code Articles 43 to 51 and Decree No. 2-04-469. The table below shows the minimum periods.
| Category | Under 1 year | 1 to 5 years | Over 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-executives (employees and workers) | 8 days | 30 days | 60 days |
| Executives and managers | 30 days | 60 days | 90 days |
Notice obligations are reciprocal. An employee resigning with 1 to 5 years of non-executive service owes 30 days.
During probation
Either party can end employment during probation with minimal notice. After at least one month of work, 8 days of notice is required. No severance is owed if employment ends during a properly established probation period.
Notice pay-out
If you dismiss without notice (other than for serious misconduct), you pay the full notice period as compensation. This is in addition to any statutory severance owed. The Labour Code does not restrict the parties from agreeing longer contractual notice periods.
How is Morocco severance pay calculated?
Severance applies after 0.5 years of continuous service. The amount rises with tenure, using four progressive rate bands.
There is no cap on total years of service. The formula keeps accumulating. Longer-serving employees cost significantly more to make redundant.
The formula comes from Labour Code Art. 53. Each band applies only to years within that band, not retrospectively to earlier years.
| Years of service | Pay per year of service |
|---|---|
| Years 1 to 5 | 12 days of pay |
| Years 6 to 10 | 18 days of pay |
| Years 11 to 15 | 24 days of pay |
| Year 16 and above | 30 days of pay |
The daily rate uses the employee's gross monthly salary divided by 26 working days. Fractions of a year count in the calculation. Severance is owed for all dismissals except those for serious misconduct (faute grave).
Abusive dismissal damages on top
If a court finds the dismissal was wrongful (abusive), Art. 41 allows an additional damages award of 1.5 months of net salary per year of service, capped at 36 months total. This is not automatic and not paid directly by the employer at the time of termination. It is a court order, sought after the fact.
Final pay timing
The Labour Code requires settlement of all amounts without unjustified delay, typically on or very shortly after the last day of work. No fixed statutory deadline in calendar days is codified, but delay creates liability.
What rules govern collective redundancy in Morocco?
Companies with 10 or more employees must consult employee representatives before any collective redundancy. The consultation must happen at least 30 days before you file for government authorisation.
The government authority then decides whether to allow the redundancies. Skipping this process exposes the employer to wrongful-dismissal claims from every affected employee.
Companies with 10 or more employees must inform and consult employee representatives at least 30 days before filing a collective-redundancy authorisation request with the provincial governor. The governor has up to 60 days to issue a decision. Companies with more than 50 employees must also consult the works council. Unions must be notified where recognised.
Collective redundancy in Morocco covers terminations driven by economic, structural, or technological reasons. The process is sequential: consult first, then apply for authorisation, then execute.
The consultation stage
The employer must share written information with employee representatives covering the reasons for redundancy, the number and categories of employees affected, the proposed timeline, and the measures considered to avoid or limit redundancies. Representatives have the consultation period to respond and propose alternatives.
Government authorisation
After consultation, the employer submits a formal authorisation request to the provincial or prefectural labour delegate. The relevant governor issues a decision within 60 days. If no decision arrives within that window, the employer should seek legal guidance before proceeding. Dismissals carried out without authorisation are treated as wrongful under Art. 41.
Severance still applies
Authorised collective redundancies do not exempt the employer from paying statutory severance under Art. 52 to 53. Every affected employee receives severance based on their tenure band, plus their full notice period.
Can you use a mutual-termination agreement in Morocco?
Yes. Both parties can agree to end the employment by mutual consent. A written agreement protects both sides.
Morocco has no specific formal process for mutual termination equivalent to the French rupture conventionnelle. The agreement is governed by general contract principles and must be genuinely voluntary.
A mutual-termination (or separation) agreement is a practical route when both the employer and employee want to end the relationship without a contested process. Because Morocco requires just cause for all CDI dismissals, a mutual agreement avoids the risk of an Art. 41 claim entirely: there is no dismissal if both parties agree to separate.
