Recruiting and hiring the right employees in Sierra Leone is the key to helping your business succeed. You need talented candidates to fill your open positions and the time to recruit those candidates in a country with a low population. That’s where Globalization Partners can step in. As a global PEO, we’re uniquely positioned to help you expand without the hassle of setting up a subsidiary. When you work with us, we’ll handle your payroll, hiring, compensation, benefits, and compliance, so you’ll only need to worry about growing your company.
Recruiting in Sierra Leone
With a small population of working-age individuals, Sierra Leone is a country where staffing a business can be a challenge. However, some best practices can help you find top talent. For example, in rural areas, word of mouth and referrals are the most common recruitment channels. Building a relationship-based work culture can help you look to your existing staff for referrals.
Other common channels include the following:
- Local newspaper advertisements
- Local employment office postings
- Temporary employment agencies or third parties
- Street advertisements
- Job boards
- Your website
- Social media
- Job fairs
Laws Against Discrimination in Sierra Leone
While Sierra Leone’s laws allow for the same status and rights for both men and women, discriminatory practices against women still exist. Women’s rights often stem from the customary law and their ethnic group’s regulations. You must ensure that you’re providing equal pay for men and women and not choosing their type of work based on gender.
The country’s laws also prohibit discrimination against individuals with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities. However, the government has not effectively implemented these laws, and people often lack access to buildings, information, and communications. Currently, work opportunities for individuals with disabilities are limited, so you may be able to bridge the gap and help with unemployment in this area.
Different ethnic groups in the country have led to strong loyalties, biases, and stereotypes. The government, armed forces, and businesses frequently factor in ethnic loyalty, leading to discrimination complaints. Make sure you follow a blind employment application process or remove these biases from the hiring process to stay compliant.
How to Hire Employees in Sierra Leone
Recruitment is often a difficult task for employers in Sierra Leone since the country’s population is less than 10 million people and many are already employed in the agricultural sector. Some of the best ways to hire employees in Sierra Leone include:
- Relying on word of mouth or referrals
- Advertising in a local newspaper
- Posting at the local employment office
- Using temporary employment agencies
- Employing street advertising
- Using employment websites or job boards
- Advertising on social media
- Attending a job fair
- Using a recruitment agency
Sierra Leone Employment Laws
Although Sierra Leone’s employment compliance laws do not mandate a written employment contract, contracts not in writing are only valid for up to six months. The country allows fixed-term contracts for up to 12 months with the option to renew. Whether you hire an employee under a fixed-term contract or an indefinite contract, you should include everything from compensation to benefits to termination requirements. All salary and compensation amounts should be in Sierra Leonean leone instead of a foreign currency.
Once you hire employees, it’s important to note that they should work about 40 hours a week. Any work over 40 hours should get paid at an additional 50%, and work on rest days is an additional 100%.
Onboarding in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone employment compliance laws do not include any specific information about onboarding employees. However, you should take steps to make the onboarding experience comfortable and fast for everyone involved. Plan your new employee’s schedule out for their first week, and make sure you include any training that could help them on the job. You should also review the employment contract with your new employee on their first day to make sure all the terms and conditions are acceptable to both parties.
Benefits of Hiring Outsourcing in Sierra Leone
If you’re not sure how to hire employees in Sierra Leone and want to outsource, you have two options. You can work with either a local recruitment agency or a global PEO. While a recruitment agency can help you find the right employees, they cannot handle compliance, and you’ll still be responsible for Sierra Leone employment compliance laws.
As a global PEO, Globalization Partners can recruit top talent and also take on compliance. We’ll hire employees and assign them to work on your behalf through Sierra Leone hiring outsourcing. Then, we can handle all compliance on behalf of your company to take the stress out of your expansion.
Work With Globalization Partners To Expand Globally
Globalization Partners can help make your expansion successful. Contact us today to learn more about our Sierra Leone hiring outsourcing services.
