Madagascar is an island nation located in the western Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of Africa. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and the first in Africa. It has a very rich ecosystem. More than 90% of Malagasy wildlife does not exist anywhere else on Earth. Madagascar is the world’s second-largest island country, after Indonesia, with 592,800 square kilometers. According to the United Nations, Madagascar is one of the least developed nations. Key components of Madagascar’s growth plan include ecotourism, agriculture, and increased spending on public services, private businesses, and health care.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Madagascar.
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Madagascar is an island nation located in the western Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of Africa. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and the first in Africa. It has a very rich ecosystem. More than 90% of Malagasy wildlife does not exist anywhere else on Earth. Madagascar is the world’s second-largest island country, after Indonesia, with 592,800 square kilometers. According to the United Nations, Madagascar is one of the least developed nations. Key components of Madagascar’s growth plan include ecotourism, agriculture, and increased spending on public services, private businesses, and health care.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Madagascar.
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026 and are critical for hiring in Madagascar planning:
The holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026.
| January 1 | New Year's Day | |
| March 8 | International Women's Day | Only for women |
| March 20 | Eid Al-Fitr | Movable |
| March 29 | Martyrs' Day | |
| April 5 | Easter Sunday | Movable |
| April 6 | Easter Monday | Movable |
| May 1 | Labour Day | |
| May 14 | Ascension Day | Movable |
| May 24 | Whit Sunday | Movable |
| May 25 | Whit Monday | Movable |
| May 27 | Eid Al Adha | Movable |
| June 26 | National Independence Day | |
| August 15 | Assumption | |
| November 1 | All Saints Day | |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Madagascar is 14 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
The National Social Insurance Fund (CNaPS) is a public industrial and commercial establishment jointly supervised by the Ministries of Public Service, Labor, and Social Laws, and Finance, Economy, and Budget. Its mission is to help the state achieve its policy on social protection for private sector workers. National Social Insurance Fund covers:
The employer contributes between 13% to 18%, depending on the sector, while the employee contributes 2%. The Social Security deductions are detailed as follows:
| Benefits | Employer Contributions | Employee Contributions |
| Public Pension (disability, old age, survivors) |
|
1% |
| Sickness and Maternity | 5% | 1% |
| Accident Insurance and Occupational Diseases | 1.25% | – |
| Family Benefits | 2.25% | – |
| Total | 13% – 18% | 2% |
The legal working hours of employees or workers of one or the other sex, of any age, working on time, by task, or by a piece of work cannot exceed 173.33 hours per month, which on average is about eight hours a day.
Overtime is defined as hours spent that are over the permitted working hours and results in a pay raise. No less than one and a quarter times (125%) the ordinary rate should be considered the overtime compensation rate.
The probationary contract cannot exceed six months. It is renewable once for the same job.
The length of a notice period depends on the length of service and employment type. It is set as follows:
| Length of service
|
Occupational Group | ||||
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | |
| Less than 8 days | 1 day | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days |
| Less than 3 months | 3 days | 08 days | 15 days | 1 month | 1 month |
| Less than 1 year | 8 days | 15 days | 1 month | 1 and a half months | 3 months |
| Over 1 year | 10 days | 1 month | 1 and a half months | 2 and a half months | 4 months |
| Over 3 years | Increase of 2 days per year of service within the above-referred total limit | ||||
| Over 5 years | 1 month | 1 and a half months | 2 months | 3 months | 6 months |
The legal working hours of employees or workers of one or the other sex, of any age, working on time, by task, or by a piece of work cannot exceed 173.33 hours per month, which on average is about eight hours a day.
Overtime is defined as hours spent that are over the permitted working hours and results in a pay raise. No less than one and a quarter times (125%) the ordinary rate should be considered the overtime compensation rate.
The probationary contract cannot exceed six months. It is renewable once for the same job.
The length of a notice period depends on the length of service and employment type. It is set as follows:
| Length of service
|
Occupational Group | ||||
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | |
| Less than 8 days | 1 day | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days |
| Less than 3 months | 3 days | 08 days | 15 days | 1 month | 1 month |
| Less than 1 year | 8 days | 15 days | 1 month | 1 and a half months | 3 months |
| Over 1 year | 10 days | 1 month | 1 and a half months | 2 and a half months | 4 months |
| Over 3 years | Increase of 2 days per year of service within the above-referred total limit | ||||
| Over 5 years | 1 month | 1 and a half months | 2 months | 3 months | 6 months |
The National Social Insurance Fund (CNaPS) is a public industrial and commercial establishment jointly supervised by the Ministries of Public Service, Labor, and Social Laws, and Finance, Economy, and Budget. Its mission is to help the state achieve its policy on social protection for private sector workers. National Social Insurance Fund covers:
The employer contributes between 13% to 18%, depending on the sector, while the employee contributes 2%. The Social Security deductions are detailed as follows:
| Benefits | Employer Contributions | Employee Contributions |
| Public Pension (disability, old age, survivors) |
|
1% |
| Sickness and Maternity | 5% | 1% |
| Accident Insurance and Occupational Diseases | 1.25% | – |
| Family Benefits | 2.25% | – |
| Total | 13% – 18% | 2% |
WorkMotion provides Employer of Record (EOR) services in Madagascar through its established partner network, giving your company a compliant path to hire Malagasy talent without setting up a local entity.