What the agreement should cover
- Agreed exit date
- Compensation: typically at least the notice pay and statutory severance the employee would have received on redundancy
- Release of claims: both parties waive the right to bring future claims arising from the employment and its end
- Confidentiality: agreed wording for both parties
- Reference: an agreed form of reference or LinkedIn recommendation if applicable
There is no legal requirement for the employee to take independent legal advice before signing. In practice, offering time to consider and documenting that the employee signed without pressure reduces any later claim that the agreement was signed under duress.
CNSS and final documentation
Final payroll, CNSS contributions through the last day, and the work certificate (certificat de travail) must be issued on exit. The employer must also issue the mandatory attestation of work. Delays in issuing these documents create a separate legal liability.
How Teamed runs Morocco terminations
Teamed is your legal employer of record in Morocco. The cost is from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up on MAD payments. All termination procedures run through Teamed's in-country partners.
We handle the valid-grounds documentation, notice calculation, severance maths, and final payroll reconciliation. Everything runs on one platform. The decision on who to dismiss, why, and on what terms is always yours.
real HR and legal experts handle your Morocco hires from the first offer letter through every CNSS filing. an actual person, not a bot or a pooled queue. There is no setup fee and no exit fee, and employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.
The split of responsibilities under EOR for Morocco terminations:
| What Teamed handles | What the client decides |
|---|---|
| Notice period calculation against Labour Code minimums | Whether to dismiss, why, and on what timeline |
| Valid-grounds documentation and procedure checklist | Performance standards and what constitutes misconduct |
| Severance calculation across the four tenure bands | Whether to offer more than the statutory minimum |
| Mutual-termination agreement drafting with local partners | Commercial terms of any enhanced settlement |
| Final payroll: notice, accrued leave, severance, CNSS | Communication with the wider team |
| Work certificate (certificat de travail) and CNSS notifications | Future reference wording |
| Coordination of collective-redundancy consultation where required | Redundancy scope and affected-employee selection |
EOR payroll and contractor work all live on one platform. An employee who starts on EOR can graduate to your own Moroccan entity without switching systems. Run the Crossover Calculator to see when that move makes sense. EOR is right for a first Morocco hire, until it isn't. Start from the Morocco hiring overview.
Frequently asked questions
Does Morocco allow dismissal without cause?
No. Every indefinite-contract employee requires a valid reason for dismissal from day one. There is no qualifying period before just-cause protection applies. Dismissal without a valid, documented reason is wrongful and exposes the employer to Art. 41 court-awarded damages of up to 36 months of net salary.
How much notice do you owe a Moroccan employee?
It depends on the employee's category and service length. Non-executives get 8 days under one year, 30 days for one to five years, and 60 days over five years. Executives get 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days respectively. If you dismiss without notice (outside serious misconduct), you pay the full notice period out.
When does statutory severance start in Morocco?
After 0.5 years of continuous service. The rate is 12 days of pay per year for the first five years, rising to 18 days per year for years six to ten, 24 days per year for years eleven to fifteen, and 30 days per year from year sixteen onwards. There is no cap on countable years of service.
What triggers collective redundancy rules in Morocco?
Companies with 10 or more employees must consult employee representatives at least 30 days before filing for government authorisation of collective redundancies. The provincial governor then has up to 60 days to issue a decision. Carrying out redundancies without authorisation makes each dismissal wrongful.
Can you use a mutual separation to avoid severance in Morocco?
A mutual-termination agreement avoids the wrongful-dismissal risk because there is no unilateral dismissal. However, it does not automatically exempt the employer from paying an amount equivalent to severance. In practice, agreements include at least the notice pay and statutory severance the employee would have received, in exchange for a full release of claims.
Morocco's four-band severance formula has no service cap. A 20-year employee costs more than three times what a 5-year employee costs to make redundant. Build that into your headcount model from day one, not when you're planning a restructure.
In Morocco, every indefinite-contract dismissal needs a reason. And the severance bill grows with tenure, across four bands, with no ceiling on service years.
Most employers price in year-one severance. Few model what year sixteen looks like.
We run the numbers with you before the decision, not after.
