Have you been thinking about enriching your team with Albanian employees? Doing so could be highly beneficial for your business’s current operations and overall trajectory. These employees are known to be hardworking, and the labor costs in the area are very low, especially when compared to countries like Luxembourg or the U.S.

Affordable, capable foreign workers could be exactly what your company needs to succeed in your industry. But before you take the jump, we urge you to take stock of the Albanian labor laws and work-related benefits that Albanians will expect. In doing so, you’ll be able to reel in a high volume of quality candidates and avoid breaking laws in the country.

Thankfully, you don’t have to go in blind. By the end of this article, you’ll know all the basics of hiring talent in Albania. We’ll do a rundown on Albanian labor laws, dive deep into mandatory laws, and give you some supplementary benefit options to consider for your benefit packages. 

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The Rundown on Albanian Labor Laws

Just because Albanian worker wages are low doesn’t mean that their labor laws are lax. The country’s government has made it a point to ensure that workers and employers can have a harmonious relationship where neither party is mistreated.

You can find the official employer obligations on the State Inspectorate of Labor and Social Services website – in Albanian, it’s the Inspektorati Shtetëror i Punës dhe Shërbimeve Shoqërore. Though this website is in Albanian, you can translate it via Google Translate. In a Google Chrome browser, go to settings (click on the three vertical dots on the top right corner of the browser), click Translate, and select your language. Then, the page will be displayed in your chosen language. The same can be done for the rest of the links referenced in this article.

You could also copy and paste the text into an external translator.

Note: The translations of these laws aren’t considered legally defensible. Only the original Albanian text.

It’s important to rely only on reputable information sources when building your employee benefit plan. The information you’ll find below on employee benefits comes only from highly reputable sources.

Mandatory Employee Benefits in Albania 

There are several mandatory benefits that employers of Albanian employees should be aware of before expanding there. We’ll outline them below.

Working Hours, Overtime, and Breaks

Per the labor law, the working hour max for employees in Albania is 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. However, employees may work overtime. Overtime should be paid at 25% more than the employee’s typical wage.

In addition to that, there should be a break of at least 20 minutes for every 4 hours of continuous work in general. And pregnant workers should have a break every 3 hours.

Monthly Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay

The monthly minimum wage for Albanian employees is approximately 400 euros as of the time of this writing. Of course, this rate is subject to change, and the country is actively striving to increase the minimum wage so that it’s on par with other countries in the region. The minimum wage can change at any time and is decided by the Council of Ministers.

Leave Entitlements

Albanian workers are entitled to several mandatory leaves, so it’s critical for employers to plan to offer the following leaves in their benefit packages:

Marriage Leave

When an employee gets married, you need to give them time off. Per the Albanian labor code, marriage leave stands at 5 paid days.

Parental Leave

There will be times when an employee needs to care for their child and has no choice but to miss work. You’ll need to be prepared to provide 12 days of paid leave. But if the child is less than 3 years old, the employee could get up to 3 extra paid days. In addition to that, there are 30 days of unpaid leave up for grabs. 

Bereavement Leave

In the unfortunate circumstance that an employee’s spouse dies, you should offer the employee 5 days of leave (paid). This rule also applies to direct predecessors and descendants.

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave in Albania is 365 days long. The employee has to take at least 35 days before the child’s birth and at least 63 days after the birth. The guidelines for multiple births and adoption are different. Here’s a table illustrating the nuances:

Maternity Leave ScenarioLeave Requirements
Single Birth365 days; minimum 35 days before and 63 days after birth*
Multiple Births390 days; minimum 60 days before and 63 days after birth*
Adoption330 days after adoption


*After taking the minimum leave, the employee should decide whether they want to stay on leave or go back to work.

Your employee will only be paid during maternity leave through Albania’s social security program. They’ll receive 80% of their earnings for the first 6 months of leave and half their earnings for the last 6 months. They must meet all of the eligibility requirements to receive the payments.

Paternity Leave

For a long time, paternity leave wasn’t a mandatory benefit in Albania. But that changed in 2020 – now, fathers can take three days of paid leave.

Annual Leave

Per the country’s labor laws, Albanian employees should have 4 calendar weeks of annual leave. All of this time will be paid. There are regulations concerning when the leave should be taken; either sometime during the working year or during the first three months of the year following the leave’s accrual.

Holiday Leave

Albanian employees get national holidays off with pay. Here are the holidays recognized by Albania in 2026:

  • January 1 & 2 – New Year’s Day                     
  • March 14 – Summer Day
  • March 20 – Eid al-Fitr   
  • March 22 – Nevruz Day
  • Apr 5 – Catholic Easter Sunday
  • Apr 6 – Catholic Easter Monday (Observed)
  • Apr 12 – Orthodox Easter Sunday
  • Apr 13 – Orthodox Easter Monday (Observed) 
  • May 1 – Workers’ Holiday  
  • May 27 – Eid al-Adha
  • September 5 – Mother Teresa Day   
  • November 22 – Alphabet Day
  • November 28 – National Day “Independence”
  • November 29 – National Liberation Day     
  • December 8 – National Youth Day
  • December 25 – Christmas Day

Holidays vary slightly based on region. Be sure to check with your employee’s local government to verify the holidays they should have off.

Sick Days

If an employee gets sick, they can take sick leave for however long their illness lasts. They’ll be paid for the first two weeks by their employer at 80% of their regular salary. And for the rest of the leave, they’ll be paid 70% of their salary from their social insurance coverage. They’ll need a doctor’s note before returning to work.

Social Security Benefits and Contributions

Social insurance is also mandatory for employers hiring Albanian employees, and it’s administered through the Social Insurance Institution. Here are the employer obligations:

  • Sign employees up for social security insurance.
  • Track how much the employee is earning over time.
  • Pay any compulsory contributions within the specified time limits.

If your contributions aren’t paid on time, you’ll need to pay what you owe with a penalty on top.

The benefits cover:

  • Unemployment benefits
  • Old-age pensions
  • Disability pensions
  • Survivor’s pensions
  • Maternity benefits
  • Sickness benefits
  • Employment injury benefits
  • Healthcare insurance through The Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (ISKSH)

On average, employers must pay 15% of their employee’s salary in social security contributions.

REMOTE PEOPLE FURTHER READING

To learn more about Social Security benefits in Albania, read this International Labor Organization resource.

Supplementary Employee Benefits in Albania

Mandatory benefits in Albania are very involved, but they should all be included in your employee benefit plan. In addition to those compulsory benefits, consider adding supplementary benefits to pique candidates’ interest and beat your competitors to the best talent.

  • Health and wellness benefits to promote your employees’ health.
  • Financial benefits like retirement savings accounts, performance bonuses, or profit sharing.
  • Flexible work arrangements.
  • More paid leave than is required by the Albanian labor law.
  • Learning opportunities through mentorship and training programs.
  • Employee of the Month programs and recognition.
  • Home office stipend for work-from-home workers.

As you’re sifting through your supplemental benefit options, we recommend learning all you can about the people of Albania. Find out what they are looking for in an employer and try to provide that. In addition to that, think about the type of employee you’re looking to hire. For instance, if you are hiring remote office workers, chances are they’ll deeply appreciate the home office stipend.

So, there you have it – everything you need to know about employee benefits in Albania. We hope this employee benefits guide has given you all the information you were looking for, and we wish you the best with your workforce expansion plans.