Rwanda EOR & PEO

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Hire in Rwanda

Rwanda is a small land-locked country in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley, surrounded by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s economy is currently strong, with GDP increasing tenfold from 1994 to the present total of $13.7 billion. The IMF expects an incredible 6.9% growth in 2024. For the 13.857 million inhabitants of this small country, this growth has brought development and a reduction in poverty.

With a young, skilled labor market and strong economic position, there has never been a better time to hire in Rwanda with the Horizons Rwanda Employer of Record (EOR) solution.

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hire employees in Rwanda

What Is a Rwanda EOR?

An EOR or Employer of record in Rwanda is a service provider that helps other companies hire Rwandan workers. The EOR is able to hire local workers on behalf of foreign-based companies, allowing them to avoid the need to own entities in the country. Rwandan EORs can provide several services for their client companies, including recruitment, contracting, payroll, benefits administration, and leave schedule management, among others. Their clients pay EORs to outsource their human resources (HR) functions and maintain compliance with all of Rwanda’s relevant employment tax and employment laws.

An EOR is also often referred to as a Rwanda PEO or professional employment organization.

Save Money And Time with A Rwanda EOR

What Are the Benefits of a Rwanda EOR?

Any company that has worked with an EOR in Rwanda knows that their services are highly valuable. The expertise and knowledge of the EOR’s staff allow their clients to gain the following advantages:

Not needing an entity: If your company wants to hire workers in Rwanda, it will typically need to register a legal business entity there. This can entail traveling to the country and expending a lot of precious time, money, and effort in the registration process. The EOR can hire workers directly and become their legal employer in Rwanda while contracting them to work for your company.
Fast recruitment and onboarding: EORs can find workers to fill your job openings quickly. They can draw candidates from their labor pools and local networks or use various recruitment strategies to attract new applicants.
Affordability: Rwanda has a relatively low cost-of-living and wages to match. Employers only have to pay an extra 3% of their employees’ salaries toward social programs. This means that Rwandan employees are normally very affordable for foreign-based companies.
Constant compliance: When you work with an EOR, it takes on the role of the sole legal employer of your workers in Rwanda. The EOR’s staff must have extensive knowledge of local labor laws so they can create legal contracts and ensure that their working conditions are always fair and equitable. This also protects you from penalties and legal actions stemming from non-compliance.

Horizons is Best IN Class

Why Choose Horizons?

Horizons stands out as a Rwana EOR through:

A strong regional presence in Africa, meaning senior management are on the ground to deal with any issues.
Client-focused infrastructure. Horizons won’t oversell you on products and services you don’t need. Horizons offers the easiest platform to compliantly hire and pay people worldwide.
Cost-effective solutions. At $299 per employee, per month, no EOR in Rwanda is more affordable. The cost is 100% transparent (onboarding, offboarding, deposit, no extra charges).
A customer-first culture. Horizons is an efficient bootstrapped company. It is not an externally-funded company burning investor cash to aggressively acquire new clients. Horizons is the only EOR that grows with its customer, reflecting the level of care and personal attention provided to each customer. Horizons will carefully advise on the best setup in each country: the type of contract needed, how to structure your benefits, and how to offboard a person while minimizing the risk of conflicts and extra cost
A long-term partnership. Horizons is the only EOR platform with a recruitment arm — a direct response to client demand. If any employee is leaving, or if our clients want to explore a new country, Horizons can recruit new candidates directly for the client. Horizons is:
- The only EOR doing this in-house — no subcontracting
- The only EOR doing this without a retainer — clients are only charged upon success
- The only EOR charging just a 2% fee per month.

Step-by-step Rwanda EOR

How Does a Rwanda EOR Work?

