Mozambique labour law for employers: contracts, working time, leave and termination under Law 13/2023

Contract types and the fixed-term limits

A contract may be open-ended, fixed-term or for an uncertain term (art. 42). A contract that does not state its duration is presumed open-ended unless the employer proves the temporary nature of the work. Fixed-term contracts are only for temporary needs: replacing an absent worker, exceptional increases in production, seasonal activity and similar cases (art. 41).

Probation

In open-ended contracts probation is up to two months for most workers, three months for mid-level technicians and six months for senior technicians and those in management or leadership roles (art. 48 no. 1). In fixed-term contracts it is up to three months when the contract exceeds one year, one month for contracts of more than six months and less than one year, 15 days for contracts of up to six months, and 15 days in uncertain-term contracts expected to last at least 90 days (art. 48 no. 2 d)). Probation may be reduced or excluded by collective instrument or by the contract; if it is not stipulated in writing, the parties are presumed to have excluded it (art. 49).

Working time, overtime and night work

• Normal working time may not exceed 48 hours a week and 8 hours a day (art. 93 no. 1); it may be extended to 9 hours a day where the worker is given half a day of additional rest a week (no. 2), and by collective instrument up to 4 extra hours a day without exceeding 56 hours a week (no. 3).
• Overtime is work outside normal hours, allowed only for increases in work that do not justify a new hire or for weighty reasons (art. 99 nos. 1 and 2). Each worker may do up to 96 hours of overtime per quarter, no more than 8 hours a week and 200 hours a year (no. 3).
• Overtime is paid at normal pay plus 50%, or plus 100% when it runs after 20:00 into the night; exceptional work is paid at plus 100%; night work carries a 25% premium (art. 125). The same rules apply to shift work with adaptations.
• Workers exempt from working hours, other than those in management, are entitled to additional remuneration set by contract or collective instrument (art. 128).

Leave and maternity

• Paid annual leave cannot be waived: 12 days in the first year of effective service and 30 days in subsequent years, counted in calendar days (art. 108 nos. 1 and 5). In fixed-term contracts of more than three months and less than one year, leave accrues at one day per month of effective service (art. 108 no. 3). Public holidays and certified sick days during leave do not count as leave (art. 111). Leave may be taken in the year it refers to or the following year; exceptionally it may be replaced by pay by agreement, provided at least six working days are taken (art. 107).
• The employer draws up the leave plan with the union body; leave is taken uninterrupted unless the parties agree to split it (art. 109).
• Maternity leave is 90 consecutive days, in addition to annual leave, and may start 20 days before the expected date of birth (art. 14).

Discipline and dismissal for misconduct

The employer holds disciplinary power (art. 63) and may apply, within legal limits, a verbal warning, a registered reprimand, suspension without pay up to 10 days per offence and 30 days a year, a fine of up to 20 days’ salary, demotion to the immediately lower category for up to one year, or dismissal (art. 64). Any sanction beyond a warning or reprimand requires a prior disciplinary procedure with notice of the facts to the worker, the worker’s reply and the union body’s opinion (art. 66). Offences prescribe after six months (art. 66 no. 2). Dismissal for misconduct is reserved for culpable conduct so serious that the relationship cannot continue (art. 69), following the phases of art. 70. A dismissal that disregards the legal formalities is unlawful (art. 75).

Termination: notice and severance

Resignation by the worker (art. 140)

The worker may terminate with notice, in writing, without invoking cause. In a fixed-term contract the notice is at least 30 days unless otherwise agreed, failing which the employer may claim damages up to one month’s pay. In an open-ended contract the notice is 15 days where the length of service exceeds six months and does not exceed three years, and 30 days above three years, unless otherwise agreed, counted in consecutive calendar days (art. 140 nos. 3 and 4).

Termination by the employer on structural, technological or market grounds (art. 141)

The employer may terminate one or more contracts with notice where the measure is based on structural, technological or market grounds and is essential to the competitiveness, financial recovery or administrative or productive reorganisation of the company (art. 141 no. 1). The worker is entitled to severance of:

These brackets reproduce art. 141 no. 3 and do not replace the analysis of the ground for termination, the type of contract and the formalities. Article 142 requires written notice to each worker, to the union body (or the representative union association) and to the Ministry of Labour at least 30 days before the planned date, and provides that a fixed-term worker receives the remuneration that would fall due until the agreed end of the contract. Where the thresholds are met (more than eight contracts in three months in micro and small companies, more than ten in medium and large ones), the collective dismissal rules of arts. 143 and 144 also apply, with information to the union and the Ministry before negotiations and a consultation of up to 30 days. Contracts and collective instruments may set more favourable bases (art. 141 no. 4). Because the brackets are measured in sector minimum wages, the 2026 adjustment changed where a given salary falls: see Minimum wages 2026 by sector.

Employer classes and why they matter

The law classifies employers by average headcount in the calendar year: micro up to 10 workers, small 11 to 30, medium 31 to 100, large above 100 (art. 25). The class drives the quota of foreign workers (art. 34), the freedom to use fixed-term contracts in the first eight years (art. 43 no. 3) and several reporting obligations. Keep the nominal staff list current; it is the evidence of the class.

What foreign employers get wrong most often

• Contracts in English only. Contracts and the disciplinary file must work in Portuguese before the labour authority and the courts.
• Rolling fixed-term contracts past two years or two renewals: outside the exceptions for small and medium employers and the special regime for foreign workers, the contract becomes open-ended by law.
• No written probation clause: probation is presumed excluded.
• Rosters above 48 hours without the legal compensations, and overtime beyond 8 hours a week or 200 hours a year.
• Dismissals without the disciplinary procedure of arts. 66 and 70: they are unlawful however strong the facts.
• Severance computed on home-country formulas instead of the 30/15/5-day brackets in sector minimum wages, and terminations without the 30-day written notices of art. 142.

Payroll, IRPS and INSS, including the 2026 residence rules for expatriates, are in Payroll, IRPS and INSS for expatriates.