Sudan is a large country in North Africa, bordering Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Libya, and South Sudan, which broke away from the country in 2011. Even with this separation, Sudan is Africa’s third-largest country by land area, and with more than 50.418 million people, is the 30th most-populated country in the world. Sudan’s economy is the 109th-largest in the world, reaching $31.51 billion in 2025. Sudan is known for producing agricultural products like oily seeds, nuts, goats, sheep, gum Arabic, and cotton, as well as gold and crude petroleum. The country largely trades with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia, India, and Egypt. 

Despite its great population, Sudan’s formal labor force is estimated at only around 10.95 million workers. This is largely due to a very large percentage of people working in the informal sector, as well as disruptions due to conflict and low rates of female participation in the labor force. Of these nearly 11 million formal sector workers, roughly 40% work in agriculture, while another 14% work in the industrial sector, particularly in mining, food processing, and textile production. Employment in both these sectors has declined, while the service sector now employs 46% of workers in banking, telecommunications, trade, health, education, transport, and other services.

This guide will examine how you can hire and manage HR for Sudanese workers efficiently and cost-effectively by partnering with a Sudan EOR.

How to Hire Employees in Sudan

Sudan’s labor force is highly affordable for foreign investors looking to establish businesses in the country. The average monthly salary for professionals and skilled workers in Sudan is around 30,000 SDG (Sudanese pounds), roughly 50 USD per month, while unskilled workers make much lower wages. Unemployment in Sudan is at a peak, though employment in the formal sector has greatly skewed the official rate of 62%. This has created a labor market of affordable workers with high availability.

Despite these conditions, it’s not easy to attract, hire, and manage Sudanese workers. Most foreign investors choose to work with professional recruitment agencies to help them overcome language and cultural barriers in recruitment. Once they’ve chosen their workers, employers can choose one of the following methods to hire them:

Entity Incorporation

Registering a business entity in Sudan is an appropriate choice for investors who expect to hire large numbers of workers, do business directly in the Sudanese market, and work in the country long-term. Having a legal entity greatly facilitates all of these things and gives you direct control over your employees.

The most common types of entities that investors choose to incorporate are public limited companies (PLCs or sharikat musahamah ‘aamah in Arabic), limited liability companies (LLCs or sharakah dhat masyuwlih mahduduh), or branch offices (maktab firei) of companies registered elsewhere. All three types can be 100% foreign-owned in Sudan, though they require at least one resident director in the country.

However, incorporation in Sudan is not easy, and the World Bank ranks this country 157th out of 180+ countries for ease of starting a business. It’s also difficult to get electricity, pay taxes, get credit, and trade across borders. After incorporation, you’ll also need to learn how to manage HR compliantly, or hire an experienced HR team. You’ll also need to consider the cost of working with tax and legal experts whose assistance you’ll likely need to keep compliant with local laws.

Working with an EOR

If you don’t want to use up your time and resources setting up an entity in Sudan but still want to hire Sudanese employees, you have another option.

Working with a Sudan Employer of Record, or EOR, allows you to hire workers in Sudan without having to own an entity in the country.

The EOR takes on the responsibility of hiring employees for you and managing compliance with Sudanese law. It also manages HR for you, so you don’t need to learn how to perform this crucial function internally. Instead, you can focus on how your employees will create value for your Sudanese venture. 

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Hiring Independent Contractors

An alternative to incorporating a business and hiring permanent employees is to work with independent contractors in Sudan. You can hire them through an established company in another part of the world and work with them remotely, dealing with projects and payments online. Working with contractors can help you access people with special skills that may otherwise be hard to find or too costly to keep on your payroll permanently. You can save money by only hiring contractors when you need them for specific projects. Contractors also manage their own tax and social security payments, which means you’ll have less administration to do compared to hiring employees.

On the other hand, hiring contractors also comes with challenges. The contractors you want to work with may not always be available when you need them, as they work for multiple clients. This can mean that you have to train or at least give orientations to new people often. You also don’t have direct control over their working hours and methods, since they work independently. If you do try to control their work, you can risk being penalized for worker misclassification.

In the rest of this guide, we’ll look in depth at how a partnership with an EOR works and the advantages it can create for both employers and employees.

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Using an Employer of Record in Sudan

If you don’t own an entity in Sudan and don’t plan on incorporating one, you may have thought that you can’t hire local employees in the country. However, this isn’t the case if you partner with an EOR. An EOR partner can hire your employees directly through its own entity and manage the following core functions for you over the long term:

