Employer in Sudan

The Labour Code 1997, also using the term مخدم for employer, generally covers employees but excludes federal and state civil servants, members of the armed forces, domestic workers, agricultural workers, family members of the employer and casual workers. An employment contract lasting more than three months should be written. Employers may recruit through employment agencies, private agencies, recruitment services or apprenticeship arrangements, and worker registration can form part of the formal process. Sudanese people seeking work outside Sudan require the relevant permission. Employers generally pay wages in cash. Payment in kind is limited to food, fuel, housing, transport or clothing. Employer duties also include working-time rules, overtime, paid leave, annual leave and sick leave. The Labour Code provides eight weeks of maternity leave per service period, 15 days of Hajj leave after three years of service and Idda leave where the applicable conditions are met. Severance or end-of-service compensation follows the Code and the circumstances of termination. The 2016 Health Insurance Act provides health-insurance access for Sudanese workers, including non-citizens within the applicable arrangements. Membership in the National Health Insurance Fund, or NHIF, has been mandatory for public- and private-sector employees since 1996. The 2016 Social Insurance and Pension Act places social insurance and pension functions in the National Pension and Social Insurance Fund, known as NPSIF. Implementation and compliance are weak in many areas, and no reliable current contribution rate is established in the available evidence. Occupational health and safety obligations arise under Chapter 11 of the Labour Code. Factories require registration, employers must report workplace accidents, and industrial safety inspectors may enter workplaces and examine accidents, machinery and materials. A safety committee is required at workplaces with at least 500 employees. Inspections are absent or inadequate in many states, so written risk controls and accident records remain especially important for employers. Worker representation is governed formally by the Trade Union Act 2010. The framework provides for one trade union per establishment and does not provide for separate sector or occupational unions under that structure. The Registrar certifies and registers unions. The institutional position has remained volatile: elected leaderships were dissolved in 2019, transitional committees in 2021, the Supreme Court annulled the 2022 measure, activities were frozen in January 2023, the freeze was lifted in June 2025, and election periods had ended by May 2025. Preparatory committees therefore require certification by the Registrar, while a proposed amendment was under review at the Ministry of Justice in April 2026. Employer organisations follow the Law on Employers' Organisations 1992. The Registrar oversees their legality, structure and representation. A Khartoum public-transport example recorded in August 2026 used activity-based branches, local chambers and a state chamber, with membership census, list validation, preparatory committees, elections or escalation and final Registrar approval. Current membership fees and contributions have not been verified from reliable primary sources. Negotiation and arbitration are available for labour conflicts, with a trade-union representative on the Arbitration Committee. Section 124 of the Labour Code prohibits partial or complete work stoppages. A termination appeal must be filed within two weeks, and the responsible authority is to decide within two weeks. For economic or technological redundancy or closure, the employer applies to the responsible authority or Wali, after which a tripartite commission addresses the matter. If the required procedure is missing, the Code provides six months of wages as a special compensation; no general compensation ceiling has been verified. Since April 2023, armed conflict has damaged infrastructure, factories and roads, displaced workers, interrupted supply chains and forced business closures. Full-time wage employment fell from 33% before the conflict to 16%, while unemployment rose from 32% in 2022 to 46% in 2023 and 47% in 2024. Agriculture remains a central source of employment, but production and access to work have been heavily disrupted, increasing the practical role of informal and precarious work. Business continuity, relocation, staff retention, wage payment, safety and dispute handling therefore depend strongly on the state and local security situation.