What do you need to know to hire in Qatar?
A salary you pay in Qatar reaches the employee untaxed, because employment income sits outside the Income Tax Law (Law No. 24 of 2018). Expat staff carry no social insurance either. Instead of severance, you owe end-of-service gratuity of 3 weeks of pay for every year worked. Each guide below takes one layer.
· Qatar guide
How does Teamed handle Qatari hiring for you?
Teamed becomes your legal employer of record in Qatar for from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up in any currency.
Payroll, contracts, and the full Qatari employment law stack run on one platform.
Real HR and legal experts manage every Qatari hire, from the first offer letter to the final settlement. An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue, handles your Qatar team alongside EOR, contractor onboarding, and entity payroll on one platform. There is no setup fee and no exit fee. Employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.
A Qatari contractor who converts to employment keeps their record, and that same employee can graduate from EOR to your own Qatar entity without re-onboarding. Run the Crossover Calculator to see the month the model flips. EOR is the right model for a first Qatar hire, until it isn't.
- Qatar takes no income tax from salaries. Employment pay, wages, and allowances sit outside the Income Tax Law (Law No. 24 of 2018). The gross you agree is close to the net the employee keeps. Most EOR guides bury this under generic tax tables.
- You pay no social insurance for a foreign hire. Social insurance applies to Qatari nationals only. For a Qatari employee the employer rate is 14% and the employee pays 7%. The tax and payroll guide sets out who is in and who is out.
- Qatar has no separate redundancy pay. It has end-of-service gratuity instead. Every employee with a year or more earns 3 weeks of pay per year of service when they leave (Labour Law Article 54). The cost breakdown guide shows how it accrues.
Hiring in Qatar adds almost no statutory cost on top of salary for an expat employee. There is no personal income tax on employment pay (Law No. 24 of 2018). There is no social insurance for non-Qatari staff.
The one accruing cost is end-of-service gratuity. You set aside 3 weeks of pay for each full year an employee works (Labour Law Article 54).
Payroll runs monthly and wages are paid in Qatari riyals. The basic minimum wage is QAR 1,000/month, plus QAR 500/month housing and QAR 300/month food if you do not provide them in kind.
Teamed runs Qatari payroll, contracts, and compliance through a vetted partner entity in Qatar. This page is the map. Each guide below is the detail.
Zero FX. No setup fees. 48-hour onboarding. The price your finance team can forecast against without an asterisk.
How much does it cost to hire an employee in Qatar in 2026?
For an expat hire, the employer cost is close to the salary itself.
There is no income tax to withhold and no social insurance for foreign staff. The one accruing cost is gratuity of 3 weeks of pay per year worked.
Qatar is one of the lower-cost places to employ once you look at statutory add-ons. Salary is paid free of income tax. A non-Qatari employee triggers no social insurance, so there is no employer percentage to layer on top of pay. The cost you accrue is end-of-service gratuity, set at 3 weeks of pay for every full year of service under Labour Law Article 54.
For a Qatari national the picture changes. The employer pays social insurance of 14% and the employee pays 7% under the Social Insurance Law (Law No. 1 of 2022). Teamed's Qatar fee sits inside the total cost envelope, not outside it.
Teamed's Qatar price is a starting rate, with zero FX in any currency pairing. No setup fees. No exit fees. Salaries, benefits, and the gratuity accrual passed through at cost on every invoice. The full breakdown, with worked examples at current statutory rates, is in the cost guide.
Do you need a Qatari entity to hire employees in Qatar?
No. An Employer of Record runs Qatari payroll and contracts from day one.
Your own Qatar entity becomes worth the overhead once you reach a steady local team, not for a first hire or two.
Setting up your own Qatari company means registering with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, securing computer cards and work-visa quotas, and running monthly Wage Protection System filings. It takes weeks and brings ongoing local administration. An Employer of Record is faster and cheaper at low headcount. Teamed runs Qatari payroll, contracts, and compliance from day one through a vetted partner entity.
The crossover point depends on your Qatar salary levels and your local running costs. For most professional-services teams it lands once you have a stable group of employees in-country. The EOR vs entity guide runs those numbers for Qatar.
Most EOR providers will not tell you when you have crossed it. We do, and we help you move. You progress from contractor to EOR to your own Qatar entity on one platform under Teamed's Graduation Model, with tenure and gratuity history preserved.
What changed in Qatari employment law recently?
Qatar removed the exit-permit and no-objection rules, so workers can change jobs on notice.
Notice is now 1 month for service of two years or less and 2 months above that.
Law No. 18 of 2020 reshaped how people move between employers. It ended the no-objection-certificate requirement and set a tiered notice rule under Labour Law Article 49. An employee with two years or less gives or receives 1 month of notice. Above two years it is 2 months. The same Law No. 17 of 2020 introduced the basic minimum wage of QAR 1,000/month, plus QAR 500/month housing and QAR 300/month food where these are not provided in kind.
On the social-insurance side, the rates for Qatari nationals rose on 3 January 2023 under the Social Insurance Law (Law No. 1 of 2022). The employer rate moved to 14% and the employee rate to 7%, in respect of Qatari staff only. The hiring guide covers each current obligation in detail.
What benefits must you provide Qatari employees in 2026?
The leave floor is 3 weeks of paid annual leave under five years of service, rising to 4 weeks at five years.
Maternity leave is 50 days at full pay after one year of service.
