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BASIC COUNTRY FACTS

The Kingdom of Bahrain

Manama

  • Arabic
  • Bahrain
  • English

1.569 million

Bahraini dinar

.bh

+973

Bahraini dinar

STATUTORY LABOR REQUIREMENTS

Probation Period

  • The maximum term of probation in the Kingdom of Bahrain shall be three months and it must be clearly laid down in the employment contract too.

Annual Leave

  • Employees are generally entitled to 30 days of annual paid leave after one year of service.
  • During the first year of employment, the employee is entitled to take accrued vacation, which for all employees accrues at a rate of 2 1/2 days per month.  
  • Six days of the leave must be taken consecutively.  
  • Employers typically pay for expatriate employees’ air travel home during their vacation.
  • Once during employment, Muslim employees are eligible for 14 days of paid leave for a pilgrimage to Mecca, providing they have worked for the employer for at least 5 years.

Public Holidays

  1. New Year's Day (1st January)
  2. Labor Day (3rd May)
  3. Eid al-Fitr
  4. Day of Arafat
  5. Eid al-Adha
  6. Islamic New Year
  7. Ashura
  8. Prophet's Birthday
  9. National Day (16th December)
  10. Independence Day (16th to 17th December)

Maternity Leave

  • Women are generally entitled to 75 days of maternity leave:
  • 60 days of paid leave
  • 15 days of unpaid leave

Paternity Leave

  • There is no paternity leave

Sick Leave

  • Generally, employees are entitled to 55 days of sick leave per year:
    • 15 days at full pay
    • 20 days at half pay
    • 20 days without pay

Work Hours

  • In Bahrain, the workweek is generally 40 to 48 hours, eight hours per day, with daily hours restricted to six hours per day for Muslim workers during Ramadan. 
  • Friday and Saturday are the weekend days; the workweek runs Sunday through Thursday.

Overtime

  • For each additional hour rendered during the day, the worker is entitled to his hourly wage plus 25% of the said rate. 
  • Meanwhile for each additional hour rendered during the night, the worker should receive his hourly wage plus 50% of the said rate

Notice Period

  • As per the Bahraini Labor Law, the notice period shall not be less than 30 days. 
  • However, the employers are bound to follow a longer notice period if it was mentioned in the employee's contract.

Severance

  • Unless terminated under Article 107 of the Labor Law, employees are entitled to salary and benefits up to the termination date, notice (or payment in lieu), payment in lieu of accrued but untaken annual leave, the cost of a flight/air ticket to repatriate the employee to their home country unless the employee has obtained alternative sponsorship to remain in Bahrain, an end of service gratuity payment (EOSG) and reimbursement of unpaid business expenses.
  • In case of employer termination, employees are eligible for payment of an EOSG which accrues at the rate of half a month's wage for each of the first 3 years of service and 1 month's wage for each of the following years of service. 
  • The calculation is pro-rated for any fractions of a year of service that have not been completed.

13th Month Salary in Brazil

  • No 
  • There is no statutory requirement to pay the 13th or 14th month.
  • The labour code dictate that the payment must be given in advance but it is the payment that has been accumulated.
  • If the employer delay the payment, they will have to pay interest on the delay for each day.

INCOME TAX

  • There is no personal income tax (PIT) regime in Bahrain.
  • Capital gains and income of residents or non-residents not paid in Bahrain are not subject to tax or social insurance rules in Bahrain.

DEDUCTIBLE EXPENSES

There are non-deductible expenses in Bahrain as there is no personal income tax.

 IMMIGRATION

  • To work in Bahrain, all expatriates must have a valid work permit. 
  • To be allotted work visas, an entity that employs expatriates must satisfy the following conditions: 
    • It must be established in Bahrain. 
    • It must be registered with the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). 
    • It must have a certain percentage of Bahraini workers (between 5% and 50%, depending on the industry). 
  • The following documents are normally required to apply for a work visa: 
    • Copy of passport (validity of a minimum of six months).
    • Pre-employment medical certificate as per the LMRA guidelines, showing that the employee is fit to work 
    • Signed offer letter or contract 
    • Copy of diploma or qualifications 
    • Copy of marriage certificate (if applicable) 
  • The LMRA can take up to 10 working days to process the visa application. 
  • After processing, the LMRA publishes the visa status online. 
  • Each applicant is allocated an application identification and the visa status can be checked online through the LMRA website. 
  • Before the employer proceeds with the visa application, it is suggested that the employee inform the future employer as to whether he or she previously worked in Bahrain. 
  • This ensures that he or she is not given a duplicate personal identification card (Smartcard). 
  • In addition, the employee should inform the employer as to whether he or she holds a current valid Bahraini visa, such as a multiple re-entry business visa. 
  • After the employee enters the country, another medical exam needs to be carried out to confirm that the employee is fit to work. 
  • On completing all the above and providing proof of an address in Bahrain, an expatriate employee can obtain the Smartcard.

Type of Visa/Permit

Documentation

Validity

Eligibility

Work Permit

  • Copy of passport (validity of a minimum of six months).
  • Pre-employment medical certificate as per the LMRA guidelines, showing that the employee is fit to work 
  • Signed offer letter or contract 
  • Copy of diploma or qualifications 
  • Copy of marriage certificate (if applicable)  

1 to 2 years

  • To work in Bahrain, all expatriates must have a valid work permit. 
  • To be allotted work visas, an entity that employs expatriates must satisfy the following conditions: 
  • It must be established in Bahrain. 
  • It must be registered with the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). 
  • It must have a certain percentage of Bahraini workers (between 5% and 50%, depending on the industry).

 

VALUE ADDED TAX 

  • VAT has been implemented in Bahrain as of 1 January 2019.
  • The general VAT rate is 5% and applies to most goods and services, with a number of exceptions where certain goods and services may be subject to a 0% rate or be exempted from VAT.

VAT

Standard Rate

5%

Zero Rate

0%

WITHHOLDING TAX

  • No withholding tax is imposed in Bahrain

TERMINATION

  • Termination is possible on these grounds: during the probationary period, on the expiry of a fixed term contract, dismissal with notice provided it is for a valid reason, following a failure to improve performance after reasonable opportunity (60 days), resignation, incapacity or death, redundancy, retirement (age 60) and summary dismissal (by reason of any of the grounds listed in Article 107 of the Labor Law).
  • Employees who have not exhausted their statutory sick leave entitlement are protected from dismissal on grounds of health, unless their full sick leave entitlement has been taken (i.e., 55 days per year of service). 
  • The worker may accumulate the balance of sick leave on full or partial pay to which the worker is entitled for a period not exceeding 240 days. 
  • Female employees are protected from dismissal during maternity leave and by reason of their marriage.

STATUTORY BENEFITS

  • These are mandatory benefits as postulated by law
  • These include probationary period, annual leave, public holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, overtime pay, notice period, and severance pay
  • Statutory benefits also include social security benefits

Statutory Benefits

Probationary Period

Annual Leave

Public Holidays

Maternity Leave

Sick Leave

Overtime Pay

Notice Period

Severance Pay

Social Security Benefits

PAYMENTS AND INVOICING

Since there is no PIT regime in Bahrain, there are no tax return or payment requirements associated with PIT.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

  • The ease of doing business index is an index created by Simeon Djankov, an economist at the Central and Eastern Europe sector of the World Bank Group.
  • Higher rankings (a low numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.
  • According to the World Bank Bahrain ranked 43rdh in the World in 2019 in terms of ease of doing business.

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