Hire and pay employees in
Nigeria, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Nigeria. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in Nigeria is 2 days with Deel.

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Currency

Nigerian Naira (NGN)

Capital

Abuja​

Official Language

English

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Onboard, pay and manage employees in Nigeria with Deel.

Usually, to hire in Nigeria, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Deel lets you hire employees in Nigeria quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.

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All the necessary benefits for Nigeria
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in Nigeria within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Industrial Training Fund
  • Pension Fund
  • Private Healthcare - Unisure (optional)
  • Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)
  • Private Healthcare - AXA (mandatory)
  • Optional global health insurance - Allianz
  • Global Life Insurance - Allianz

Our quickstart guide to hiring in Nigeria

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in Nigeria

Pay & Tax Leave Policy Termination Statutory time off Onboarding Additional info

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage is NGN 70,000 per month.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 7% to 24%. Income tax is calculated based on income tax bands.

Gross Annual Income (NGN) Tax Rate (%)
Up to 300,000 7%
Up to 600,000 11%
Up to 1,110,000 15%
Up to 1,600,000 19%
Up to 3,200,000 21%
Over 3,200,000 24%

Payroll Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 12.0% of the employee salary.

  • Industrial training fund - 1.10%
  • Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund - 1.0%
  • Pension Fund - 10.0%
  • Life Insurance (GPA) - 1.8%

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Overtime payment is not mandatory. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. There are no maximum working hours. There is no rate of pay for overtime specified by law, rather it is based on the employer’s discretion. 


Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday.

Maternity Leave

Pregnant employees who have worked for six consecutive months or more are entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. six weeks must be taken before the child's birth, and six weeks must be taken after the child's birth. The employee will receive a minimum of 50% of the salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay. 

The employee can extend leave in case of illness, certified by the registered medical practitioner.

Paternity Leave

There is no paternity leave currently required by law. 

Parental Leave

In Nigeria, no law covers parental leave. However, employees may be entitled to maternity leave and paternity leave.  

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 12 days. The leave can be taken in the case of illnesses certified by a registered medical practitioner. During this leave, employees are entitled to 100% of their base salary, and the employer is responsible for this pay. 

Termination Requirements

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in Nigeria can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Nigeria for employers and termination must be done for just cause. Compliant terminations include:

  • Voluntarily by the employee
  • By mutual agreement
  • By the expiration of the contract
  • Unilaterally by the employer based on:
    • Objective grounds
    • Disciplinary dismissal
    • Criminal offense
    • Performance due to unsuitability for the job
    • Permanent incapacity due to accident or ill-health

Notice Period

In Nigeria, there is no statutory requirement to provide a notice period. However, best practice includes 30 days notice for non-senior employees and a minimum of 30 days for senior employees. 

In cases regarding allegations of misconduct, the employer is not required to provide notice.

Severance for Employees

For employees not covered by the Labour Act, there are no statutory requirements for severance payments. During the notice period, the employee will receive standard salary wages. 

All manual and clerical employees (covered by the Labour Act) are entitled to redundancy pay. There is no legal requirement for the amount of redundancy pay; it is based on the employer’s discretion.

Paid Time Off

Full-time employees are entitled to 6 days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly, 0.5 days per month. Employees are eligible for annual leave after 12 months of work. 

Full-time employees under the age of 16 are entitled to 12 days of paid time off (PTO) a year.

Public Holidays

Nigeria celebrates 10 national holidays and 2 regional holidays. National public holidays include: 
  1. New Year’s Day
  2. Good Friday
  3. Easter Monday 
  4. Worker’s Day
  5. Sallah National Holiday (2 days)
  6. Democracy Day
  7. Id el Kabir (Feast of Sacrifice)
  8. Independence Day
  9. Christmas Day
  10. Boxing Day
Nigeria celebrates 2 regional holidays:
  1. Public holiday (Anambra)
  2. Sambisa Memorial Day (in Borno)

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 2 business days after the client signs the SOW.

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in English and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties. 

A contract must include: 
  • Name
  • Start date
  • Duties and responsibilities
  • Hours of work
  • Compensation and other benefits
  • Termination conditions

Probation Period

Employees hired using Deel have a probation period of 90 days, which you can extend up to 180 days. As of January 2022, it's Deel company policy to include probation periods in all employment contracts moving forward.

Probation periods help an employer and the employee ensure they're a hiring match, allowing a company to quickly decide if it's a fit and the employee to see if the job aligns with their career goals.
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Hiring in Nigeria, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Nigeria with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in Nigeria and 150+ countries.

Group (8)

Starting at 599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

13.9%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in Nigeria?

View our Employee Cost Calculator

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