North Macedonia is a country in the south-central Balkans. It is bordered to the north by Kosovo and Serbia, to the east by Bulgaria, to the south by Greece, and to the west by Albania. The region of Macedonia owes its importance to its location as a major junction of communication routes. The main industries of the country are information and communication technology, agribusiness and food processing, textile and clothing, automotive components, wine industry, and electro-metal industry.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in North Macedonia.
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Easily onboard your remote talent in North Macedonia through our Employer of Record (EOR) solution. Our subsidiaries and network partners make this process fast and 100% compliant.
North Macedonia is a country in the south-central Balkans. It is bordered to the north by Kosovo and Serbia, to the east by Bulgaria, to the south by Greece, and to the west by Albania. The region of Macedonia owes its importance to its location as a major junction of communication routes. The main industries of the country are information and communication technology, agribusiness and food processing, textile and clothing, automotive components, wine industry, and electro-metal industry.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in North Macedonia.
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026 and are critical for hiring in North Macedonia planning:
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026.
| January 1 | New Year’s Day | |
| January 7 | Orthodox Christmas Day | Movable - As per Orthodox Christian Calendar |
| March 20 | Ramazan Bajram | Movable - As per the Islamic Lunar Calendar |
| April 13 | Orthodox Easter Monday | Movable - As per Orthodox Christian Calendar |
| May 1 | Labour Day | |
| May 24 - 25 | St. Cyril and St. Methodius Day | |
| August 2 - 3 | Republic Day / Ilinden Day | |
| September 8 | Independence Day | |
| October 11 - 12 | Revolution Day | |
| October 23 | Day of the Macedonian Revolution | |
| December 8 | Saint Clement of Ohrid Day |
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in North Macedonia is 10 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.
Employers do not pay any social security contributions. However, they are obligated to calculate, withhold for the employee, and pay compulsory social contributions on gross salary as follows:
| Category | Employee Contributions |
| Pension and disability insurance | 18.8% |
| Health insurance | 7.5% |
| Employment insurance | 1.2% |
| Additional health insurance contribution in case of an injury at work and a professional illness* | 0.5% |
*A contribution for obligatory insurance against invalidity and injury at work and occupational diseases amounting to 4% of the basis (50% of the national average salary per employee in the current month) is paid by the respective institution for the duration of the internship/voluntary work/ imprisonment/training of unemployed people and public works.
The full-time hours of work should not exceed 40 hours per week. The workweek should last, by rule, five workdays. A collective agreement may stipulate that a working time less than 40 hours of work per week, but no less than 36 hours per week, is deemed full-time hours.
The employee is obliged, at the employer’s request, to work in excess of the full-time hours (overtime work):
Overtime work should not exceed eight hours in the course of one week and 190 hours per year, except for work that, due to the specific work process, cannot be interrupted, or when it is not possible to organize the work in shifts. Overtime work within a period of three months should not exceed, on average, eight hours a week.
The employer is obliged to pay the employee a bonus, who has:
The bonus should be the amount of one average salary paid in the Republic of Macedonia, in addition to the overtime allowance.
Since 2021, the probationary periods are decreased to four months from six. When entering into the employment contract, the employer and the employee may agree to a probationary period. The employment contract, in addition to all rights and obligations arising from employment, should also lay down the amount of the wages and the duration of the probationary period.
The contracting parties may terminate the employment contract with a notice period:
| Condition | Notice Period |
| Termination of employment of seasonal employees | 7 working days |
| Termination initiated by the employee or employer for an individual or few employees | 1 month |
| Termination of employment of more than 150 employees or 5% of the total number of employees | 2 months |
The employment contract or the collective agreement may provide for a longer notice period, which should not exceed three months.The employer may terminate the employment contract of the employee due to a breach of the workplace discipline or failure to perform the obligations laid down by law, collective agreement, an act of the employer, and the employment contract, without a notice period, in certain prescribed conditions.
The full-time hours of work should not exceed 40 hours per week. The workweek should last, by rule, five workdays. A collective agreement may stipulate that a working time less than 40 hours of work per week, but no less than 36 hours per week, is deemed full-time hours.
The employee is obliged, at the employer’s request, to work in excess of the full-time hours (overtime work):
Overtime work should not exceed eight hours in the course of one week and 190 hours per year, except for work that, due to the specific work process, cannot be interrupted, or when it is not possible to organize the work in shifts. Overtime work within a period of three months should not exceed, on average, eight hours a week.
The employer is obliged to pay the employee a bonus, who has:
The bonus should be the amount of one average salary paid in the Republic of Macedonia, in addition to the overtime allowance.
Since 2021, the probationary periods are decreased to four months from six. When entering into the employment contract, the employer and the employee may agree to a probationary period. The employment contract, in addition to all rights and obligations arising from employment, should also lay down the amount of the wages and the duration of the probationary period.