Here is how the process works, step by step.
Every employment relationship in Madagascar must be governed by a written contract, and that contract must be drafted in French or Malagasy.
WorkMotion generates employment agreements that meet the requirements of Madagascar’s 2024 Labour Code (Law No. 2024-014), including:
Contracts are issued in two copies and signed by both parties before the hire’s first day.
Before payroll can run, employees must be registered with CNaPS, Madagascar’s national social security body.
WorkMotion’s partner network manages this registration on your behalf, along with any required notifications to the Direction Régionale du Travail.
For foreign nationals, the process includes coordinating the work permit (autorisation de travail) issued by the Ministry of Labour and the residence permit from the Ministry of Interior. WorkMotion handles this coordination so your hire can start work with the correct documentation in place.
Madagascar’s payroll obligations include withholding the Impôt sur le Revenu Salarial (IRSA), the salary income tax, and remitting it to the tax authority by the 15th of the month following each salary payment.
Employer social contributions cover:
WorkMotion calculates all of these accurately and sets up payroll in Malagasy ariary (MGA) before the first pay cycle runs.
Madagascar’s Labour Code mandates a set of statutory entitlements that every employer must provide. These include:
The 2024 Labour Code also introduced paternity leave provisions for the first time.
WorkMotion’s partner network ensures all of these entitlements are correctly administered and reflected in each employee’s payslip from day one.
Each month, WorkMotion processes payroll in Malagasy ariary, issues compliant payslips, and remits all statutory contributions to the relevant Malagasy authorities on time.
IRSA filings, CNaPS contributions, and OSIE health insurance payments are all handled within the required deadlines.
Your finance team receives a clear, itemized invoice, with no chasing multiple local vendors or reconciling across different systems.
Madagascar’s regulatory environment is active. The 2024 Labour Code introduced significant changes to employment contracts, working hours, remote work arrangements, occupational health and safety standards, and minimum wage review cycles.
WorkMotion monitors these developments through its partner network and updates employment terms, contribution rates, and statutory benefits as regulations change, so your company stays compliant without having to track Malagasy labor law internally.
Using an Employer of Record in Madagascar removes the legal and administrative burden of entity incorporation. Here is how the two paths compare:
| Factor | WorkMotion EOR | Own Entity Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | Per-employee monthly fee — no incorporation costs | Estimated $5,000–$15,000 in legal, notary, and EDBM registration fees, plus ongoing audit and accounting costs |
| Time to first hire | Days to a few weeks | Estimated 3–6 months for a Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) or Société Anonyme (SA) to be fully registered |
| Ongoing legal exposure | Compliance managed by WorkMotion’s partner network, backed by WorkMotion’s IEC Gold Compliance Certification | Your legal team carries full responsibility for Malagasy labor law, tax filings, and CNaPS contributions |
| Ongoing admin burden | Payroll, IRSA filings, CNaPS registration, and benefits administration handled end to end | Requires dedicated in-country HR, payroll, and legal resources |
| Exit flexibility | Offboard an employee without unwinding a legal entity | Dissolving a Malagasy entity involves additional regulatory steps and costs |
EOR in Madagascar fits companies that need to hire quickly, test the market, or support a remote hire without committing to a permanent legal structure.
Entity setup becomes worth evaluating when you have a large, established team in Madagascar and need direct operational control over a long-term local presence.
Madagascar’s labor law is more employee-protective than many foreign employers expect. These are the compliance gaps that cause the most friction for companies hiring without local expertise.
Madagascar’s Labour Code requires employment contracts to be written in French or Malagasy. An English-language contract, even if both parties sign it, does not satisfy this requirement and creates immediate legal exposure if a dispute arises.
WorkMotion generates contracts in the correct language from the outset, with all mandatory fields included as required by the 2024 Labour Code.
Employees must be registered with CNaPS before payroll runs, not after. Foreign employers who treat social security registration as a back-office task to handle later often find themselves out of compliance from the first pay cycle.
WorkMotion’s partner network initiates CNaPS registration as part of the onboarding sequence, not as an afterthought.
Total employer social contributions in Madagascar, covering CNaPS retirement, OSIE health insurance, and pension, add meaningfully to the cost of employment on top of gross salary.
Companies that budget only for gross salary and a service fee are often surprised when the full employment cost lands.
WorkMotion provides a transparent cost breakdown before you commit, so finance can model the real number. Use the Employment Cost Calculator to estimate total hiring costs in Madagascar before making a hiring decision.
Fixed-term contracts (CDD) in Madagascar cannot exceed two years. If the contract runs beyond that threshold, or is renewed more than twice, it automatically converts to a permanent open-ended contract (CDI).
Foreign employers who use fixed-term arrangements to maintain flexibility often find themselves with permanent employment obligations they did not plan for.
