Employer of Record in North Macedonia

Basic information

Capital:Skopje

Time Zone:GMT+1

Language: Macedonian & Albanian

Currency Code:ALL

Human Resources at a Glance 

Contract Terms

Contracts must be in Macedonian and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.
A contract must include:

• Name
• Start date
• Length of the employment
• Job description
• Termination conditions
• General provisions
• Place of work
• Working hours
• Vacations and absences
• Salary
• Obligations of the employer
• Right and obligations of the employee
• Final provisions – (Employment agreement should be prepared from Legal Advisor)

Guidelines Regarding Probation Period/Trial Period

Probation periods are not mandatory. The maximum probation period is 120 days and the minimum probation period is 30 days.

Regulations and Rules Regarding Working Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday.

Overtime is paid according to the following rates

Overtime payment is mandatory and may be included in the salary. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. For additional hours, employees are paid:

• 135% of the hourly rate on standard working hours
• 135% of the hourly rate on night working hours
• 150% of the hourly rate on rest days

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage for full-time employees is MKD 20,175 net and MKD 29,739 gross a month.

Payroll Cost for Employers

The only mandatory monthly employer cost in North Macedonia is Compensation for past work service. The cost for this fee varies based on the employee’s monthly salary and total years worked, including work performed for all previous employers, and is calculated as 0.5% of the employee’s base monthly multiplied by the total years worked (including all previous employers). This fee will be calculated after onboarding based on the employee’s information.

Termination

Grounds

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.
Terminations in North Macedonia can be complex. There is no at-will termination in North Macedonia for employers and termination must be done for just cause.
Compliant terminations include:

• Voluntarily by the employee
• By mutual agreement
• Unilaterally by the employer based on:
  • Probation period
  • Objective grounds
  • Disciplinary dismissal
  • Performance due to unsuitability for the job
• By the expiration of the contract

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is 30 days. It can be increased to a maximum of 90 days if agreed in the Employment Agreement.

Severance compensation

In North Macedonia, all employees who are made redundant are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay is varied depending on the length of services as follows:

• 1 month of net salary per year of service up to 5 years.
• 2.5 net salaries per year of service up to 10 years.
• 3.5 net salaries per year of service up to 15 years.
• 4.5 net salaries per year of service up to 20 years.
• 6 net salaries per year of service up to 25 years.
• 7 net salaries per year of service over 25 years.

Payment & leave Compensation & Holidays

SalaryPayment

Monthly

Payslip Payroll

No explicit provision

Annual Leave

Full-time employees are entitled to 20 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. Part-time employees are entitled to at least 10 days of paid time off per year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.66 days per month. If an employee has never been employed before, vacation may be used after 6 months of consecutive work at the same employer, unless otherwise agreed upon between the employer and employee. If the employee has been employed before, they may start using vacation depending on their agreement with the employer.

Legally, employees must take a minimum of 2 uninterrupted weeks per calendar year.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to an unlimited number of days of paid sick leave. This leave is paid at different rates and by different payers depending upon length:

Period	Pay	Payer
0 – 15 days	70%	Employer
16 – 30 days	90%	Employer
Over 30 days	50%-100% depending on type of illness	Health Insurance Fund

Maternity & Parental Leave

Pregnant employees who have worked for 6 consecutive months are entitled to 9 months paid leave for one baby, 15 months paid leave for twins/triplets. The employee will receive 100% of their average salary from the last 12 months during this period, paid for by health insurance.

Employees are only eligible for paternity leave if both parents of the child are employed. The mother must start their maternity leave during the lactation period and take 45 days, after which the mother ends their maternity leave and the paternity leave begins. The dates of maternity leave listed on the ISR form for the mother’s maternity leave must have passed. The employee is then entitled to 9 months for one baby, 15 months for multiple children. Once paternity leave commences, the employee is entitled to 100% of their regular salary, paid by health insurance.

Employees are entitled to 2 days of leave in the event of childbirth or adoption of a child. This is paid for by the employer at 100% of their regular salary.

Tax and Social Security Information

Personal Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 10% to 18%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. Multiple additional factors may impact overall rates such as the household status and the number of children.

Gross Annual Income	Tax Rate (%)
Up to MKD – 1,080,000	10%
Over MKD – 1,080,000	18%

Social security

• Pension Fund
• Public Health Care
• Unemployment Insurance
• Disability Insurance

Public Holidays 2024

假期	日期
New Year’s Day	1.1-1.2
Orthodox Christmas Day	1.7-1.8
Eid al-Fitr	4.10
Labour Day	5.1
Easter Monday	5.6
Election Holiday	5.8
Saints Cyril and Methodius’s Day	5.24
Republic Day	8.2
Independence Day	9.8-9.9
Day of People’s Uprising	10.11
Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle	10.23
Saint Kliment Ohridski’s Day	12.8-12.9