Work conditions in Madagascar

The Active Population in Figures

Working Conditions

Legal Weekly Duration

The legal employment’s duration is forty hours per week.
A rest day per week is mandatory (generally on Sunday), and it has to consist of at least 24 consecutive hours (art. 80 of the Labour Code).

Retirement Age

Age 60 (55 for merchant seamen) with at least 15 years of coverage, including at least 28 quarters of contributions in the last 10 calendar years.
For partial pension, the legal age is 60 (55 for merchant seamen) with at least 60 quarters of contributions if the insured has less than 28 quarters of contributions in the last 10 calendar years.
The insured may continue to work up to five years after the legal retirement age to meet the contribution requirements.

Working Contracts

According to art. 7 of the Labour Code, working contracts must be in written and include the tasks, the professional category, the salary and the date of start of the contract. In case the contract is not in written, the working relationship can be proved by any means.
Working contracts are exempted from stamp duties.

Labour Laws

Consult the Labour Code, to obtain a summary of the labour regulations that apply in Madagascar

Cost of Labour

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage was MGA 200,000 per month in 2019 (ILO, latest data available).
However, the vast majority of the population is active in the informal sector, so does not necessarily benefit from the legal minimum salary.

Average Wage

Salaries in Madagascar differ drastically between different jobs. Visit VotreSalaire.org to consult the average wages for the type of profession (in French).

Social Contributions

Social Security Contributions Paid By Employers:

18% of monthly salary of which:

• 13% for the National Pension Fund (capped to a monthly maximum of 13% of eight times the legal minimum salary)
• 5% for the statutory health organization

Social Security Contributions Paid By Employees: 2% of the monthly salary of which:

• 1% to the National Pension Fund
• 1% to the statutory health organization

Both capped at a monthly maximum of 1% of eight times the legal minimum wage.

Social Partners

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners

The law in Madagascar allows public and private sector workers to establish and join labour unions of their choice, without prior authorization or particular requirements (nevertheless, essential workers, including police, military, and firefighters, may not form unions; and civil servants have a different labour code). Formally, unions operate independently from government and political parties.
Workers in the private sector have the right to bargain collectively. However, more than 80% of workers are engaged in agriculture, fishing, and forestry at a subsistence level, and therefore have no access to unions.
In general, collective bargaining rights are more readily exercised and respected in larger international firms, whereas in smaller local companies employees tend to be more reluctant to make demands for fear of reprisals.

Labour Unions

Christian Confederation of Malagasy Trade Unions (SEKRIMA - Confédération chrétienne des syndicats malgaches)
United Autonomous Unions of Madagascar (USAM - Union des Syndicats Autonomes de Madagascar)
Confederation of Malagasy Workers (FMM - Fivondronamben'ny Mpiasa Malagasy)

Unionisation Rate

Less than 10%, although no official figures are available.

Labour Regulation Bodies

Ministry of Public Function and Labour (Ministère de la Fonction Publique, de la Réforme de l'Administration, du Travail et des Lois Sociales)