WorkMotion advises on the right contract type for each situation before the agreement is signed.
Law No. 2024-014, enacted in August 2024, introduced substantive changes to how employment contracts must be drafted, how remote work is governed, how occupational health and safety standards are applied, and how the minimum wage is reviewed.
Employers still operating under the 2003 Labour Code framework are out of compliance.
WorkMotion monitors Malagasy regulatory changes through its partner network and keeps employment terms current.
Termination in Madagascar follows a structured legal process. Notice periods range from eight days for employees with under six months of service to three months for senior staff.
Severance pay (indemnité de licenciement) is mandatory for employees with at least one year of continuous service, calculated at 10 days of salary per year for the first five years and 15 days per year thereafter.
The employer must also issue a Certificat de Travail and notify CNaPS and the Direction Régionale du Travail. Skipping any of these steps creates legal exposure.
WorkMotion manages the full termination process through its partner network, including documentation, notice, severance calculation, and regulatory notifications.
A B2B SaaS company headquartered in Germany or the Netherlands that cannot fill a senior developer role domestically. Madagascar has a growing pool of French-speaking technical talent, and the time zone overlap with Europe is workable.
Rather than waiting months for an entity, the company uses WorkMotion’s EOR in Madagascar to onboard the hire in days, with a locally compliant contract, payroll in Malagasy ariary, and statutory benefits handled from day one.
International NGOs operating in Sub-Saharan Africa frequently need to hire local program staff, field coordinators, or administrative leads in Madagascar without establishing a permanent legal entity.
WorkMotion’s partner network provides the compliant employment infrastructure these organizations need, including CNaPS registration, IRSA withholding, and proper contract documentation, so the organization can focus on program delivery rather than Malagasy labor law.
A European e-commerce or green tech company looking to hire a local market specialist, sustainability researcher, or supply chain coordinator in Madagascar. The role is strategic, the hire is senior, and the company needs the person to start within weeks, not after a six-month entity setup.
WorkMotion’s EOR in Madagascar provides the legal employment structure, and the company retains full operational control over the hire’s day-to-day work.
A US-headquartered company building a presence across Sub-Saharan Africa that needs a country lead or business development hire in Madagascar. Setting up a Malagasy SARL is not justified for a single hire.
WorkMotion’s partner network provides the compliant employment path, with contracts in French or Malagasy, payroll in MGA, and statutory benefits administered correctly, so the company can move fast and evaluate the market before committing to a permanent structure.
Madagascar’s 2024 Labour Code sets a high bar for employment compliance: written contracts in French or Malagasy, CNaPS registration before payroll runs, mandatory severance calculations, and employer contributions that require accurate setup from day one.
Getting any of these wrong creates legal exposure that falls on your company, not your local vendor.
WorkMotion removes that risk through its established partner network in Madagascar, backed by the compliance infrastructure of the only EOR provider to hold IEC Gold Compliance Certification, independently audited across 1,000+ checkpoints.
Your hire gets a properly documented employment relationship. Your finance team gets a transparent, itemised invoice. Your HR team has compliance handled for them.
If you’re ready to hire in Madagascar without building local infrastructure from scratch, book a demo, and we’re ready to help.
Yes, but with limits. Fixed-term contracts (CDD) in Madagascar are capped at two years and cannot be renewed more than twice without converting automatically to a permanent open-ended contract (CDI). Companies that use successive fixed-term arrangements to stay flexible often end up with unintended CDI status and the full termination protections that come with it. WorkMotion advises on the right contract structure for each hire before the agreement is signed.
No, there is no statutory 13th-month salary requirement under the 2024 Labour Code. However, some collective bargaining agreements (conventions collectives) tied to specific industries or professional categories do include 13th-month provisions, and these are legally binding for employers in those sectors. It is worth verifying whether a relevant collective agreement applies to your hire’s role before the first contract is issued.
WorkMotion’s partner network acts as the legal employer of record and carries the employment relationship under Malagasy law. That means the partner entity, not your company, is responsible for following correct procedures on things like termination, notice periods, severance, and notifications to CNaPS and the Direction Régionale du Travail. You direct the business decisions; WorkMotion’s partner manages the legal execution.
The standard working week is 40 hours for non-agricultural sectors. Hours beyond that count as overtime and must be paid at a premium, typically 30% above the standard rate for the first eight hours of weekly overtime and 50% beyond that. This matters most for remote technical or operational roles where on-call duties, deadlines, or cross-timezone work regularly push hours past the 40-hour threshold.
Probation varies by professional category and is governed by the applicable collective agreement, but for most salaried employees it runs from one to six months depending on the role. Extensions are possible in some cases but must be agreed in writing and cannot exceed the maximum set by the relevant agreement. WorkMotion ensures probation terms, including any extension provisions, are documented in the initial contract.
For Malagasy nationals, contract generation, CNaPS registration, and payroll setup typically take a few weeks once all employee information is submitted. For foreign nationals, coordinating the work permit (autorisation de travail) and residence permit adds time. WorkMotion’s partner network manages both tracks and will give you a realistic timeline based on your specific hire.
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