Nauru is the third smallest nation in the world, spanning just 21 square kilometers. Once flush with wealth from phosphate mining, the country’s fortunes have since shifted. Today, its economy is sustained through a mix of international aid, regional partnerships, offshore banking, and lucrative fisheries licensing agreements.

While still classified as a developing microstate, Nauru offers a unique combination of low regulatory overhead, favorable tax laws, and political stability, making it an interesting frontier for global businesses looking to scale operations in the Pacific.

Nonetheless, hiring in Nauru isn’t without its complexities. Local labor rules, while less formalized than in larger jurisdictions, must be followed carefully to avoid compliance risks. Employment contracts, statutory benefits, and work permit processes can vary, especially for foreign hires or contract-based roles.

Whether you’re onboarding local talent, managing cross-border payroll, or deploying remote team members, deep familiarity with Nauru’s legal and cultural context is non-negotiable. That’s where this guide comes in.

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How to Hire Employees in Nauru

There are three common ways to hire employees in Nauru:

Setting Up a Local Entity

Establishing a local employer in Nauru is a rare and costly route. Businesses face complex registration requirements and must operate within a very small, closely regulated domestic market. Behemoth multinationals with really deep pockets and limitless cash flow use this method when opening up shop in other countries.

Working with an Employer of Record (EOR)

An Employer of Record acts as the legal employer in Nauru, handling payroll, compliance, contracts, and immigration requirements. The kicker is that all of this is done without requiring any entity formation. 

This model, therefore, allows you to scale faster and minimize operational risk in a challenging legal environment.

Hiring Independent Contractors

Given limited labor regulation, contracting can be tempting. However, misclassification risks are real, especially if the contract resembles full‑time work. These situations may attract serious penalties or retroactive liabilities.

Nauru EOR vs Legal Entity in Nauru

Companies looking to hire in Nauru must weigh the odds between direct incorporation and working through an Employer of Record. Establishing a legal entity gives full operational control but introduces significant complexity, regulatory hurdles, and local maintenance obligations.

An EOR, by contrast, allows you to legally employ talent in Nauru without setting up a company. This makes it ideal for lean operations, pilot projects, or market entry with minimal overhead.

Setting up a legal entity in Nauru typically involves registering as a foreign company or establishing a domestic subsidiary under the Corporations Act 1972. Costs can vary, but registration and licensing fees may total over AUD 3,000–5,000, not including local legal advice, resident directorship requirements, and office lease arrangements mandated for local operations.

Partnering with an EOR removes these obligations entirely, handling employment contracts, payroll, and statutory compliance on your behalf. For businesses focused on agility, Nauru’s small market and bureaucratic licensing processes make the EOR route the faster, more cost-effective choice.

Ready to get started with a Nauru EOR?

Let us handle the complexities of hiring, compliance, and payroll in Nauru while you focus on growing your team.

  • Hire employees in Nauru with a Nauru EOR
  • No local entity is needed
  • Pricing starts at USD 199 per employee
  • Remote People can also help you find the best talent in Nauru

👉 Get Your Customized Nauru EOR Proposal Today!

Using an Employer of Record in Nauru

An EOR assumes responsibility for all employer-side duties, allowing your company to operate without direct legal presence in Nauru:

Nauru Employer Of Record
  • Drafting compliant employment contracts: Ensures contracts reflect Nauru’s informal but evolving labor norms, including hours, pay, and leave entitlements.
  • Registering employee: EORs can facilitate contributions to the Nauru Super Scheme, which is mandatory for local staff and government employees.
  • Calculating and remitting relevant payroll taxes: Manages employee deductions and employer contributions per the country’s tax code.
  • Managing payslips, bonuses, and benefits: EORs oversee the issuing of monthly payslips, manage bonus structures, and track any fringe benefits for accurate record-keeping.
  • Ensuring compliance with local norms: Helps you remain updated on emerging policy shifts, visa requirements, and welfare contributions.
  • Terminating employees per legal requirements: Ensures terminations follow the correct legal process, including notice periods and severance payments.

You manage your team’s work; we manage the rest.

How Much Does a Nauru EOR Cost?

While specific figures are less standardized, most global EOR providers working in Nauru charge an onboarding fee between USD 1,000–3,000, depending on complexity, and a monthly fee per employee ranging from USD 300–800, depending on role seniority and required services.

