Eritrea, formally the State of Eritrea, is a nation in Eastern Africa's Horn of Africa area, with Asmara as its capital and biggest city. It is bounded on the south by Ethiopia, on the west by Sudan, and on the southeast by Djibouti. Eritrea's coastline along the Red Sea is vast in the northeast and east. The country has an area of around 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi) and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and the Hanish Islands.
Human bones discovered in Eritrea have been dated to 1 million years old, and the anthropological study suggests that the location may hold important records relating to human evolution. Eritrea today is a multi-ethnic nation with nine recognized ethnic groups. The nine recognized ethnic groups speak nine distinct languages, the most generally spoken being Tigrinya, with the others being Tigre, Saho, Kunama, Nara, Afar, Beja, Bilen, and Arabic. The three working languages are Tigrinya, Arabic, and English. The majority of the population speaks Afroasiatic languages, either from the Ethiopian Semitic or Cushitic branches. The Tigrinyas make up roughly 55 percent of the population in these areas, with the Tigre people accounting for about 30 percent. There are also other Nilotic ethnic groups who speak Nilo-Saharan. The majority of inhabitants in the area follow Christianity or Islam, with a tiny minority following traditional beliefs.
The Kingdom of Aksum, which included most of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, was founded in the first or second century AD. It converted to Christianity around the middle of the fourth century. Much of Eritrea was ruled by the Medri Bahri kingdom in medieval times, with a tiny section ruled by Hamasien. The development of modern-day Eritrea is the consequence of the amalgamation of autonomous, different kingdoms (such as Medri Bahri and the Sultanate of Aussa), which finally resulted in the formation of Italian Eritrea. Eritrea was ruled by the British Military Administration until 1952, after the defeat of the Italian colonial force in 1942. Following a vote by the UN General Assembly in 1952, Eritrea would govern itself via a native Eritrean parliament, but for foreign affairs and defense, it would enter into a ten-year federal relationship with Ethiopia. However, in 1962, the Ethiopian government dissolved the Eritrean parliament and legally conquered Eritrea. In 1961, the Eritrean separatist movement formed the Eritrean Liberation Front, which waged the Eritrean War of Independence until Eritrea achieved de facto independence in 1991. Following an independence vote, Eritrea obtained de jure independence in 1993.
Eritrea is a unitary one-party presidential republic with no national legislative or presidential elections. Isaias Afwerki has been the country's president since its formal independence in 1993. According to Human Rights Watch, Eritrea's government has one of the worst human rights records in the world. These charges have been refuted by the Eritrean administration as politically motivated. Eritrea's press freedom is severely restricted; the Press Freedom Index constantly puts it as one of the least free nations. Reporters Without Borders deems the nation to have the poorest overall press freedom in the world as of 2021, even worse than North Korea since all media outlets and access are severely regulated by the government.
After one year of service, employers are entitled to 14 days of paid regular leave in addition to public holidays. For each year of operation, this changes by one day, up to 35 working days. Upon separation of work, employers must pay any accumulated yet unused days.
New Year’s Day
Day of the Martyrs
Heroes’ Day
Labour Day
Liberation Day
Independence Day
Parents’ Day
Christmas Day
While sick leave is not mandatory, some employers can provide paid sick time.
Female employers are entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, with six weeks available prior to the birth and up to eight weeks available following the birth. Maternity leave pays about 66 percent of the employee's minimum wage.
There is no statutory paternity leave in Eritrea.
Other than the already mentioned terms regarding maternity and paternity leaves, there are no other provisions in the law regarding parental leave.
Employment contracts may be terminated during the probationary period, at the end of a fixed-term contract, with mutual consent, by the employer (with or without cause), or by the employee. Employers may terminate employees without notice at the end of a fixed-term contract, during the probationary period, or for cause other than the employee's death, inability to perform, or misconduct. Falsifying documents, theft or breach of trust, being absent from work for five consecutive days or ten consecutive days in a calendar year without explanation, disclosing confidential information, or violating the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement constitute misconduct. Employers are required to offer notice of termination in the absence of cause or a fixed-term contract and outside of the probation period.
The notice period in Eritrea ranges from seven to thirty days.
The probation period should be defined in the employment contract or collective bargaining agreement but cannot exceed 90 days.
Severance pay is typically between two and four weeks' pay for each year of service.
The standard workweek is 40 hours at an hourly rate of eight hours per day, excluding overtime. Unless the Minister of Labor specifies otherwise, every worker is entitled to a 24-hour rest period on Sundays.
Without the employee's consent, an employer may only require up to two hours of overtime. Above two hours of overtime per day, consent from the employees must already be necessitated. Overtime wages vary according to the time of day when overtime work is performed.
Employers must pay 125 percent of regular wages for overtime hours worked between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Wages should equal 150 percent of standard pay between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. If an employee is required to work on their rest day, the employer is required to compensate them at double their regular rate of pay.
Eritrea has no national minimum wage, but the minimum wage in the public sector is 360 Eritrean nakfa ($24) per month.
Employee health insurance schemes are not mandated by employment regulations. Employers have the option of offering these plans.
The employment laws of the country make no provision for mandatory bonuses for employees. Beyond the standard sick and annual leave provisions, employees are entitled to additional leave. Workers may take unpaid leave for family reasons, such as marriage or the death of a family member, and this leave may last up to five consecutive days in severe cases.
Additionally, association leaders are entitled to paid leave from their organizations. This time off period is applicable to labor disputes, collective bargaining agreements, seminars, and training courses.
Eritrea is a tax-free jurisdiction. Corporations are not subject to income, capital gains, profit, or other types of direct taxes, regardless of their residency status.
Eritrea is a tax-free jurisdiction. Corporations are not subject to income, capital gains, profit, or other types of direct taxes, regardless of their residency status.
Eritrea is a tax-free jurisdiction. Corporations are not subject to income, capital gains, profit, or other types of direct taxes, regardless of their residency status.
In addition to preparing an itinerary for Eritrea, you should inquire about the visa rules. To cross Eritrea's borders, you may or may not require a visa. In reality, chances are you will need to apply for a visa since only residents of Uganda and Sudan do not need one. However, Ugandan people may visit Eritrea without a visa, while Sudanese nationals can acquire a visa on arrival after they are in Eritrea. All other nations must go to the closest Eritrean embassy and apply for a visa in person.
Because you must apply for a visa at the closest Eritrean diplomatic post, you must do more study on the exact criteria. You can learn more about them online, but we suggest contacting the diplomatic mission or embassy directly since they are always the most reliable source of information. Other websites are not always up to date, which might result in severe errors. Simply contact the embassy by phone or email to learn more. Nonetheless, we can inform you that you must have a passport that is valid for at least 6 months beyond your scheduled date of arrival in Eritrea. For further information, contact the closest Eritrean embassy.
The employment contract must contain the following:
Duration of the contract, the date of employment
The type and place of work
Rate of wages and other remuneration
Payment methods
The rights and obligations of the employer and employee
Any provisions within applicable collective bargaining agreements that benefit the employee are deemed to be an integral part of the contract
Work rules
There is no set length for assignments. This is usually indicated in the employment contract for fixed-term employments.
Eritrean nakfa (EKN)
United States Dollar (USD)
