A founder in Lyon hires two developers in Casablanca through a local payroll partner. Three months in, one of them writes: his father has died, and he needs to be away. The founder has no idea what Moroccan law requires. Three days? Five? Paid or unpaid? And what if it had been an uncle?
In Morocco, a private-sector employee gets 3 paid working days of leave when a spouse, child, grandchild or parent dies, and 2 days for a sibling or a parent-in-law. The rule comes from article 274 of the Labor Code (law 65-99) and applies to every employee under an employment contract.
How many days of bereavement leave does Morocco require?
The law uses two tiers. Close family earns 3 days. Slightly wider family, still covered, earns 2.
| Relationship to the deceased | Legal leave (working days) |
|---|---|
| Spouse | 3 days |
| Employee's child or spouse's child | 3 days |
| Grandchild | 3 days |
| Employee's father or mother | 3 days |
| Employee's brother or sister | 2 days |
| Spouse's brother or sister | 2 days |
| Parent-in-law | 2 days |
| Uncle, aunt, cousin, friend | No statutory days |
These are floors, not ceilings. A collective agreement, an internal policy or the employment contract can grant more, and some banks and large groups offer up to 5 days for a spouse. A company can always be more generous than the law. It cannot be less.
"Working days" means the days your Moroccan team normally works. If a death happens on a Friday evening and the company doesn't work Saturdays, the leave starts on Monday.
What does article 274 of the Labor Code actually say?
Article 274 sits in the part of the Code that deals with authorized absences for family events: the employee's own marriage, a child's marriage, a birth, a death. We cover the marriage rule in our guide to marriage leave in Morocco and the birth rule in the one on paternity leave.
None of these days come out of annual leave. They sit on top of paid annual leave, and no minimum seniority is needed. An employee hired last week is covered the same way as one with ten years of service.
According to article 274 of Morocco's Labor Code (law 65-99), an employee is entitled to special leave on the death of a close relative, lasting 2 to 3 days depending on the family tie. Article 276 provides that the days are paid for monthly-paid employees. The absence cannot be treated as misconduct or deducted from annual leave (source: Moroccan Labor Code, articles 274 to 276).
Is bereavement leave paid in Morocco?
For most office-based staff, yes. A monthly-paid employee keeps the full salary for the days of leave, exactly as if they had worked.
Things are less protective for staff paid by the hour or by the day. The absence is authorized, but the pay isn't guaranteed in the same way unless the contract or a collective agreement says so. In practice many employers pay anyway, particularly for a spouse, child or parent, because docking pay at such a moment damages the relationship far more than it saves.
Take Leila, an accountant earning 8,500 MAD a month. Her father passes away on a Tuesday. She is off Wednesday to Friday, and her payslip for the month still shows 8,500 MAD. Had she been paid daily, the result would have depended on her contract, which is why it's worth settling this point in the employment contract at signing.
What proof can an employer ask for?
An employer may ask for evidence of the event. Two documents usually do the job: a death certificate, and something showing the family tie (family record book, birth or marriage certificate).
An employee does not have to wait for the paperwork before leaving. Death is sudden, so the norm is to inform the employer immediately by phone or message, then hand over the documents on return. Demanding a certificate before granting three days to someone who is organizing a funeral would be absurd.
A practical tip for HR: acknowledge the request in writing, even by a short email. It leaves a trace in case of disagreement without adding any bureaucracy.
Can the employee take extra days to travel?
No. The Code provides no additional days for travel, including when the deceased lived in another city or abroad. An employee based in Casablanca whose father dies in Oujda stays within the 3 statutory days, travel included.
Several options exist in that case, all subject to the employer's agreement: a few days of annual leave, unpaid leave, or extra days granted as a goodwill gesture. Put it in writing. An extended absence with no agreement and no proof can be treated as unjustified, and repeated unjustified absence can lead to disciplinary action. That rule protects the company, but it never allows an employer to refuse the statutory days themselves.
What about an uncle, an aunt or a grandparent?
This is the point that surprises most foreign employers. A grandparent's death is not on the list in article 274, and neither is an uncle's, an aunt's or a cousin's. The law grants no specific days.
That doesn't leave the employee empty-handed. Many Moroccan companies give one or two days by custom, since extended family ties carry real weight and nobody wants to force a colleague to burn annual leave to bury a grandmother. The employee can also ask for unpaid leave or take a paid day off. The best practice for a manager is a written rule applied identically to everyone, which removes any feeling of favoritism.
Who is covered: umbrella company, EOR or freelancer?
A consultant placed through an umbrella company is an employee of that company and holds the same rights as any other employee: 3 or 2 days depending on the relationship, paid, even between assignments. The umbrella company, as legal employer, handles the request and keeps the salary running.
If your business hires in Morocco through an Employer of Record, the EOR carries this obligation. You don't need to know article 274 by heart: you are told about the absence, the EOR applies Moroccan law and documents everything.
A self-employed freelancer has no right to this leave. They are not an employee, and their relationship with clients rests on a service agreement. A death in the family simply costs them billable days. It is one of the least understood gaps in the status, and one reason many freelancers compare the different options before committing.
Do public-sector rules differ?
Yes. Civil servants fall under the General Statute of the Civil Service and ministry circulars, not the Labor Code. Exceptional leave for bereavement exists, but the number of days depends on the administration and the relationship. A public employee should ask for the circular that applies to their department instead of citing article 274.
What happens if an employer refuses?
An unjustified refusal breaches the Labor Code. The employee can first ask for a written exchange with management, then go to the labor inspectorate, which nearly always starts with an attempt at conciliation. Financial penalties exist for breaching the leave entitlements the Code lists, although they are modest per employee. The real cost to a company lies elsewhere: a colleague who was refused three days to bury a mother remembers it for a long time, and so does the rest of the team.
Should you write a policy for your Moroccan team?
Yes, and it takes less time than most managers expect. A one-page rule that lists the covered relatives, the number of days, the proof required and the treatment of travel or extra days removes guesswork. It also protects you when two employees experience a loss within the same month and compare how they were treated. Foreign companies hiring through a partner should ask that partner for its template, then check it against the table above. If the partner's version is stricter than article 274, the law prevails, not the template. And if you want to be generous, say so openly: a clear extra day for grandparents costs little and builds a great deal of loyalty.
What to do on day one
A few simple steps prevent most tension.
- Tell the employer as soon as possible, by phone first and in writing afterwards
- State the exact family tie to the deceased
- Hand over the death certificate and proof of the relationship on return
- Check the collective agreement or internal rules, which may offer more than the law
- Agree in writing on any extra day, annual leave or unpaid leave
For companies with several staff in Morocco, adding the table above to the internal rules takes ten minutes and saves dozens of painful conversations. The rule is simple, humane, and best known before a loss makes it necessary.
Photo by RDNE Stock project via Pexels