The Employment Contract in Morocco: Open-Ended, Fixed-Term, and the Probationary Period
If you are about to sign, or to have someone sign, an employment contract in Morocco, three questions always come up: open-ended or fixed-term? How long does the probationary period last? And who can terminate, when, and at what cost? This guide answers each one, drawing on the Labour Code (Law No. 65-99).
The essentials in brief
The employment contract is concluded for an indefinite period, for a fixed term, or to carry out a specified job [Art. 16]. The fixed-term contract is only allowed in specific cases: replacement, a temporary increase in activity, seasonal work [Art. 16]. The probationary period allows each party to terminate without notice or compensation, but its duration is capped: three months for executives on an open-ended contract, less for others [Art. 13][Art. 14]. Keeping a fixed-term contract going beyond its term turns it into an open-ended contract [Art. 17]. There is the backbone.
Open-ended, fixed-term, or specified job: what the law says
The Code lays down three forms of contract: indefinite duration, fixed term, or the carrying out of a specified job [Art. 16]. The open-ended contract is the norm. The fixed-term contract, for its part, is the exception, and the legislator frames it tightly.
Honestly, this is where people most often go wrong. People think they can string fixed-term contracts together freely. Wrong. The fixed-term contract may only be concluded in the cases where the employment relationship could not have an indefinite duration [Art. 16]. And the law lists those cases: the replacement of an employee whose contract is suspended (except for a strike), a temporary increase in the company's activity, or seasonal work [Art. 16]. Other exceptional cases may be fixed by regulation or by collective bargaining agreement — that is, the agreement negotiated between employers and unions — after consulting the most representative professional and union organisations [Art. 16].
These contracts must be drawn up in writing [Art. 80]. This is a requirement, not a formality of convenience. The contract may, at the choice of the parties, be fixed-term or open-ended; in the latter case, the parties must stipulate a notice period [Art. 80]. This notice period may not, under any circumstances, fall below the duration fixed by law, which itself refers to the collective agreement, the internal regulations, or custom [Art. 80].
Before signing, ask yourself a simple question: is your need genuinely temporary? If the answer is no, the fixed-term contract is not the right tool — and the law will end up pointing it out.
Duration of the fixed-term contract and automatic switch to open-ended
The fixed-term contract has a term. It ends at the term fixed by the contract or by the completion of the job that was its object [Art. 33]. But beware the pitfall of overrunning.
On the first-time opening of a company, the creation of a new establishment, or the launch of a new product for the first time — outside the agricultural sector — a fixed-term contract may be concluded for a maximum period of one year, renewable only once [Art. 17]. Once that period has passed, the contract becomes, in all cases, open-ended [Art. 17]. And there is something more drastic: if this one-year contract is kept going beyond its duration, it becomes an open-ended contract [Art. 17].
The agricultural sector follows a distinct regime. There, the fixed-term contract is concluded for six months renewable, provided that the cumulative duration of the contracts does not exceed two years [Art. 17]. Beyond that, the contract becomes open-ended [Art. 17].
And the term itself? The fixed-term contract ends at the term fixed by the contract or by the completion of the job that was its object [Art. 33]. As long as that term is not reached, the contract binds both parties — with the consequences for early termination that we will see further on.
Remember the reflex: an employee who is allowed to keep working after the deadline is no longer on a fixed-term contract. Reclassification is not up for debate; it is simply observed.
The probationary period: definition and capped durations
The probationary period is the period during which each of the parties may voluntarily terminate the employment contract, without notice or compensation [Art. 13]. That is its reason for being: to test, on both sides, with no exit costs.
But this freedom has a time limit. For an open-ended contract, the duration is fixed at three months for executives and similar staff, one and a half months for employees, and fifteen days for workers [Art. 14]. It may be renewed only once [Art. 14].
For a fixed-term contract, the cap depends on the length of the contract. The probationary period may not exceed one day per week of work, up to a limit of two weeks, for contracts of less than six months; and one month for contracts of more than six months [Art. 14]. Shorter durations may always be provided by the contract, the collective agreement, or the internal regulations [Art. 14].
Particular regimes exist. For certain contracts, a probationary period may be stipulated without exceeding six months [Art. 80]. And for very short contracts, the probationary period may not exceed two days if the contract is concluded for less than one month, three days between one and two months, and five days beyond two months [Art. 502].
Frankly, check your category before signing: executive, employee, or worker, it is not the same counter.
Terminating during and after the probation: notice and compensation
Terminating during the probation is not entirely without rules. Without notice or compensation, yes [Art. 13]. But after at least one week of work, termination not justified by a serious fault of the employee requires a notice period: two days if they are paid by the day, the week, or the fortnight; eight days if they are paid by the month [Art. 13].
And after the probation? If the employee is dismissed without serious fault, they are entitled to a notice period that may not be less than eight days [Art. 13]. More broadly, the unilateral termination of an open-ended contract, in the absence of serious fault, is subject to compliance with the notice period [Art. 43]. This period is fixed by the legal texts, the contract, the collective agreement, the internal regulations, or custom [Art. 43]. Any clause fixing a notice shorter than the legal duration is null as of right, and in all cases any clause falling below eight days is null [Art. 43]. Force majeure exempts both parties from notice [Art. 43].
The fixed-term contract, for its part, is costly to break before term. Early termination by one party, without serious fault of the other or force majeure, gives rise to damages [Art. 33]. Their amount equals the wages due from the termination until the planned term [Art. 33]. In other words: breaking a nine-month fixed-term contract in the third month means risking paying the remaining six.
Specific rules apply to certain professions. For the travelling salesperson, representative, or canvasser, no compensation is due if the termination occurs during the probation [Art. 82]. After the probation, if the employer terminates an open-ended contract without observing the notice, they owe the value of the benefits the employee would have received during that period; in the event of wrongful termination, damages and the dismissal indemnity are due [Art. 82].
One final check, free and decisive: the type of contract and your category determine almost everything. The rest are details the law has already settled.
References
- Article 13 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 14 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 16 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 17 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 33 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 43 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 80 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 82 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
- Article 502 — Labour Code (Law No. 65-99)
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