The contracting parties may terminate the employment contract with a notice period:
| Condition | Notice Period |
| Termination of employment of seasonal employees | 7 working days |
| Termination initiated by the employee or employer for an individual or few employees | 1 month |
| Termination of employment of more than 150 employees or 5% of the total number of employees | 2 months |
The employment contract or the collective agreement may provide for a longer notice period, which should not exceed three months.The employer may terminate the employment contract of the employee due to a breach of the workplace discipline or failure to perform the obligations laid down by law, collective agreement, an act of the employer, and the employment contract, without a notice period, in certain prescribed conditions.
Employers do not pay any social security contributions. However, they are obligated to calculate, withhold for the employee, and pay compulsory social contributions on gross salary as follows:
| Category | Employee Contributions |
| Pension and disability insurance | 18.8% |
| Health insurance | 7.5% |
| Employment insurance | 1.2% |
| Additional health insurance contribution in case of an injury at work and a professional illness* | 0.5% |
*A contribution for obligatory insurance against invalidity and injury at work and occupational diseases amounting to 4% of the basis (50% of the national average salary per employee in the current month) is paid by the respective institution for the duration of the internship/voluntary work/ imprisonment/training of unemployed people and public works.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in North Macedonia, acting as the legal employer on your behalf — so your company can hire compliantly without registering a local subsidiary, navigating the Public Revenue Office, or building in-country HR infrastructure from scratch.
WorkMotion generates an employment contract aligned with North Macedonia’s Labor Relations Law.
North Macedonian law stipulates that written employment contracts must specify the duties, salary, and terms of the employee’s employment.
WorkMotion’s contracts cover all mandatory elements:
The employee may not commence work prior to entering into an employment contract and prior to their registration for mandatory social insurance by the employer.
WorkMotion handles this registration step directly, enrolling each new hire with the relevant social funds, including:
Employers are obligated to calculate, withhold from employees’ gross salary, and pay into the accounts of respective funds the compulsory social contributions and personal income tax.
The current level of compulsory social contributions on gross salary is:
WorkMotion accurately calculates all of these contributions each month, applying the correct minimum and maximum contribution bases, as updated annually by the Public Revenue Office.
The standard personal income tax (PIT) rate in North Macedonia is a flat 10%.
WorkMotion withholds PIT monthly, applying the applicable personal allowance before calculating the taxable base — so each employee receives a correct, compliant payslip reflecting their actual net salary.
Employers must submit the MPIN form electronically by the 15th of the following month, detailing gross salaries, social contributions, personal allowances, and withheld income tax.
WorkMotion handles this submission to the Public Revenue Office on your behalf, along with the concurrent payment of net salaries, social contributions, and PIT — all processed through a single encrypted payment order as required under Macedonian payroll rules.
Employment law in North Macedonia continues to evolve.
North Macedonia’s labor laws and procedures are regulated by the Labor Relations Law and subsequent changes, collective agreements concluded on a national level, other legal acts, and the individual employment contract.
WorkMotion monitors regulatory updates — including changes to minimum wage thresholds, contribution rates, and collective agreement terms — and updates employment terms accordingly, so your company’s exposure doesn’t grow quietly in the background.
For most companies hiring one to a handful of employees in North Macedonia, entity setup introduces cost and delay that an Employer of Record (EOR) eliminates entirely. Here’s how the two paths compare:
| Factor | WorkMotion EOR | Own entity in North Macedonia |
|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | No setup cost beyond the per-employee EOR fee | Roughly a minimum share capital of €5,000 required, plus legal, notarization, and agent fees |
| Time to first hire | Days from signed contract to payroll enrollment | Weeks to months — registration, bank account opening, PRO registration, and social fund enrollment all required before first hire |
| Ongoing legal exposure | WorkMotion holds legal employer liability for labor law compliance, payroll accuracy, and contribution remittance | Your entity is directly liable for all employment law obligations, payroll errors, and regulatory filings |
| Ongoing admin burden | WorkMotion manages contracts, payroll, MPIN submissions, and contribution payments | Internal or outsourced team required for monthly payroll, MPIN filings, social fund payments, and labor inspectorate compliance |
| Exit flexibility | Offboard employees through the platform; no entity wind-down required | Dissolving a Macedonian entity requires formal deregistration, tax clearance, and regulatory sign-off |
EOR is the right fit when you’re hiring a small number of employees in North Macedonia and need to move quickly — or when you want to test the market before committing to a permanent structure.
If you’re planning to build a large, long-term team in North Macedonia and want direct employment under your own brand, WorkMotion’s Direct Hiring solution offers a path to register as a foreign employer while keeping compliance management in-house.
North Macedonia’s employment framework has specific requirements that catch foreign employers off guard. These are the compliance gaps that surface most often.
All gross salaries are subject to social insurance and tax deductions, deductible from the employee’s gross salary but are payable by the employer on the employee’s behalf.
Employers accustomed to a split employer/employee contribution model sometimes miscalculate total employment costs by treating these as separate employer charges. In North Macedonia, all mandatory social contributions are deducted from the employee’s gross salary and remitted by the employer, which directly affects how net salary offers are structured and communicated to candidates.
