The Seychelles is an island country and archipelagic state in Africa, consisting of 155 islands in the Indian Ocean. Nearby countries include Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Comoros.

The Seychelles has a skilled, multilingual workforce made up of 54,930 people (forecast for 2025), with many professionals specializing in industries such as tourism, financial services, and IT. Their economy is small, but high-income, with a strong GDP of 2.2 billion US dollars (2025), which is among the highest in Africa, and with stable inflation rates, they rebounded well from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many companies look to hire in the Seychelles due to their strong economy, but it’s crucial that they fully understand local labor laws before doing so. This help guide will provide an overview of Seychellois labor laws, including which mandatory benefits employees are entitled to, plus information on how Remote People can help.

The Seychelles Labor Law

The Employment (Conditions of Employment) Regulations of 1991 are the main piece of legislation on labor law in the Seychelles. Administered by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, this act provides information on the rights and obligations of employers and workers to ensure a fair, safe working environment.

Other acts that are relevant to labor law in the Seychelles include:

  • Occupational Safety and Health Decree of 1978
  • Social Security Act of 2010
  • Immigration Laws (Immigration Decree of 1981)
  • The Employment Act of 1995
  • The Seychelles Pension Fund Act of 2005
  • Employment Tribunal Rules

When employing workers in the Seychelles, it’s strongly recommended that companies consult with legal experts for detailed compliance. This ensures that your practices adhere to the legislation set by local labor laws and simplify the process of hiring in the Seychelles.

Mandatory Employee Benefits in the Seychelles

There are many different mandatory employee benefits that companies must offer workers in the Seychelles. We’ve explained a few of these in detail below.

Social Security Contributions

The Social Security System of the Seychelles ensures workers are financially protected in instances of disability, illness, and work injury, as well as when they retire or find themselves unemployed.

Employers must ensure that contributions are made to social insurance and allocate funds on behalf of their employees from the monthly payroll.

The social security rates in 2025 in the Seychelles are 3% for employees, 3% for employers, and 6% for self-employed workers.

Annual Paid Leave

Workers are entitled to 24 days (or 3 working weeks) of fully paid annual leave, provided that they’ve worked continuously for their employer for 1 year.

Employees who have less than 1 year of service will accrue annual leave at a rate of 2 days per month of service.

Unused annual leave can generally be carried over to the next calendar year, but only with mutual agreement between the employer and the employee.

Working Hours

Normal working hours in the Seychelles are 60 hours per week or 12 hours per day. Any hours worked over his amount are considered overtime and should be compensated accordingly.

People usually work between 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, with many businesses closed on Sundays.

Employees must be given 1 rest day per week of a full 24 hours, and they should receive a rest period of half an hour per working day.

Overtime Pay

If an employee works over their contracted hours, this counts as overtime.

Overtime is voluntary and must be paid at 1.5 times an employee’s normal wage if carried out on a weekday, or twice the wage if completed on a public holiday.

Limits on overtime consist of 15 hours per day (including overtime) or a total of 60 overtime hours per month.

There may be some exceptions to the overtime rules, particularly in sectors such as the Seychelles International Trade Zone (SITZ) – some regulations were amended to prevent employees from needing to pay taxes on overtime pay, ensuring that the correct level of compensation was received.

Public Holiday Leave

The Seychelles has various public holidays that constitute paid days off for workers. The public holidays in the Seychelles are as follows:

  • New Year (1 January)
  • New Year Holiday (2 January)
  • Good Friday (18 April) (movable)
  • Holy Saturday (19 April) (movable)
  • Easter Monday (21 April) (movable)
  • Labour Day (1 May)
  • Constitution Day (18 June)
  • Corpus Christi (19 June) (movable)
  • National Day (29 June)
  • Assumption of Mary (15 August)
  • All Saints’ Day (1 November)
  • Immaculate Conception (8 December)
  • Christmas Day (25 December)

Sick Leave

Sick leave is provided to employees if they are too unwell to attend work.

In the Seychelles, employees may take a maximum of 21 days per year for sick leave, once they have completed a minimum of 6 months of service with the same employer.

An extra 30 days of sick leave may be allocated should the employee be hospitalized.

Sick leave can be used for personal illness or to care for a sick child under the age of 12 or a dependent needing care.

60 days of unpaid sick leave may be given to employees who require extra sick leave after the initial 30 days.

Maternity Leave

Female employees in the Seychelles are eligible for maternity leave if they have a baby. They should notify their employer of their intention to take maternity leave no less than 10 weeks before their predicted due date.

This consists of 16 weeks of fully paid leave, provided that the worker has contributed to the Social Security system for a minimum of 365 days.

A minimum of 12 weeks should be taken after the child is born, with most workers taking 4 weeks before birth. Employees may also be able to take an additional period of 12 weeks’ leave; however, this would be unpaid.

The jobs of pregnant women or women on paternity leave must be protected during this period.

Paternity Leave

Male employees are eligible for 10 consecutive days of paid paternity leave, provided that they have been registered as the father of the child in question.

Paternity leave is funded by the employer and may be extended by 14 days of paid leave if taken before the child’s 3rd birthday.

Employees must be a citizen of the Seychelles or an expatriate with a valid Gainful Occupation Permit (GOP), and should notify their employer in writing before they intend to take paternity leave.

Pensions

The pension system in the Seychelles is overseen by the Seychelles Pension Fund and is supported by the Seychelles Pension Fund Act of 2005 and the Social Security Act of 2010.

It’s a mandatory system for all employed workers in the Seychelles (both private and public sectors), and self-employed people can also join. Workers must pay 2.5% of their salary, with employers paying 7.5%.

The retirement age in the Seychelles is 65, and the minimum qualifying period to claim a pension is 10 years of contributions.

Severance Pay

Severance pay is not a statutory requirement for employers in the Seychelles. Many employers choose to offer severance pay based on years of service and salary as a supplementary benefit.

Supplementary Employee Benefits in the Seychelles

It’s advised that companies consider offering employees supplementary benefits to increase the number of job applications received and increase the length of service for employees. A few examples of supplementary benefits companies could provide include:

  • Flexible working
  • Enhanced leave entitlements
  • Additional training 
  • Company car
  • Performance bonuses
  • Access to a private pension
  • Transport, housing, or food allowances

Optimize Employee Benefits with Remote People

Remote People can help streamline employee benefits in the Seychelles in a range of ways.

Through our Employer of Record (EOR) services, we share the responsibility of international hiring by acting as the legal employer on your behalf. The EOR handles benefit compliance, certain tax obligations, and ensures that all workers are hired in full alignment with local labor laws.

We also offer a range of recruitment services to help find the best talent for your business. Our team of experts is fluent in the local language and knows the best places to position your job adverts to get the most high-quality applications.

Contact Remote People today to see how we can help make doing business in the Seychelles an easier process.