Your company can work with an EOR by hiring it to find your Rwandan employees. You’ll pay a fee for each employee the EOR manages while it typically provides the following services:

Hiring your employees: You may already have promising candidates in mind or seek support from the Rwanda EOR to fill in the gaps. The EOR will employ these workers directly, becoming their legal employer in Rwanda.
Managing employment contracts and onboarding: The EOR will draft compliant employment contracts for your review. Next, the EOR will onboard the workers to prepare them to work with you. This can include collecting their personal and payment details, entering them into employee databases, registering them with tax and social security authorities, and briefing them on your company.
Processing payroll and handling employment taxes: The EOR will calculate gross salaries, taxes, and deductions as well as your employer contributions. The EOR will make all necessary payments to employees as well as the necessary taxes and deductions.
Administering benefits: You may choose to provide your Rwandan workers with other benefits like private insurance and pension plans. The EOR will set up any additional benefits, and calculate and pay the appropriate contributions.
Taking care of exit procedures: You may need to terminate employees for individual or economic reasons, and you’ll need to let the EOR know. As the legal employer, the EOR has the responsibility to assess the legality behind your reasons for terminating the workers. In case notice periods and severance pay are necessary, the EOR will calculate and manage them as applicable.

stay compliant with Rwanda labor laws

Labor Laws

Rwanda’s laws have developed over the decades, and the country now has numerous legal protections for both employers and employees. These laws, however, are spread across many legal instruments like the Constitution of Rwanda of 2003, the Law Regulating Labour in Rwanda of 2018, and several other laws, orders, and international conventions. These laws can be hard to find and follow and are best left up to the expert staff of an EOR to manage. At the same time, it’s useful for you to be familiar with some of the main points of law so you know what Rwandan employees are entitled to.

Employment contract types

While oral contracts are allowed, they must be in writing for periods over three months. Contracts have to be written in one of Rwanda’s official languages, including Kinyarwanda, Swahili, English, and French. Permanent and fixed-term contracts can both be used without limit. Contracts must include the names and addresses of the parties, place of work, duration of contract; notice period; salary and benefits; payment method and schedule; overtime rate; job title and description; working hours; leave allowance; and any relevant collective agreements.

Project-based

Fixed-term

Indefinite

Working hours in Rwanda

Rwandans normally work 45 hours a week. These hours can be extended with overtime

Overtime must be compensated in the following way:

Holiday Schedule in Rwanda [2024]

Rwanda has 12 paid public holidays each year. These are a mixture of national days and religious observances.

Date	Holiday name
1 Jan, 2024	New Year’s Day
1 Feb, 2024	National Heroes Day
29 Mar, 2024	Good Friday
1 Apr, 2024	Easter Monday
7 Apr, 2024	Genocide Against the Tutsi Memorial Day
1 May, 2024	Labor Day
1 Jul, 2024	Independence Day
4 Jul, 2024	Liberation Day
4 Aug, 2024	Umaganura Day
15 Aug, 2024	Assumption Day
25 Dec, 2024	Christmas Day
26 Dec, 2024	Boxing Day

Paid time off

The amount of paid time off employees are eligible to receive is based on how long they have been employed at their current company:

Sick leave in Rwanda

Employees are entitled to short sick leaves of up to 15 days. If they exceed this, long sick leave can be allowed up to six months. The first three months are fully paid, and the next three are unpaid.

Less than 6 months of sick leave

Over 6 months of sick leave

In order for employees to receive the full wages due to them, workers must present a valid medical certificate from a certified doctor to their employer.

Maternity leave in Rwanda

Expecting mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, two of which should be prenatal. In case of complications, this leave can be extended for up to one more month with a medical certificate.

Fathers are entitled to four days of paid circumstantial leave, which can be used for the birth of a child.

Annual leave in Rwanda

Workers are entitled to 18 days of annual leave. After each three-year period of service, employees gain one more day of annual leave to a maximum of 21 days.

Termination & severance in Rwanda

Except for cases of gross misconduct, the employer should give 15 days’ notice to a worker who has worked less than a year and one month’s notice for service over a year. Severance pay depends on seniority according to this schedule:

Less than 5 years – 2 months’ salary
5-10 years – 3 months’ salary
10-15 years – 4 months’ salary
15-20 years – 5 months’ salary
20-25 years – 6 months’ salary
Over 25 years – 7 months’ salary

Rwanda's compulsory social security contributions

Compulsory social security contributions in Rwanda cover pensions, maternity leave benefits, medical insurance, and occupational hazards insurance and are managed by the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB).

Rwanda social security for foreigners

Compulsory social security contributions generally apply to all employees working within the country, including foreigners. However, there may be specific conditions and agreements that can influence the applicability of these contributions to foreign workers.