  • Onboarding: Whether you find workers on your own or with the help of a recruitment agency or EOR that offers recruitment services, an EOR partner can help you onboard them efficiently. You’ll need to focus on providing them with orientations, job-specific training, and access to the tools and data they need to do their jobs. At the same time, your EOR partner will handle most administrative duties. This will include collecting their information and documents, adding them to your payroll, setting up their salary calculations, and registering them with the authorities. Most EORs can onboard new workers in just hours or days, depending on how prepared the workers are.
  • Payroll: Instead of learning how to perform complicated payroll management on your own, your EOR will handle this function for you. It will add each new employee to your payroll and set up a unique calculation for them based on their income, benefits, and income tax rates. You’ll need to collect and share their time and attendance data with the EOR, either with your own tools or those built into the EOR’s platform. With this data, the EOR can run payroll for each pay period, calculating your employees’ earnings and deductions. It will then pay their net salaries on your behalf.
  • Taxes: Sudanese workers must pay taxes on their salaries. The EOR takes care of the necessary calculations and withholding on your behalf. It also remits the collected tax payments to the Sudan Taxation Chamber (the tax authority) every month.
  • Benefits administration: Sudanese employees must be provided with a range of mandatory benefits that include maternity leave, paid annual leave, and public holidays, as well as health and old age benefits through social security schemes. Your EOR will manage these benefits for your workers and deduct contributions from their salaries as necessary. As with taxes, it will remit the funds it collects to the social security authorities. Some EORs also help you offer additional benefits to your employees.
  • Contracts: With its expertise in local employment law, your EOR partner will normally generate contracts for your Sudanese workers. It will ensure they’re complete and compliant, manage signatures, and keep the contracts on file for future reference. 
  • Terminations: Your EOR will enter into contracts directly with your employees in Sudan, and this makes it their legal employer. If you want to terminate any of them, you must communicate this to the EOR, which will assess your reasons and calculate and provide notice periods and severance pay as needed. 
  • Compliance: As their legal employer, the EOR is also fully responsible for maintaining compliance with all local labor and tax laws in Sudan. Its experts will also monitor changes in this dynamic country and will adjust workers’ contracts, benefits, and working conditions in response. This will ensure that your employees always get everything they’re entitled to.
  • Recruitment: Only some EORs provide recruitment services, but these can be valuable when searching for talent in a foreign country. A few EORs professional recruiters who can actively search for top talent to fill your vacancies. Others only offer recruitment tools through their platforms. These tools, including access to talent pools, connections to job sites, and applicant tracking systems (ATSs), can help you recruit on your own much more effectively.

Employment and Labor Laws in Sudan

Sudan’s legal system is heavily influenced by British common law, Islamic law, and local traditions. Many legal instruments help to define and regulate employment in the country, including the Constitution of Sudan 2019, the Sudan Labor Act 1997, and the Trade Unions Act 2010. Your EOR will ensure that your contracts are compliant with these regulations, but it’s also useful for you to know the obligations you have to your employees.

Employment Contract Requirements

Contracts in Sudan can be verbal, but terms in writing are less risky. They should be provided in Arabic and, according to the Sudan Labor Act, must include the following:

  • Identification of the parties
  • Work description
  • Place of work
  • Start date
  • Wages
  • Payment
  • Notice period for termination

Fixed-term contracts are legal in Sudan and can be concluded for a maximum of two years. They can then be renewed only once for another two years, but work has to be continuous. These contracts must clearly state that they are for fixed terms and give their durations to be legally binding.

Standard Working Hours

Employees in Sudan typically work six days a week and eight hours a day. This creates a regular 48-hour workweek, though this is reduced to 36 hours during the month of Ramadan. Workers must be granted at least a 30-minute paid break for rest and meals during each workday.

Overtime

Workers can work overtime in agreement with their employers. Male, but not female, employees can be required to work overtime in cases of impending accidents or force majeure. Their overtime hours are limited to four hours a day and 12 hours per week, and they must be paid at least 150% of their normal wages for these hours.

Probation Periods

Probation periods are allowed in Sudan and are widely used across most industries. They may last as long as three months and cannot be extended or renewed. During probation, both employers and employees have the right to terminate their agreements if they’re not seen to be working out. However, they must provide notice to the other party when doing so. This notice can range from one day to one month, depending on the frequency of the employee’s pay.

Payroll and Employment Taxes in Sudan

Fiscal Year

The fiscal year in Sudan follows the calendar year, starting on 1 January and ending on 31 December.

Payroll Cycles

Employers can pay workers on daily, weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly schedule. They must pay their workers their wages at their workplace during working hours and within three days of the end of the pay period in which they are earned.

Minimum Wage

Sudan’s minimum wage is incredibly low at just 425 SGD per month (around 0.71 USD) for private sector workers. Public sector workers must be paid at least 3,000 SGD per month (around 5.00 USD).

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Employer Tax Contributions

Employers in Sudan are required to pay into social schemes that provide benefits for old age, disabilities, work injuries, and health. These social security schemes provide benefits for their employees, and employers contribute according to this schedule:

  • National Pension and Social Insurance Fund (NPIF): 17% of the employee’s earnings
  • National Health Insurance fund (NHIF): 5.15% of the employee’s earnings

Employee Payroll Tax Contributions

Employees must also contribute to these same programs, to a total of 12% of their employment earnings, as follows:

  • National Pension and Social Insurance Fund (NPIF): 8% of their earnings
  • National Health Insurance fund (NHIF): 4% of their earnings

Individual Income Tax Contributions

Employees in Sudan have to pay personal income taxes on their employment income. Their employers are responsible for calculating the amount they must pay, withholding these amounts from their pay, and remitting them to the Sudan Taxation Chamber.