Optional add-ons such as private health insurance, dedicated HR advisory, or detailed tax reporting may incur additional charges. With Remote People, Nauru EOR services begin at only USD 199/month per employee, including employment contracts, payroll, superannuation administration, and tax compliance. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Employment and Labor Laws in Nauru

Although Nauru has minimal codified labor regulations, employment norms are shaped by contract terms and international standards applied by many employers. Here’s what’s typically expected when hiring locally:

Employment Contracts in Nauru

Employment agreements in Nauru cannot be verbal. Because written contracts are much clearer and safer, they are required by law in this country. Contracts can be permanent (indefinite) or be made for fixed terms (definite) to a maximum of two years. Employment contracts must include details of job title, duties, location, start (and, if applicable, end) date, hours, overtime, pay, notice, and termination.

Probation Periods in Nauru

Probation periods are recognized by law in Nauru, but are not mandatory. Instead, they can be used by employers if they want to take special care to ensure the fit of their new employees with their organizations. Probation periods normally last between one and three months, though they can be extended to six months in the case of highly technical or managerial positions. 

During probation, either the employer or the employee can choose to terminate their employment agreement. The employer does not have to provide a justification to dismiss a worker during their probation. However, both parties need to provide each other with notice if they wish to end their contract. The notice period required is at least one week during the probation period. Employers also do not need to compensate employees who are dismissed during their probation periods.

There is no allowance in the law for paying employees less during probation than they would be paid as full employees. 

Social Security in Nauru

The social security system in Nauru is relatively new and provides government pensions for citizens who are disabled or over the age of 60.

Nauru also has a contributions-based, mandatory retirement scheme called the Nauru Superannuation Scheme (NSS). Through this scheme, all employers with one or more employees are required to make pension contributions, as well as deduct them from their employees’ paychecks. Both the employer and the employee pay 5% of the employee’s earnings to the NSS.

Public health care is free and universal in Nauru, so employers are not required to provide health insurance for their employees.

Working Hours in Nauru

Employees in Nauru typically work eight hours a day, five days a week, for a total workweek of 40 regular hours. If they work at least six hours a day, Nauruan employees are entitled to at least one 20-minute break for rest or meals. These breaks do not have to be paid. Employees also must be allowed at least 11 hours for rest between workdays, and must be given at least one full day of rest each week.

Employees may work overtime, which is normally by agreement and can only be required by employers in special cases. Most employees are allowed to work only 48 hours per week, including overtime, which generally means they can only work eight extra hours per week. However, healthcare workers may work up to 32 hours of overtime in any two-week period. Employees must be paid a premium for working overtime. While this amount is not mandated and is usually dictated by individual contracts, 1.5 times the worker’s normal wages is most common.

Public Holidays

Nauru observes 10 official public holidays, which reflect both national milestones and religious observances. These include:

  • New Year’s Day (January 1)
  • Independence Day (January 31)
  • Constitution Day (May 17)
  • Angam Day (October 26)
  • Christmas Day (December 25)
  • Boxing Day (December 26)
  • Good Friday (Date Varies)
  • Easter Monday (Date Varies)
  • Easter Tuesday (Date Varies)
  • Gospel Day (Date Varies)

Dates for religious holidays (e.g., Easter) vary annually based on the liturgical calendar.

Work Permits/Work Visas in Nauru

With its very small labor force, Nauru often lacks the skilled and experienced workers that many employers need. To bridge this gap, they often look abroad to hire international employees they can bring to Nauru to supplement their local teams.

If you want to bring foreign nationals to work for you in Nauru, you’ll need to sponsor their visa applications with the Immigration Division. You’ll need to demonstrate that there are no local people available with the skills you require. With your sponsorship, the employee can apply for a Local Business Visa to be allowed to enter and work in the country.

Remote People can help you with these applications and support your expatriate workers as they relocate to Nauru. With our expertise, this process is made simple, so that your international employees can relocate to Nauru and start working for you as soon as possible.

Employee Leave in Nauru

Employees in Nauru are entitled to several different types of leave so that they can manage their personal and family lives in balance with their work obligations. These leaves include:

Nauru offers employees at least 10 to 20 calendar days of leave each year in the private sector. Those working in the public sector are entitled to six weeks of leave per year. This leave is fully paid by the employer, and employees become entitled to it only after working for one full year. 

