Hiring Your First Employee in Sudan (2026)

Taking on your first worker is the point where a Sudanese business stops being one person's trade and becomes an employer with statutory duties. Two laws switch on at that moment, and neither of them waits for you to grow. The Labour Act 1997 governs the relationship itself — the contract, the hours, the leave, the ending. The Social Insurance Act 1990, as amended in 2008, governs the money you must send to the Social Insurance National Fund every month on that worker's behalf.

Most people hiring for the first time discover these obligations late, usually when a dispute or an inspection forces the issue. Getting them right at the start costs almost nothing. Getting them wrong is expensive in a specific, calculable way, as you will see.

The threshold is one worker, not ten

There is no small-employer grace period in either Act, and this surprises people.

The Labour Act defines an employer at section 4 as any person who employs, by contract of service, one person or more for a wage of any kind. The Social Insurance Act applies at section 4(1)(b) to employers who employ one person or more, and section 5 makes insurance with the Fund compulsory for every employer and employee the Act covers. Section 69 of the Labour Act lets a labour office inspector enter any workplace where one worker or more is employed.

So the first hire is the trigger. What matters more is who you have hired, because the Labour Act carves several categories out entirely at section 3. It does not apply to domestic servants covered by the Domestic Servants Act 1955, to most agricultural workers, to casual workers, or to members of the employer's family who live with him and depend wholly on him. The Social Insurance Act draws similar but not identical lines at section 4(2): it excludes home-workers, domestic servants paid directly by the householder, unpaid apprentices, family members, and agricultural, pastoral and forestry employees — though that agricultural exclusion falls away for employers who normally employ thirty or more people.

The lines are not the same in the two Acts, which means you can easily be outside one and inside the other. Two practical warnings follow. A "casual worker" is defined narrowly at section 4 of the Labour Act as someone doing temporary work in a factory for a period not exceeding fifteen days, of a kind not part of the factory's normal activity. It is not a label you can attach to a permanent shop assistant to avoid the Act. And the Act's "worker" is a person not less than sixteen years old; anyone under sixteen is an "infant" and falls under the separate juvenile provisions in Part IV.

If you have not yet formalised the business itself, do that first — the registration route is set out in our guide to registering a business in Sudan, and the tax identity you will need is covered in how the Taxation Chamber's TIN system works.

Entering the Fund, before the first payday

Section 6(1) of the Social Insurance Act requires every employer covered by the Act to apply to have his name entered into the Fund's registers, and binds him to register his employees. The Fund's seat is in Khartoum State (section 9), and it operates under the supervision of the Minister.

Once entered, section 7 gives you a certificate of entry, and you are required to display it at your place of work along with the particulars of the names of your insured employees, updating them as they change. Section 7(3) requires you to ask everyone applying to work with you for an original birth certificate or a certificate of age assessment — that is where the worker's insurance record starts, and it is why age documents matter more at hiring than most employers expect.

Section 8 then requires two registers kept at your head office, branch or shop: a register of employees, showing each worker's name, date of birth, insurance number and the date and reason for leaving; and a register of wages, showing each worker's name, insurance number, wage and the subscriptions deducted from that wage.

One provision to note if you subcontract. Section 29 says that where you entrust your business or any part of it to a contractor, you must notify the Fund of the contractor's name and address at least one week before work commences, and the contractor is then jointly liable for the obligations under the Act.

What the 25% actually costs you

Section 24(2) sets the monthly subscription at 25% of monthly wages: 17% from the employer and 8% from the insured person. Section 24(3) allows the Council of Ministers to amend that rate on the Minister's proposal in the light of the actuary's opinion, so confirm the current rate with the Fund before you set your payroll — the figure in the Act has stood since the 2008 amendment, but it is amendable by decision rather than by new legislation.

The base matters as much as the rate. Section 3 defines "wage" for social insurance purposes as the total monthly wages, including the basic wage plus cost-of-living allowance and job-risk allowance. It is not the basic salary alone.

Worked through in relative terms, because quoting a pound figure in Sudan today would be meaningless within weeks: if you agree a monthly wage of W, your true payroll cost is 1.17 × W, and the worker's cash before any income tax withholding is 0.92 × W. Budget for the seventeen per cent at the offer stage, not after it. A wage you can afford at W is a wage you may not be able to afford at 1.17W.