Employees must be registered within three days of starting work.
Foreign companies that delay this step — waiting until payroll is fully configured before completing social fund registration — expose both themselves and the employee to compliance risk.
WorkMotion handles registration before the employee’s first working day, not after.
Collective agreements can affect wages and benefits by sector.
North Macedonia has sector-level collective agreements that set minimum pay rates, shift premiums, and additional entitlements beyond the statutory floor.
Companies hiring without local expertise often apply only the statutory minimums and miss sector-specific obligations. WorkMotion identifies which collective agreement applies to each role before the contract is issued.
The main monthly obligation is submitting the MPIN form to the Public Revenue Office.
The MPIN form must be submitted electronically by the 15th day of the month following the month in which the salary was paid.
Companies managing payroll without local support frequently miss this deadline or submit incorrect data — triggering fines and interest charges from the PRO. WorkMotion’s payroll specialists own this cycle end-to-end.
North Macedonia has a growing pool of software engineers, QA specialists, and IT professionals — and the country’s flat corporate and personal income tax rate of 10% is one of the lowest in Europe.
German and Dutch B2B SaaS and fintech companies use WorkMotion’s North Macedonia EOR to hire mid-level and senior developers without opening a local entity.
The typical use case: a company with 50–200 employees that has exhausted the local talent pool and needs to hire two to five engineers in Skopje within the quarter.
Germany, Great Britain, China, Greece, and Serbia are among North Macedonia’s main foreign trade partners.
US-headquartered companies entering the broader Balkan and Southeast European market sometimes hire their first regional employee in North Macedonia — a sales lead, a partnerships manager, or a technical support specialist — before deciding whether to build a larger regional presence.
WorkMotion’s EOR model lets them make that first hire in days, with a locally compliant contract and payroll in place from day one, without committing to entity setup.
You’ve found the right candidate in North Macedonia. The next question is whether you can hire them compliantly, quickly, and without building local infrastructure from scratch.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in North Macedonia, acting as the legal employer on your behalf — handling contracts aligned with the Labor Relations Law, payroll in Macedonian Denar, social fund registrations, and monthly MPIN reporting to the Public Revenue Office.
Your team manages the work; WorkMotion manages the compliance.
Most hires are onboarded within days of contract signing, with no entity setup, no share capital requirement, and no ongoing administrative overhead on your side.
If you want to estimate the full employment cost before committing, use WorkMotion’s Employment Cost Calculator to see salary, contributions, and fees broken down for North Macedonia.
When you’re ready to move forward, Book a Demo and speak with a WorkMotion expert about your first hire.
WorkMotion operates through its own entity in North Macedonia, acting as the legal employer on your behalf. This means direct compliance accountability – not an intermediary arrangement where responsibility is shared with a local partner you’ve never vetted. For companies evaluating a North Macedonia EOR, entity ownership matters: it determines who is liable when a payroll filing is late or a contract term doesn’t meet the Labor Relations Law.
North Macedonia’s Labor Relations Law permits a probationary period of up to six months for most roles. During probation, either party can terminate the employment relationship with a shorter notice period than applies to the standard contract – but the employee still retains full statutory rights, including social fund registration and health insurance coverage from day one. WorkMotion’s contracts reflect the applicable probation terms for each role type, so there’s no risk of issuing a non-compliant arrangement.
Notice periods in North Macedonia depend on the employee’s length of service and the grounds for termination. For employer-initiated termination on business grounds, the statutory minimum notice is typically one month, though collective agreements in certain sectors may require longer periods. Employees dismissed without a valid legal ground – or without following the required procedural steps under the Labor Relations Law – are entitled to reinstatement or compensation, which makes getting termination right the first time essential. WorkMotion’s local HR professionals manage the full offboarding process in line with current Macedonian requirements.
Employees in North Macedonia are entitled to a minimum of 20 working days of paid annual leave. Leave entitlement may increase based on seniority, role complexity, or applicable sector-level collective agreements – meaning the statutory floor is not always the full picture. WorkMotion identifies which collective agreement applies to each hire before the contract is issued, so leave entitlements are correctly reflected from the start rather than corrected after a dispute arises.
For the first 30 days of sick leave, the employer is responsible for paying sick pay at a rate of 70% of the employee’s average salary. From day 31 onward, the Health Insurance Fund takes over the payment obligation. Foreign employers who assume the state covers sick pay from day one often miscalculate short-term absence costs – WorkMotion’s payroll team applies the correct cost split automatically and handles any coordination with the Health Insurance Fund when longer absences occur.
Fixed-term contracts are permitted under North Macedonian labor law but are subject to restrictions. They can be used for temporary, seasonal, or project-based work, but the total duration of consecutive fixed-term contracts with the same employer generally cannot exceed five years – after which the relationship is treated as indefinite employment. Using fixed-term contracts to avoid the obligations of permanent employment is a recognized compliance risk under Macedonian law, and WorkMotion advises on the appropriate contract type based on the actual nature of the role before any contract is issued.
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