Paid annual leave is at least 3 weeks for service of under five years and at least 4 weeks from five years, under Labour Law Article 79. Qatar grants 10 days of paid public holidays a year under Article 78, made up of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Independence Day, and days set by the employer.
Maternity leave is 50 days at full pay after one year of service, with at least 35 days falling after the birth, under Article 96. Sick pay runs at full pay for 2 weeks, then half pay for a further 4 weeks, after which it is unpaid, under Article 82. The benefits guide covers each entitlement in full.
Read the full Qatar benefits guide
What are payroll taxes in Qatar in 2026?
There is no payroll tax and no income tax on salary in Qatar.
Social insurance applies only to Qatari nationals, at 14% for the employer and 7% for the employee.
Qatar does not tax employment income. Salaries, wages, and allowances are expressly outside the Income Tax Law (Law No. 24 of 2018), so there is nothing to withhold from a payslip. For a foreign employee there is no social insurance to deduct either, which keeps gross pay and net pay close together.
Social insurance is the one payroll deduction, and it reaches Qatari nationals only. Under the Social Insurance Law (Law No. 1 of 2022), the employer pays 14% and the employee pays 7%. Wages must be paid monthly in Qatari riyals under Article 66, and there is no statutory 13th-month salary. Teamed runs the payroll and the Wage Protection System filings. The tax and payroll guide sets out every rule.
How do you terminate an employee in Qatar?
Give written notice of 1 month for service of two years or less, or 2 months above that.
Pay end-of-service gratuity of 3 weeks of pay per year, for anyone with a year or more of service.
Notice scales with tenure under Labour Law Article 49. Service of two years or less needs 1 month. More than two years needs 2 months. A one-time probation of up to 6 months applies and cannot be extended.
Qatar has no separate redundancy scheme. Instead, anyone who has worked a year or more is owed end-of-service gratuity of at least 3 weeks of pay for every year of service, paid on their last day, under Article 54. Qatar sets no fixed unfair-dismissal tariff. Gratuity and notice are only forfeited on the gross-misconduct grounds listed in Article 61. The termination guide runs the full process.
What should you know before hiring in Qatar?
Two things catch US buyers out. The first is that gratuity accrues from day one of the second year and lands as a real cost at exit.
The second is that the working week is 48 hours and drops during Ramadan.
Plan for the gratuity as you go. End-of-service gratuity is not a tax, so it never shows on a monthly payslip. It still accrues at 3 weeks of pay per year and falls due the day someone leaves (Article 54). Budget for it from the first year so a long-tenured leaver is not a surprise.
The working week and overtime run on Qatari rules. The standard week is 48 hours, cut to 36 hours during Ramadan for Muslim employees. Overtime is paid at a premium of at least 25% above the basic hourly rate, with higher rates for night work and rest days, under the Labour Law. The hiring guide and the tax and payroll guide both cover safe practice.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to hire an employee in Qatar?
For a foreign employee the employer cost is close to the salary. There is no income tax on salary and no social insurance for expat staff. The one accruing cost is end-of-service gratuity of 3 weeks of pay per year of service. For a Qatari national the employer also pays social insurance of 14%. Teamed's Qatar fee is one flat number per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up in any currency pairing. The cost breakdown guide has worked examples.
Is there income tax on salaries in Qatar?
No. Qatar charges no personal income tax on employment income. Salaries, wages, and allowances are expressly excluded from the Income Tax Law (Law No. 24 of 2018), confirmed by the General Tax Authority. The gross salary you agree is close to the net the employee receives, since there is nothing to withhold from a Qatari payslip.
Do employers pay social security in Qatar?
Only for Qatari nationals. Under the Social Insurance Law (Law No. 1 of 2022), the employer pays 14% and the employee pays 7%, both in respect of Qatari staff. There is no social insurance contribution for expatriate employees, which is the majority of most companies' Qatar workforce.
What is the statutory notice period in Qatar?
Notice scales with length of service under Labour Law Article 49, as amended by Law No. 18 of 2020. Service of two years or less requires 1 month of notice. More than two years requires 2 months. A one-time probation of up to 6 months applies and cannot be extended.
What is end-of-service gratuity in Qatar?
End-of-service gratuity replaces statutory redundancy pay. Any employee with a year or more of service is owed at least 3 weeks of pay for every year worked, payable on their last day, under Labour Law Article 54. Fractions of a year are paid in proportion. Gratuity is forfeited only on the gross-misconduct grounds in Article 61.
What is statutory annual leave in Qatar?
Paid annual leave is at least 3 weeks for service of under five years and at least 4 weeks from five years, under Labour Law Article 79. Qatar also grants 10 days of paid public holidays a year under Article 78. Maternity leave is 50 days at full pay after one year of service.
Qatar reads as a low-cost place to employ, and for an expat hire it largely is. No income tax on salary, no social insurance for foreign staff. The cost that catches new employers is the one that never appears on a payslip. End-of-service gratuity of three weeks per year accrues quietly and lands in full at exit. Treat it as a monthly provision, not a leaving-day bill, and Qatar stays as simple as it looks.
Qatar pays salary free of income tax and takes no social insurance from a foreign hire, so the gross you agree is close to the net the employee keeps.
The cost that hides is end-of-service gratuity, three weeks of pay a year, due the day someone leaves.
Read the right Qatar guide before that first hire, not after the first exit.
