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Employ in Yemen with ease.
Whether you want to hire one person or a whole team, Remote's guide to hiring employees and contractors in Yemen can help you get started. Note that Remote's employer of record services are not yet live in Yemen.
Capital city
Sanaa & Aden (capital-in-exile)
Currency
Yemeni rial
(﷼, YER)Languages spoken
Arabic
Facts & Stats
Yemen is a presidential republic situated on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Saudi Arabia and Oman shares maritime borders with Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia
The war-torn state is one of the poorest and least-developed in the world, with dismal levels of public health, education, per capita income, and sovereign debt. Yemen’s instability began in 2011 after riots led to a change and government which quickly spiraled into armed conflict that has led to 56,000 casualties so far.
Since 2012, Yemen has been under an economic embargo & businesses in the United States & much of the EU cannot trade with or employ Yemeni. This guide to hiring in Yemen looks forward to when the conflict winds down (hopefully) and Yemen is connected back to the rest of the world
Against the backdrop of the ongoing civil war, Yemen has been undergoing a humanitarian crisis with 17.4 million food-insecure Yemenis, a catastrophic cholera outbreak, and a war of attrition that has all but ruined the struggling nation’s economy.
Capital city
Sanaa & Aden (capital-in-exile)
Currency
Yemeni rial
(﷼, YER)Languages spoken
Arabic
Population size
30,491,000 (est 2021)
Ease of doing business
Below average
VAT - standard rate
5%
GDP - real growth rate
-2% (est 2021)
Grow your team in Yemen with Remote
Note that we are busy building our own entity in Yemen to provide you with the best possible employment solutions for your employees, but our employer of record service is not yet live in this country.
To employ in Yemen, companies must own a local legal entity in the country or work with a global employment solution. Developing the processes required to manage payroll, benefits, taxes, and onboarding in countries like Yemen can get complicated fast, especially without localized expertise.
If you’re looking to start hiring in a country like this, partnering with a global employment solution like Remote makes it easy for your company to employ workers quickly, cost-effectively, and in full compliance with all local legislation.
In the countries where we do offer our EOR services, Remote takes on the responsibility and legal risks of international employment so you can focus on hiring great talent and growing your business.
Employing in Yemen
Workers’ rights in Yemen are spelled out in several laws, such as:
- The Yemeni Labor Code, i.e. Act No. 5 of 1995
- Law No. 26 of 1991 concerning Social Security
- The Yemeni Civil Code, i.e. Law No. 14 of 2002
— all of which guarantee equal pay for equal work, safe working environments, and protections against discrimination based on age, gender, disability, religion, and race.
Common questions that could come up during the hiring process include the minimum wage, overtime rates, and guaranteed paid time off.
Minimum Wage
Yemen’s minimum wage is currently fixed at YER 21,000 ($154) although it only applies to government employees. Remote workers will often negotiate salaries on a case-by-case basis and we recommend paying a premium to attract the best talent.
Competitive benefits package in Yemen
At Remote, we’re obsessed with helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in practicing “fair equity”, which means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive (and that will allow you to attract the best local talent).
We are still busy building our own entity in Yemen, but our benefits packages for all countries are tailored to fulfill the local needs of your employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:
- Health Insurance
- Mental Health Support
- Dental Insurance
- Pension or 401(K)
- Vision Insurance
- Life and Disability Insurance
Taxes in Yemen
Learn how employment taxes affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Yemen.
Employer
9%: Old Age, Disability & Survivors contributions
1%: Work Injury Contribution
Employee
6%: Pensions
Types of leave
Paid Time Off
Yemeni employees are entitled to at least 30 days of paid annual leave per year of employment.
Public Holidays
Yemen observes eight annual public holidays.
Sick Leave
Sick leave in Yemen lasts up to eight months with:
- Full pay for the first two months
- 85% of normal pay for the third and fourth months
- 75% of normal pay for the fifth and sixth months, and
- 50% of normal pay for the seventh and eighth months
Sick employees cannot be fired within the first six months of an illness.
Maternity Leave
Expectant mothers are entitled to 70 days of fully paid maternity leave. This increases to 90 days if complications arise or if the mother delivers twins.
Paternity/Parental Leave
Yemeni law doesn’t provide for paternity leave.
Employment termination
Termination process
Yemeni law stipulates that an employer can dismiss a worker for harassment, incompetence, fraud, divulging company secrets, assault, disregarding safety rules, or such similar acts of gross misconduct.
Notice period
Employees are only entitled to prior notice of termination if they’re dismissed because of medical incapacity, absenteeism, retirement, redundancy, or if they fail to abide with the terms of the employment contract.
In such cases, the notice period (or payment in lieu of notice) depends on how often the worker is paid, that is:
- 30 days for workers who’re paid monthly
- 15 days for workers who’re paid half-monthly, and
- One week’s notice for hourly, daily, and weekly workers
There’s no notice required from both employer and employee if:
- Both parties agree to end a contract
- The contract expires without renewal
- A labor arbitration judgment terminates the contract, or
- If the worker dies
Severance pay
Employees who’re dismissed without just cause are entitled to severance benefits that will be decided by an Arbitration Committee, up to a limit of six months’ wages.
Probation periods
Probation periods must be stated in the employment contract and must not exceed six months. An employer cannot hire the same worker to work on a probationary basis more than once.