Paternity Leave

In Nauru, new fathers working in the private sector are not yet entitled to paternity leave by law. However, their individual contracts could stipulate this leave as an employer-provided bonus. In the public sector, fathers are granted two calendar weeks of paternity leave paid for by the government.

Maternity Leave

Nauru is one of the few countries in the world in which expectant mothers are not entitled to maternity leave from their employment. However, in the public sector, pregnant employees are given 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.

Other Leave

Public sector employees in Nauru are entitled to ten days of fully paid sick leave per year. Private sector employees may be granted sick leave in their contracts, but this is not mandatory. Workers are also entitled to 11 public holidays per year. These are paid days off, and if employees are made to work on them, they need to be paid at a premium that is normally 200% of their regular wages.

13th-Month Pay in Nauru

Unlike in many other countries, there is no mandated 13-month salary in Nauru, nor are there any other required employee bonuses. Employers are free to promise these bonuses in employment contracts; however, if they do, they are legally required to do so.

Employee Termination and Severance in Nauru

Termination in Nauru can be instigated by either the employer or the employee, but the process has to be fair and reasonable. Employers can terminate employees for gross misconduct without providing them with notice or severance pay. Employees must be given at least one week’s notice if they have worked for their employers for less than a year. After that, the notice period increases to between two and four weeks, depending on the employee’s length of service.

Employees over the age of 45 and who have worked for at least two years are entitled to an additional week’s notice above and beyond these periods.

There is no mandatory severance pay in Nauru, though this may be offered as an employee benefit in some contracts.

Minimum Wage in Nauru

While a minimum wage is a standard protection for workers in most countries around the world, Nauru has not instituted a minimum wage for its workers. Some collective agreements do exist and can include minimum limits for workers with certain companies or projects, however. Otherwise, wages are simply agreed upon by employers and their workers, and are explained in their employment agreements.

Payroll and Income Taxes in Nauru

According to the Employment and Services Tax Act, Nauruan employers must register within seven days of hiring their first employees. They’re then responsible for keeping records and paying their employees regularly. In the public sector, employees are paid every two weeks, while in the private sector, they must be paid at least monthly.

The employer is also responsible for managing employee payroll deductions, including contributions to the NSS, and income tax withholding from their employees’ paychecks. In Nauru, employees must pay income tax on their earnings, which, according to the Employment and Services Tax Act, include wages, allowances, leave pay, bonuses, commissions, fees, and gratuities. Employees pay nothing on the first 9,240 AUD (Australian dollars) per year, then a flat tax of 20% for income over this threshold.

The fiscal year in Nauru runs from 1 July to 30 June, and individuals are responsible for filing their income tax returns quickly thereafter on 15 July.

Hiring Contractors in Nauru

In Nauru, as in most other countries, employers can choose to hire full- or part-time employees, or to work with independent contractors instead. The benefits of working with contractors in Nauru include allowing employers to access specific and rare skills, as well as to reduce their labor costs by only contracting them for short periods and limited projects. Hiring contractors can also help employers reduce their administrative burden since they don’t need to withhold taxes or deduct social security contributions from their payments. Contractors are not required to pay into the NSS, though they can do so voluntarily.

Workers' Compensation in Nauru

Workers’ compensation in Nauru operates differently from in most other countries. Instead of the employer being required to take out insurance for every worker, their liability is limited through the Nauru Workers Compensation Act. This legislation gives specific limits on the benefits that employees or their survivors should receive when claims of workplace illness, injury, disability, or death are made.

Expand into Nauru Easily with Remote People’s Employer of Record (EOR) Solution

Hiring in Nauru doesn’t have to mean establishing a local subsidiary or navigating the island nation’s niche legal and immigration systems. With Remote People’s EOR platform, you can legally employ top local or expatriate talent in as little as 72 hours, all without entity setup, complex paperwork, or local compliance headaches.

We handle employment contracts, payroll processing, tax compliance, and statutory benefits; ensuring your team is fully compliant with Nauruan laws while you focus on core operations.

Whether you’re tapping into the Pacific Islands for strategic expansion or supporting regional operations with local hires, Remote People gives you the infrastructure and expertise to scale quickly and compliantly.

Start hiring in Nauru today from just $199/month per employee. We’ll handle the logistics so you can focus on growth.