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Cabo Verde, also known as Cape Verde, is a small nation composed of ten islands located between 320 and 460 nautical miles off the west coast of Africa. These islands were discovered in the 1500s by Portuguese sailors and were initially uninhabited. A lot has changed in 500 years. Cabo Verde now has a population of 584,000 and a nominal GDP in 2023 of $2.598 billion. In 2024, this GDP is expected to rise by an impressive 4.7%, and inflation is expected to increase by just 2% this year, showing that Cabo Verde has recovered well from the pandemic period. The country has natural resources like salt and fisheries, but its economy is primarily driven by services, especially tourism, and foreign investment has been encouraged, especially in sustainable energy and light manufacturing. If you’re thinking of hiring Cabo Verde workers during this bright economic period, working with an EOR might be the best way to get them on your payroll quickly.
Hire in Cabo Verde, and pay employees through our platform or app.
Our Cabo Verde EOR solution is the most affordable on the market.
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We draft compliant Cabo Verde labor contracts.
We manage all Cabo Verde mandatory benefits.
It doesn’t stop with Cabo Verde — we hire employees globally.
A Cabo Verde employer of record or EOR is an organization working in Cabo Verde that provides services for both local and foreign-based businesses. An EOR typically performs recruitment, hiring, and onboarding functions for client companies. It will then manage human resources (HR) needs by taking care of payroll, benefits, taxes, and schedule management over the long term. Because the EOR is established in Cabo Verde, it’s able to hire workers there directly on behalf of its clients. This makes the EOR the sole legal employer of these workers, which is responsible for maintaining compliance with all applicable labor laws.
An EOR is very similar to another type of service provider called a PEO or professional employment organization. Both recruit workers and manage HR functions on behalf of client companies. However, unlike an EOR, a PEO doesn’t hire workers directly. Instead, the client has to own an entity in Cabo Verde and hire its own employees, which the PEO then manages. Most of the time, the terms EOR and PEO are used interchangeably despite this key difference. It’s important, then, for clients to confirm the services these organizations provide before selecting them for their needs.
Working with a Cabo Verde EOR can produce many advantages for internationally-based employers who want to hire Cabo Verdeans locally. These advantages include:
Horizons stands out as a Cabo Verde EOR through:
An EOR works by maintaining a relationship between its client companies and its employees who work for them. These three parties form a three-way relationship in which their roles are defined as follows:
A client company is one that engages the services of an EOR for the purpose of hiring Cabo Verdean workers. It is typically based in another country and owns no entity in Cabo Verde. The client indicates its job opening and requirements to the EOR and then receives a recommended candidate to fill it. The client negotiates the terms of work and compensation with the candidate, who is then hired by the EOR. This new hire works directly for the client company, which manages their day-to-day tasks. It pays the employee’s salary and benefits to the EOR as well as a fee for managing the employee.
The employer of record is the legal employer of the employee. It is hired by the client company to fill an open position, and it does so by recruiting from its talent pool or postings on job sites. The EOR reviews applicants and puts forward an appropriate candidate. It then helps the candidate and client negotiate contract terms and often prepares a contract for them. The EOR then enters this contract with the employee. The EOR then pays the employee’s salary and provides the relevant HR functions for the client. These services usually include payroll, taxes, benefits, and schedule management.
The employee is a Cabo Verdean worker interested in working for a foreign-located company. This person applies to a job posting or has a standing application with an EOR. When selected, the employee negotiates the terms of their work and compensation with the client company. They are then hired by the EOR, which becomes their sole legal employer. However, the employee works daily for the client which manages their tasks and daily schedule and monitors their work.
The laws that govern labor in Cabo Verde are written in the nation’s official language, Portuguese. As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, they’re also spread across numerous pieces of legislation, including the Constitution of Cape Verde of 1980 (revised in 1992), the Labour Code of 2007 (amended in 2016), and various International Labour Organization conventions. It’s easier to leave the specifics up to an EOR. However, it’s still useful for employers to know the basic regulations in Cabo Verde to know what they should expect to provide for their workers.
Contracts can be permanent or fixed-term in Cabo Verde. Contracts can be either oral or written, though written is preferred. They must include the names of the parties, commencement date for work, place of work, job title and description, salary, benefits, deductions, working hours, and termination details. If a probation period is required, it must be stated in the contract and not last longer than six months.
No probationary period.
At completion of the project.
Not applicable unless the contract specifies.
60 days, but can be adjusted based on the contract terms.
15 to 30 days, depending on the contract terms.
No severance pay unless specified in the contract or if termination is without just cause.
Up to 6 months for most employees
Up to 1 year for managerial or highly technical positions
30 to 60 days
1 month salary per year of service
Employees in Cabo Verde work a maximum of 44 hours per week under normal conditions. Workers are entitled to at least one 24-hour period of rest each week. This normally falls on Sunday unless otherwise stipulated by a contract or collective agreement. If an employee works on a rest day, they must be paid a premium of 100% above normal wages.