Section 27 is the provision that punishes shortcuts. If you fail to subscribe for all or part of your employees, or pay subscriptions on the basis of unreal wages, you owe an additional 4% of the subscriptions you did not pay. Under-declaring the wage is treated the same as not registering the worker at all.

Timing is set out in section 25. Subscriptions fall due at the end of each month. They are payable for the full month in which a worker is appointed, regardless of how many days he actually served, and are not payable for the month in which his service ends — the reverse of what most people assume. Casual and seasonal workers are the exception; theirs are pro-rated by actual days served.

Section 26 contains a trap worth memorising. You may deduct the worker's 8% from his wages, but only from the first wages due to him after you have paid the subscription. Miss that payroll run and your right to deduct that month lapses — you have paid his share as well as your own, permanently.

The contract the Act requires you to write

Section 28(1) is unambiguous: any contract exceeding three months in duration must be made in writing by the employer, in three copies signed by both parties. Each party keeps one copy and the third is deposited with the Commissioner.

Section 28(2) adds that the contract is not deemed beneficial to the employer unless and until the worker has taken cognisance of it and signed — by name, thumb impression or stamp — and he may call a witness to read it over and sign. If the worker cannot read, section 28(3) requires you to read the contract aloud in front of a witness the worker chooses, provided that witness can read and write.

Then comes the consequence of skipping all of this. Section 28(4): in the absence of a written contract, the worker may prove his entitlements by any kind of evidence. Section 28(5) goes further — where there is no written contract, a dispute may be resolved by reference to the contracts of other workers doing the same work for the same employer over the same period. The unwritten contract is not an absent contract. It is a contract whose terms someone else gets to establish.

Section 30 lists what the document must contain: your name and the enterprise's name, place and address; the worker's full name, age, domicile, identifying particulars and qualifications; the nature and kind of work, the starting date and the place of work; the agreed wage and the mode of payment; the period of notice for termination; and any other agreed terms. Section 31 voids any term inconsistent with the Act unless it is more favourable to the worker — so a clause promising less than the statutory minimum simply does not bind.

Probation, fixed terms, and how a job becomes permanent

Section 29(4) caps the probationary period at three months, excluding any training period. Two things follow that catch employers out. Probation counts as continuous service under the section 4 definition, so it feeds the clocks for leave, sick pay and gratuity. And if the period is not specified and the probation elapses without either party terminating, the contract is considered indefinite.

Fixed terms are equally constrained. Section 29(2) says a definite-period contract may not exceed two years and may be renewed only once in the same enterprise; the renewal runs continuously with the first period; and if the worker keeps working after the renewal ends, he is deemed to be on an indefinite contract. Section 29(3) presumes any written contract is indefinite unless it clearly states that it is for a definite period, for specific work, or to substitute for another worker.

There is no rolling-fixed-term route to a permanently temporary workforce in Sudan. Plan for the worker becoming permanent, because after two years and one renewal the Act makes that decision for you.

Hours, overtime and leave

Section 42 sets normal working hours at forty-eight per week or eight per day, with a paid interval of not less than half an hour for a meal or rest. Section 42(3) requires the daily hours to be reduced by one paid hour during Ramadan for fasting workers, and for wet nurses for two years from the birth.

Overtime under section 43 is exceptional, not routine: it is for pressing emergencies, requires the agreement of both parties, and is capped at four hours a day and twelve hours a week. It is paid at one and a half hours' pay per hour on normal working days and two hours' pay per hour on official and weekly holidays, calculated on the basic salary — and note that "basic salary" is defined at section 4 as salary plus cost-of-living allowance, excluding other allowances. That is a narrower base than the "wage" your social insurance is calculated on, and narrower again than the Labour Act's general "wage", which includes the value of food, fuel or residence, overtime and bonuses. Three different bases, three different purposes. Confusing them is the single most common payroll error in a small Sudanese business, and it is worth setting your payslip up correctly from the first month rather than reconstructing it later.

