Ghanaian employment contract checklist

A contract of employment for six months or more must be in writing under the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), within two months of starting.

Go through this before you sign. Two offers with the same headline figure can be worth materially different amounts.

The pay structure

This is the one people miss.

• What is the basic salary? Not the gross — the basic.
• What are the allowances, itemised? Transport, rent, fuel, responsibility.
• What is the ratio between them?

Why it matters:

• SSNIT is charged on basic salary only — 18.5% in total, of which 5.5 points come from you and 13 from your employer.
• PAYE is charged on basic plus allowances.

An employer offering a low basic and large allowances pays less SSNIT and shrinks your eventual pension, while your tax bill is unchanged. Ask for the split in writing and run it through the salary calculator before you accept.

The basics

• Job title and duties, described specifically enough to mean something
• Start date
• Place of work, and whether you can be transferred
• Reporting line
• Permanent, fixed term, or casual — this changes your notice rights

Time

• Working hours. The statutory maximum is 40 hours a week.
• Overtime. Is it paid, and at what rate? The Act sets no multiplier, so the contract decides entirely.
• Annual leave. At least 15 working days by law. It cannot be paid off while you remain employed.
• Sick leave. There is no statutory minimum in Ghana. Whatever the contract says is what you get. If it says nothing, ask, and get the answer in writing.
• Maternity leave. 12 weeks by law, or 14 after a caesarean or the birth of two or more children.
• Paternity leave. Not statutory. Some employers offer it anyway.

Ending it

• Probation length. 6 months is the common maximum; the Act requires only that it be reasonable.
• Notice period, both ways. 1 month is the statutory minimum for contracts of three years or more.
• Payment in lieu of notice — is it permitted?
• Redundancy terms

Benefits

• Health insurance. Is private cover provided? Does it include dependants? What is the annual limit, and does it cover dental and optical?
• Tier 2 provider. Which corporate trustee manages it?
• Tier 3. Is a voluntary scheme offered? Contributions are tax deductible up to 16.5% of basic salary.
• Bonus or commission. Discretionary or contractual? Discretionary means it may never arrive.
• Training and study leave

The clauses to read twice

• Non-compete. How long, what scope, what geography? Overbroad restraints are often unenforceable, but arguing that is expensive.
• Confidentiality
• Intellectual property. Who owns what you create? This matters a great deal in technology and creative roles.
• Bonding or training repayment. If the employer pays for training, are you required to stay, and what must you repay if you leave early?
• Deductions. What can be taken from your pay, and on what authority?

Before you sign

• Read the whole thing
• Ask about anything unclear in writing, and keep the reply
• Verify that anything promised verbally appears in the document. If it is not in the contract, it did not happen.
• Keep a signed copy

After you start

• Check your first payslip against what you were promised
• Confirm SSNIT contributions are actually reaching SSNIT — register on the self-service portal. Employers deduct and fail to remit more often than you would like, and you discover it decades later.
• Check PAYE is computed after SSNIT is deducted, not on gross pay

Your rights as an employee Income tax and PAYE Finding a job in Accra