Individual income tax

Individual income tax in Rwanda is structured with progressive tax rates for employment income, ranging from 0% to 30%. Other types of income, such as business and rental income, are typically taxed at a flat rate of 30%. Investment income is subject to withholding tax rates. Tax residency status determines the scope of taxable income, and residents are taxed on worldwide income, while non-residents are taxed only on Rwandan-sourced income.

Health insurance

Rwanda’s health insurance system comprises community-based health insurance (Mutuelle de Santé), the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) medical scheme for public sector employees, and private health insurance options. Mutuelle de Santé provides affordable healthcare to the majority of the population, while the RSSB scheme offers comprehensive coverage for public sector employees. Private health insurance plans offer additional services and flexibility, catering to both locals and expatriates.

hassle-free Rwandan compensation & benefits

Compensation & Benefits

Rwanda compensation laws

The minimum wage in Rwanda was mandated in 1974 at 100 RWF (Rwandan francs)/day (about 0.76 USD). This works out to about 2,580 RWF/month or just $2/month. However, this wage is too low to be meaningful. Employers and employees can agree on wages independently or follow collective agreements. Overtime rates are determined by collective agreements and must be updated annually. There are also no set rates for work performed on rest days, weekends, or public holidays.

13 month salary in Rwanda

A 13th-month annual bonus is not mandatory in Rwanda. Some employers may choose to incentivize employees with this bonus.

Social security for Rwandan nationals

Employers in Rwanda only have to pay contributions equal to 5.3% of a worker’s salary for old age, invalidity, and survivor’s benefits (3%), sickness and maternity (0.3%), and accident and disease insurance (2%). Employees are deducted 3.3% of their salaries toward these same benefits.

Rwanda Employer Of Record Peo

Navigation

Hire in Rwanda

What Is a Rwanda EOR?

What Are the Benefits of a Rwanda EOR?

Why Choose Horizons?

How Does a Rwanda EOR Work?

Labor Laws

Employment contract types

Working hours in Rwanda

Compensation & Benefits

Frequently asked questions

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Frequently asked questions

How does an EOR in Rwanda handle compliance with local labor laws?

The EOR enters into contracts with the employees and acts as their legal employer. Its staff must have a thorough knowledge of all applicable labor and tax laws to ensure that its contracts are legal and sound. They must monitor the employees’ working conditions continually to make sure they are in line with the law. They also need to pay the appropriate taxes and social security contributions on your behalf.

What are the benefits of using an EOR for hiring in Rwanda?

The ability to hire workers without the need to register an entity is the biggest advantage of working with an EOR in Rwanda. Working with an EOR can also help you to get Rwandan workers on your payroll quickly and with little effort. You can also be assured that the EOR will take care of the workers’ long-term HR needs and ensure compliance with all applicable laws.

Rwanda EOR & PEO

Start hiring in Rwanda

Simple, compliant hiring with Horizons EOR & PEO

Hire in Rwanda

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hire employees in Rwanda

What Is a Rwanda EOR?

Save Money And Time with A Rwanda EOR

What Are the Benefits of a Rwanda EOR?

Horizons is Best IN Class

Why Choose Horizons?

Step-by-step Rwanda EOR

How Does a Rwanda EOR Work?

stay compliant with Rwanda labor laws

Labor Laws

Employment contract types

Project-based

Probationary period

Termination

Severance

Fixed-term

Probationary period

Termination notice period

Severance

Indefinite

Probationary period

Termination notice period

Severance

Working hours in Rwanda

Overtime must be compensated in the following way:

For a regular workday:

For a rest day:

For a statutory holiday:

Paid time off

Under 1 year of employment

1-10 years of employment

10-20 years of employment

20+ years of employment

Sick leave in Rwanda

Less than 6 months of sick leave

Under 1 year of employment

1-10 years of employment

10-20 years of employment

20+ years of employment

Over 6 months of sick leave

Under 1 year of employment

1-3 years of employment

3+ years of employment

Maternity leave in Rwanda

Annual leave in Rwanda

Termination & severance in Rwanda

Rwanda's compulsory social security contributions

Rwanda social security for foreigners

Individual income tax

Health insurance

hassle-free Rwandan compensation & benefits

Compensation & Benefits

Rwanda compensation laws

13 month salary in Rwanda

Social security for Rwandan nationals

Hire in Rwanda in 24h without your own local entity.

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