Annual leave under section 44 accrues after one year of continuous service and is taken on full pay, including official holidays. The Act's schedule starts at twenty days for a worker who has completed from one year up to three years' service, and rises with longer service — to twenty-five days and then thirty days at the longer bands. The published English translation is imprecise about the band between three and eight years, so confirm your worker's exact entitlement with the labour office rather than assuming. On termination or resignation, section 44(3) entitles the worker to be paid for all untaken annual leave days or the proportionate part.

The other leaves you are agreeing to fund:

• Sick leave (s47): after three months' continuous service, and per twelve months of service — three months on full pay, three on half pay, three on quarter pay, for a certified illness not caused by the worker's misconduct or negligence.
• Maternity leave (s46): after one year's service, eight weeks on full pay, split four before and four after delivery, or optionally two before and six after. Section 46(2) prohibits dismissing a woman during pregnancy or during delivery leave.
• Mourning leave (s48): four months and ten days on full salary for a woman worker whose husband has died, extended to delivery if she is pregnant.
• Pilgrimage leave (s49): once in the worker's service, after three years of continuous service, on full salary.
• Travelling leave (s45): once a year, with full pay, to travel between the place of work and the worker's original home, capped at ten days.

Section 36(2) is worth flagging in Sudan specifically. A worker who has completed three months' continuous service keeps his wage during absence caused by the unavailability of ordinary transport, by catastrophes or events that prevent him attending work, by a court or public-authority summons, or by a death in the immediate family. In a market where roads close and routes fail without warning, that provision is not academic.

Paying wages, and what you may deduct

Wages are paid in cash (s35(1)), at the interval agreed (s35(2)), at the place of work during working hours, and payment may not be delayed beyond the third day from the date the entitlement falls due (s35(6)). On termination, section 35(7) requires all entitlements to be paid within a week. Section 40 requires you to hand over a detailed statement of entitlements when the contract ends, and section 59 requires a certificate of service stating the employer's name, the work performed, the period served and the wage — without mentioning the reasons for the departure.

Deductions are tightly controlled by section 35(8): wages are paid to the worker personally or to someone he has authorised in writing, without deduction, unless the deduction is agreed in writing or made under the Act. If the worker asks for a statement of a deduction, you must give one. A business bank account and a traceable payment trail make all of this far easier to evidence than cash in hand — the practicalities are covered in choosing where to bank and in paying through Bankak and similar apps.

Staff loans are a common informal practice, and section 37 regulates them directly. A loan to a worker must be without interest — the employer may recover only a reduced percentage to meet the expenses of the loan — the periodic repayment deduction may not exceed 15% of basic salary, and a court will not entertain the employer's claim unless the loan was granted under a written contract. This sits naturally with the profit-and-partnership structure of Sudanese finance generally, explained in our guide to Islamic banking basics. Section 67 adds that a court will not enforce any contract obliging the worker to repay amounts the employer paid in connection with employing him.

Income tax is the piece this article deliberately leaves open. You will need a Tax Identification Number, and you should establish your withholding obligation and its current rates directly with the Sudan Taxation Chamber. Do not rely on the personal income tax figures circulating online: they are pre-devaluation and, in real terms, nonsense today.

The paperwork an inspector can ask for

Section 64 requires every employer to make basic work regulations and penalty regulations, and to fix them in a conspicuous place at the workplace. The basic regulations must state at least the hours of work and their timing. You must deposit the basic regulations with the Commissioner, and penalty regulations are invalid unless the Minister approves them.

Section 65 requires a record for each worker covering wages, deductions, annual leave and sick leave with their dates and numbers, and the other conditions in the contract — kept for at least one year after the contract ends and produced to the competent authority on request. Section 33 allows the Commissioner to call for your contracts of service for checking, and section 34 requires you to give a receipt for any documents or certificates a worker deposits with you.

None of this is burdensome at one employee. All of it is very hard to reconstruct at ten, which is the practical argument for setting up a proper ledger from the first hire rather than after the first inspection.

Ending the employment, and what it costs

Section 50(1) lists the grounds on which a contract terminates by notice, including expiry of the agreed period, resignation, written agreement of both parties, dismissal or desertion during probation, attaining the age of sixty unless the parties agree otherwise, dissolution or liquidation of the establishment proved by official certificate, total destruction of the establishment, and death.

Notice must be in writing, and section 50(2) sets one month for a worker on a monthly wage, with shorter periods for weekly, fortnightly and daily wages that lengthen with service, and one month for any of those once the worker has five years' continuous service. Failing to give notice costs you compensation equal to the wage for the notice period (s50(3)).