According to the Income Tax Act of 1986, the rates for personal income tax in the country are progressive and apply to employment earnings as follows:

IncomeTax Rate
9.09 SGD0%
Next 120 SGD5%
Next 240 SGD10%
Any excess15%

Bonus Payments

A 13th-month salary is neither required in Sudan nor is it traditional. However, employers may choose to offer this bonus as an extra incentive for their employees. 

Time Off and Leave in Sudan

Mandatory Leave Entitlement

After working continuously for one year, employees become entitled to annual paid leave. They get 20 days per year for their first three years of work, 25 days for the next 12 years, and 30 days if they’ve worked for more than 15 years for their employers. This leave can be carried over for only one year.

Public Holidays

Workers in Sudan must be paid double their normal wages for working on public holidays, after they’ve worked for three months for their employers. Sudan celebrates 12 public holidays per year, which are considered paid days off for workers. They include:

  • Independence Day (January 1)
  • Coptic Christmas Day (January 7)
  • Coptic Easter (date varies)
  • Eid al Fitr (3 days, date varies)
  • Hajj (date varies)
  • Birthday of the Prophet (date varies)
  • Eid al Adha (3 days, date varies)
  • Christmas Day (December 25)

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to up to nine months of sick leave in Sudan after they have worked for their employers for at least three months. Their employers must provide them with full pay for the first three months, half pay for the next three months, and 25% pay for the last three months.

Parental Leave

After working for one year, pregnant mothers in Sudan are entitled to eight weeks of maternity leave, and must take at least two weeks off work before their expected delivery dates. This leave is fully paid for by the employer. Fathers are not entitled to paternity leave by law, but may be granted this leave as an additional benefit.

Bereavement Leave

Bereavement leave is not mandatory in Sudan, though some employers may offer it as an additional benefit.

Termination and Severance in Sudan

Termination

Employees in Sudan can be summarily dismissed for gross misconduct, and they can also resign if they are being mistreated or not properly shielded from risks to their health and safety. Other reasons for termination require the terminating party to give notice.

Notice Periods

Notice periods in Sudan are based on both the employees’ length of service (seniority) and the frequency with which they are paid.

Worker TypeLength of ServiceNotice Period
Daily paid workersLess than 3 months1 day’s notice
Less than 3 years1 week’s notice
Longer than 3 years1 month’s notice
Weekly and semi-monthly paid workersLess than 5 years2 weeks’ notice
Longer than 5 years1 month’s notice
Monthly paid workersAny length of service1 month’s notice

Severance Pay

After working for at least three years for an employer, employees are entitled to severance pay or “gratuity” if dismissed for reasons other than gross misconduct. Workers get one month’s salary for each year they worked from 3-10 years, 1.5 months’ salary per year for more than 10 years of service, and 1.75 months’ salary per year for longer periods of service.

Why Hire in Sudan with an Employer of Record?

There are numerous reasons why hiring employees through a Sudan EOR is an advantageous activity for investors, including:

  • Reduced risk: When you hire with an EOR, it takes on the role of your employees’ legal employer in Sudan. This means that it also shields you from the risks of non-compliance, as the EOR, and not you, is responsible for following all applicable labor and tax laws.
  • Low costs: Workers in Sudan receive very low wages, so it’s easy to attract top talent by offering higher salaries while still saving a lot on labor costs. You can also save money by using an EOR instead of setting up an HR team and paying their salaries long-term. 
  • Extensive opportunities: Sudan’s market is underdeveloped, and there are untold opportunities there for businesses to operate with little competition for resources and markets. Agriculture, mining, food processing, cement manufacture, and construction are just some of the industries that are currently growing in the country.

How to Choose an Employer of Record in Sudan

While Sudan has a relatively small economy, its large labor force has encouraged an increasing number of EORs to start providing services in the country. To help you choose the best partner from among them, consider these important factors:

Price

Set a budget for hiring and HR management, then see which providers can offer you the full range of services you require without breaking that budget.

Services

While all EORs will offer core services like payroll, benefits administration, and leave management, you may want to find a partner that offers more. If you need help with functions like supplementary benefits administration or recruitment, make sure the providers you’re considering can offer everything you need at a price you can afford.

Reputation

Excellent online ratings and reviews demonstrate that a provider can take care of your employees well, ensure compliance, and work effectively with the Sudanese authorities. 

Expand into Sudan Easily with Remote People’s Employer of Record in Sudan

Remote People’s Employer of Record (EOR) services in Sudan help you provide your employees with top-quality HR services without breaking your budget. Contact Remote People today to connect with the most professional EOR working in Sudan.