Employment in Brunei

PPB is the public job and career portal (PPB) for Brunei citizens and permanent residents. Registration requires a valid Brunei identity card (Brunei Smart IC), an activated Brunei government account (e-Darussalam) and an active email address; a complete profile enables users to search and apply for jobs. The process runs from application through shortlisting and interview to accepting or rejecting the offer and setting the contract details. The government-service recruitment portal (PSC Recruitment 2.0) is separate and places people in government service under the same basic access requirements. For registered unemployed citizens and permanent residents with technical and vocational education and training (TVET), a degree or diploma, the time-limited training and work-experience programme (i-Ready) provides training and work experience; official MPEC information states 18 months for later intakes, while each advertisement and its eligibility requirements must be checked. Before starting, a private-sector employment contract should state the employer, duties, workplace, term, probationary period, basic salary, allowances, deductions, working hours, rest periods, leave, accommodation, travel, and arrangements for work authorisation and return travel. Keep the signed copy with your own records. Official Employee Guidelines cover matters including wage payment, working hours and leave. Employment contracts, payslips, time records and authorisation documents should be kept continuously; workplace procedures and safety requirements also apply. The 2025 minimum wage amendment (Employment (Minimum Wage) (Amendment) Order 2025) has applied since 1 April 2025 to selected companies in seven industry classes: Architecture, Professional Engineering, Quantity Surveying and Land Surveying, Banking & Finance, Information and Communications Technology, Medical & Dental, Private Education (Higher), Tourism & Accommodation and Security. In those companies, the basic wage is at least BND 500 per month for full-time work and BND 2.62 per hour for part-time work; allowances do not count towards these amounts. The rule does not automatically apply to every company, so the current company list should be checked. Net pay may differ because of deductions from basic or gross pay. For foreign workers, the employer organises access. The job is first advertised locally through PPB for at least two weeks. If local applicants are available, an additional recruitment period of 30 days follows. If there are no local applicants, a Clearance Letter may be requested after review, with an official target of three working days. The employer then applies to the Department of Labour for a foreign-worker licence (Foreign Worker License (FWL)), locally called Lesen Pekerja Asing (LPA); according to BusinessBN, new FWL applications run through a registered Employment Agent. The licence target is seven working days, or 18 working days for construction work; a security deposit may also be required. Typical documents include an employer letter, a passport valid for at least another six months, Form 23, photographs, LPA/BUR 500, a Labour Job Order and the agent representative's card. Depending on the case, medical documents and qualification evidence are also required. Immigration visa approval has a target of three to five working days, the medical examination often takes one to two weeks, and approval of the work pass (Pas Kerja) usually takes about three to five working days. A valid visa and valid work pass must be available before work begins. The authorisation applies only to the approved activity and employer. Changing employer, activity or workplace requires the prescribed Transfer-of-Contract or Labour approval and confirmation by Immigration; an informal employer change is not a secure basis. The national employee savings administrator (TAP) generally registers citizens and permanent residents under 60 for permanent, fixed-term, part-time, contract and probationary employment, as well as apprenticeships and paid internships. Under the National Retirement Scheme (Skim Persaraan Kebangsaan, SPK), the employee contribution is 8.5 percent of monthly basic salary; the employer contribution depends on the salary group. Citizens and stateless permanent residents receive the full retirement benefits, while foreign permanent residents receive the basic benefits. For ordinary foreign work-pass holders, TAP coverage is not established by the available information and should be clarified directly with TAP. Contributions are processed through TAP e-Amanah and, according to the TAP FAQ, are due by day 15 of the following month; the account and contribution statement should be checked. The labour-dispute enforcement division (Labour Enforcement Division, LED) handles employment disputes between workers and employers, such as unpaid wages, a missing contract or unpaid overtime. According to the official access information, a report can be made by telephone, in person, by letter or by email. Documents mentioned for intake include a police report, IC, passport, contract, job or time card and other evidence. The published criteria refer to protected workers under the Employment Order, a salary of up to BND 3,000 and a matter no more than one year old; the current process and thresholds should be confirmed before reporting. When employment is terminated or a contract ends or expires, the contract terms, notice period, final payment and cancellation of the work pass matter. For foreign workers, the employer, Department of Labour and Immigration must coordinate cancellation, departure or a new approved assignment. Unemployment and support benefits belong to a neighbouring topic area. Labour-market data show the practical importance of foreign employment: DEPS reports for 2025 348.7 thousand working-age people, a labour-force participation rate of 66.5 percent, 220,400 employed people and an unemployment rate of 5.0 percent for 2025. The Labour Force Survey 2024 recorded 222,300 employed people, including 158,400 locals and 63,900 non-locals; 19,600 non-locals worked in construction.