The provision most often missed is section 55(1). Even where you have a summary-dismissal ground under section 53 — forged papers, gross negligence causing heavy financial loss, refusal to follow posted written safety instructions, disclosing commercial secrets, assault, an offence concerning honour or morality, obvious intoxication — the contract may not be terminated before the dispute is referred to the competent authority for approval. You may suspend the worker while the Commissioner investigates, and he must decide within two weeks. Terminating before that referral or decision exposes you, under section 55(3), to reinstating the worker with full pay for the suspension, or paying all his entitlements plus compensation equal to six months' wages. Even where the authority does approve a section 53 termination, section 55(5) requires you to pay not less than three quarters of the gratuity.

That gratuity is set by section 60. A worker who completes not less than three years of continuous service is entitled to one month's basic salary for each year of service from three up to ten years, rising to one and a half months for service beyond ten years and one and three quarters of a month for each additional year beyond fifteen, capped at thirty-six months' basic salary. It is calculated on the last month's basic salary — meaning a raise granted shortly before departure revalues the whole accrued liability. A worker who resigns after three years receives a fraction of it under section 61: a quarter under five years, half from five to fifteen, three quarters from fifteen to twenty, and the full amount at twenty years or more.

Provide for that liability from year one. It is the single largest number in small-employer payroll planning in Sudan, and it does not appear on any monthly payslip until the month it falls due. The same forward-planning logic applies to insuring the risks the business itself carries — work injury sits partly with the Fund under sections 40 to 47 of the Social Insurance Act and partly with you under the Work Injuries Compensation Act 1981, and the wider protection picture is set out on our protection hub and in our guide to takaful cover. If wage costs are the constraint on hiring at all, it is worth understanding the business financing options available before you commit to a headcount.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really have to register with the Fund for one employee? Yes. Section 4(1)(b) of the Social Insurance Act applies it to employers who employ one person or more, and section 5 makes the insurance compulsory. There is no threshold to grow into. What can take you outside it is the category of worker — the exclusions at section 4(2) cover family members living with you, domestic servants paid directly by the householder, home-workers and unpaid apprentices, among others.

Can I agree a wage and then deduct the whole 25% from it? No. Section 24(2) splits it 17% employer and 8% worker, and section 5 of the Act says insured persons bear no share of the costs of insurance except as the Act specifically provides. You may deduct the worker's 8%, and only from the first wages due after you have paid the subscription — after that, section 26 says your right to deduct lapses.

Is a verbal agreement enough for a short job? For a contract of three months or less, the Labour Act does not require writing. Beyond three months, section 28(1) does. But writing is in your interest either way: section 28(4) lets a worker without a written contract prove his entitlements by any kind of evidence, and section 28(5) lets a tribunal look to other workers' contracts to fill the gap.

What if I hire someone on probation and it does not work out? Dismissal during probation is an express ground for termination at section 50(1)(e), so the exit is clean — provided the probation is genuinely running. It cannot exceed three months (s29(4)), it counts as continuous service, and if it lapses without either party acting, the contract becomes indefinite.

Do I owe a gratuity to someone who leaves after two years? No. Section 60(1) sets the qualifying threshold at not less than three years of continuous service. But the clock includes the probationary period and any training period under the section 4 definition of continuous service, so count from the true start date, not from confirmation.

What happens if I simply never register and never subscribe? Section 27 makes you liable for an additional 4% of the subscriptions you did not pay, and that applies equally where you did register but declared unreal wages. Separately, the Labour Act's inspection powers at section 69 let the labour office enter any workplace where one worker or more is employed and require you to produce the records section 65 obliges you to keep.

Last reviewed 7 September 2026. Provisions are drawn from the Labour Act 1997 (Act No. 20 of 1997) and the Social Insurance Act 1990 as amended 2008. Subscription rates are amendable by decision of the Council of Ministers under section 24(3), and income tax obligations sit with the Sudan Taxation Chamber — confirm both as they currently stand before you set your payroll.

This article is general information about Sudanese employment and social insurance law, not financial, tax or legal advice. Your circumstances may differ, and you should take advice on your own position before acting.