If they work overtime, employees must be paid at a premium of at least 50% above normal wages. Overtime is limited to two hours per day to a total of 160 hours per year, or 300 hours a year, if the worker gives their consent in writing. For night work, overtime cannot exceed seven hours per week.
150% of the standard hourly rate
200% of the standard hourly rate, or a day off
200% of the standard hourly rate
There are ten public holidays per year in Cabo Verde, which are paid holidays for workers. These are a mixture of national days and (Christian) religious holidays. If an employee works on a public holiday, they must be paid a premium of 100% above normal wages.
| Date | Holiday name |
|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2025 | New Year’s Day |
| 13 Jan 2025 | Freedom and Democracy Day |
| 20 Jan 2025 | National Heroes’ Day |
| 5 Mar 2025 | Ash Wednesday |
| 17 Apr 2025 | Holy Thursday |
| 18 Apr 2025 | Good Friday |
| 20 Apr 2025 | Easter Sunday |
| 1 May 2025 | Labour Day |
| 1 Jun 2025 | Youth Day |
| 5 Jul 2025 | Independence Day |
| 15 Aug 2025 | Assumption Day |
| 1 Nov 2025 | All Saints’ Day |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Christmas Day |
The amount of paid time off employees are eligible to receive is based on how long they have been employed at their current company:
Pro-rata basis (approx. 2 days per month)
22 days of paid leave annually
22 days of paid leave annually
22 days of paid leave annually
The employer is obliged to pay 100% of a sick employee’s wages for the first three days of a leave due to illness. After that, Social Security pays 70% of the workers’ regular wages for up to 1,095 days.
Pro-rata basis
30 days of paid leave annually
30 days of paid leave annually
30 days of paid leave annually
unpaid (unless otherwise specified in the contract or policies)
unpaid (unless otherwise specified in the contract or policies)
unpaid (unless otherwise specified in the contract or policies)
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.
Expecting mothers in Cabo Verde are entitled to 60 days of maternity leave. These days are paid in full, with Social Security contributing 90% of the mother’s regular wages and the employer 10%. However, if the mother hasn’t paid into Social Security, the employer must pay 100% of her regular salary during the maternity leave. Expecting mothers are not obliged to perform overtime or night work, and mothers of children up to the age of ten cannot be obliged to work on rest days or public holidays.
Fathers are not entitled to paternity leave except in incidents in which the mother is hurt or injured or dies during her leave.
Every worker under contract is entitled to 22 days of annual leave. Once the worker has worked for six months, this leave entitlement must be given even if the employee doesn’t finish working for a full year. Unused leave can be rolled over to the next year, but a worker cannot accumulate more than 44 days of leave without being obligated to use some.
Termination of an employee in Cabo Verde requires just cause. Normally, employers must give 30 days’ notice of termination, but for mass layoffs, they must give 45 days’ notice to workers. Individuals are entitled to one month’s wages worth of severance pay for every year of service to the organization, while in the case of collective dismissals, workers are paid only 20 days’ wages per year of service.
Cabo Verde’s social security system includes provisions that apply to both local and foreign workers. The social security system in Cabo Verde is designed to provide benefits related to healthcare, maternity, work accidents, occupational diseases, disability, old age, and death.
The individual income tax system in Cabo Verde uses a progressive structure with tax rates ranging from 15% to 30%. Taxable income is subject to deductions and allowances, and individuals must file annual tax returns.
In Cabo Verde, health insurance and healthcare services are provided through both public and private systems. The public healthcare system, National Health Service (NHS), is funded by social security contributions and provides basic medical services to residents. Private health insurance offers additional coverage and access to private healthcare facilities. Employers may also provide private health insurance as part of their employee benefits. For comprehensive healthcare coverage, individuals often use a combination of public and private health services.
The minimum wage in Cabo Verde is 13,000 CVE (Cape Verdean Escudos) per month, roughly equal to 130 USD per month. On average, however, employees are paid around 25,000 CVE/month (roughly 250 USD/month). This pay is well below global averages and can make Cabo Verdean workers highly affordably.
A 13th-month salary is not mandatory in Cabo Verde. It may, however, be customary to give employees this annual bonus. Payment is at the discretion of the employer and may be written into contracts.
The Social Security system in Cabo Verde is extensive and provides benefits for old age, disability, survivors, health, sickness, and maternity. Employees are deducted 8% of their salaries to pay into this system, while employers pay a contribution equal to 15% of each worker’s salary.
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An EOR can help your company hire employees in Cabo Verde quickly and efficiently. You don’t need to own a legally registered entity in the country to do this. Instead, the EOR acts as the legal employer and contracts employees to work for you.
As the sole legal employer of your employees, the EOR is responsible for their legal needs. Its staff have extensive knowledge of all applicable laws in Cabo Verde that govern labor, benefits, social contributions, and taxes. They use their knowledge and experience to ensure your contracts and working conditions are legal and equitable, even as laws change over time.
Holiday Schedule in Cabo Verde [2025]
