Albania is located in southeastern Europe and occupies a diverse terrain from coastlines to the mountains of the Albanian Alps. They are currently in negotiations for EU candidacy.

The right to employment is provided for in the Albanian Constitution which defines that "Everyone has the right to earn a means of living by lawful work that he/she has chosen or accepted himself. Each person is free to choose his profession and place of work as well as the manner of achieving professional or other qualifications or training".

An employer may only hire employees who meets the minimum employment age, which according to the Albanian Labour Code is 16 (sixteen) years old. Foreign citizens who want to work and live in Albania need work and residence permits.

The minimum wage in Albania is 32,000 ALL per month, and the standard working hours are 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day (Monday-Friday).

Employees are allowed to work up to 8 hours of overtime every week and up to 200 hours of overtime per year. Any work done after the standard 40 hours a week has to be paid at a minimum rate of 25% more than the standard rate, and work done during a weekend or public holiday is paid at 50% more than the standard rate.

Parental Leave

Pregnant employees are entitled to a compensated maternity leave of 365 days — a minimum of 35 days should be taken before the expected due date, and a minimum of 63 days should be taken after the due date. For any parental leave taken before the birth and up to 150 days following the birth, the employee is paid 80% of their average daily salary, after that they receive 50% of their average salary.

For fathers or non-pregnant parents, there is a right to 3 days of leave after the birth of the child, paid by the employer.

Additionally, if the mother does not take her maternity leave (after the 63 mandated days), parents who contributed to social security for the past year are entitled to 330 days of paid paternity leave with salary paid after the 63rd day of the birth of the child.

The same as for mothers, their salary will be 80% of the average salary up to 150 days after birth, then 50%.

Albanian law states that parents can have 12 days of paid leave to tend for a child, and they can request up to 30 unpaid days a year to care for a child.

Sick Leave

Employees in Albania can claim sick leave for the entirety of an illness, however they do not receive full pay. For the first 14 days of the illness, the employer pays 80% of their salary. After 14 days, social insurance pays the employee 70% of their salary (or 80% if they have more than 10 years of insurance contributions).

Paid Leave

Albania has around 20 public holidays, and both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 4 weeks of paid time off (PTO) per year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.67 days per month. Employees are eligible for annual leave from the start of employment.

Process

Albania has a 3 month probationary period where either party may terminate their contract with 5 days notice. After this period, there is no at-will termination and termination must be done for just cause.

If an employer wants to dismiss an employee with reasonable cause, they are obligated to deliver prior notice to the employee. They must also request a meeting within 72 hours of the notice to discuss the reason for the termination and allow the employee to present their counterarguments.

Should the employer fail to arrange the meeting within 72 hours of notice, the employee is eligible for additional compensation.

If an employer terminates a contract for unreasonable causes, they are obliged to pay the employee damages that may amount up to one year of wages. If the employee wishes to terminate their contract, they must also provide a reason and continue through the contracted notice period before their end date.

Notice Period

Notice periods in Albania vary by tenure:

• 6 months of employment = 2 weeks notice
• 6 months-2 years = 1 month notice
• 2-5 years = 2 months notice
• 5+ years = 3 months notice

Severance Pay

All employees who have worked at a company for 3+ years must receive a minimum of 15 days of severance pay.

Contracts must be written in Albanian but can be in more than one language — an officially translated copy of the document is required if the original contract is not in Albanian.

There is no 13th salary requirement in Albania.