Remote Working Legislation, Laws & Regulations in Mauritius

Yes, the Workers’ Rights Act 2019 (“WRA”) generally and the Workers’ Rights (Working from Home) Regulations 2020 (the “2020 Regulations”) more specifically regulate work from home arrangements between employers and employees.

Remote working can be implemented in a company by means of a formal Work-From-Home Agreement, mandatory under the 2020 Regulations which also provides for a template agreement to be used.

An employer may require an employee to work from home provided 48 hours prior notice is given to the employee. 

The Mauritius legislation does not specifically provide for the right to demand return to office. However, the employer may, subject to operational requirements of the business, require the worker to work at their initial place of work. Additionally, since working from home arrangements are contractually agreed, nothing precludes the employer from contractually providing for return of the employee, with prior notice given to the latter.

No. Under the 2020 Regulations, the employee may submit a request for authorisation to work from home which is subject to the approval of the employer. The latter has the discretion to either accede to such request or refuse the same.

Yes. The template working from home agreement under the 2020 Regulations provide that the employer shall furnish equipment as necessary for the discharge of their duties.

Yes. The 2020 Regulations provide for the reimbursement of work-related expenses. Employees are entitled to the refund of:

1. electricity costs;
2. water costs;
3. telecommunication costs;
4. any costs incurred for any other facility used in connection with the work performed at home;
5. costs for the maintenance of tools and equipment;
6. travelling costs; and
7. any costs incurred in relation to the work performed.

Yes. The 2020 Regulations provide that a disturbance allowance is payable for work performed during unsocial hours. Unsocial hours are defined as:

• between 10:00 pm on a weekday and 6:00 am the following day; and 
• from 1:00 pm on Saturday until 6:00 am the following Monday. 

An employer shall not pay such disturbance allowance where the nature of the work requires the employee to align with international market hours, for instance ICT-BPO sector.

Yes. The Occupational Safety and Health Act 2005 (“OSHA”) applies to homeworkers, extending the traditional obligations of the employer beyond the physical workplace.

In the same way that the employer is obliged to:

• conduct a suitable risk assessment of the proposed place of work to ensure no risk to the health and safety of the homeworker, and legitimately, their family;
• take reasonable steps to ensure safe working conditions in the homework area;
• HSE policies and procedures, including insurance arrangements must be reviewed to ensure they extend to the homework area; and
• The employer shall request the employees/household authorisation before accessing the premises, subject to prior notice and at reasonable times.

The employer must ensure compliance with data protection legislation and confidentiality obligations. Therefore the employer shall implement policies covering data storage, processing, access and disposal for the home environment. 

The employer shall comply with the right to disconnect principle under the WRA where employees have the right to disengage from work and work-related communications during unsocial hours. The disturbance allowance under the 2020 Regulations reinforces this.

Mauritian law does not expressly prescribe that insurance arrangements must be made in relation to work from home arrangements.

However, since the OSHA obligations extend to the homework area, the employer’s liability potentially arises in the domestic environment. 

Where the employer provides equipment to the employee for the discharge of their work duties, the employer’s property insurance may have to extend coverage to such locations.

From an employee perspective, standard home contents insurance policies may not cover employer-owned equipment or work-related incidents. Such situations may warrant notification to the insurer in the case of WFH arrangements.

Yes. Under the OSHA framework and under the 2020 Regulations, any work-related injury sustained by the homeworker, arising out of or in the course of employment, at the agreed work location, is treated as workplace injuries.

The Mauritius legislation does not contain any provision authorising the employer to reduce remuneration or allowances on account of savings an employee makes from not commuting. The employer is specifically precluded, under the 2020 Regulations, to reduce the wages of a homeworker, in the context of WFH arrangements.

In any case, variation of remuneration requires the agreement of both parties and if a unilateral reduction is imposed, such may constitute an unlawful deduction from wages under the WRA or constructive dismissal.

The 2020 Regulations provides for mandatory compliance with the employer’s data protection and information security policies.

The employee must inform the employer, from the outset and upon any change, of the proposed place of work.

The employee must remain available during the core working hours as agreed with the employer and must be responsive to employer communications.

Yes. In 2020, the government launched the Premium Visa allowing foreign nationals to effectively work under a digital nomad visa. This scheme was set up to attract remote workers and professionals to live and work in Mauritius for foreign employers.

The WRA and 2020 Regulations focus primarily on homeworking within Mauritius. There is no standalone legislation specifically regulating Mauritian employees working abroad remotely for their Mauritius employers.

There is no Mauritian legislation that specifically regulates remote working abroad. 

The host country may assert its own mandatory employment law protections. If the employment contract is governed by Mauritian law, the WRA and OSHA would generally continue to apply as between the employer and the employee.

In principle, if the employee remains employed by a Mauritian employer and their salary is paid in Mauritius, social security charges and contributions (such as CSG and NSF) would continue to be deducted and remitted by the employer. If the employee becomes a tax/social security resident in the host country by virtue of their duration of stay, the host country’s social security obligations may kick in.

 A Mauritius tax resident is a person: 

1. whose domicile is in Mauritius unless his permanent place of abode is outside Mauritius; 
2. present in Mauritius for 183 days or more (in aggregate) in an income year; 
3. present in Mauritius in the current income year and the 2 preceding income years for an aggregate period of 270 days 

For the purposes of the requirements at (iii) above, tax residency takes effect prospectively as from the third income year.

Mauritius taxes residents on all income derived in Mauritius or income remitted in Mauritius.Should a Mauritian tax resident work remotely abroad for a short period of time, without any change to their tax residence status in Mauritius, there should be minimal tax implications, as per our reply to query 17 above.

Generally speaking, there is no special tax regime for expatriates (however see further below regarding Premium Visa). Once they satisfy the residency test, they are taxed on their worldwide chargeable income and on foreign sourced income only where it is remitted to Mauritius. Until they are deemed residents, expatriates are taxed only on Mauritius sourced income (i.e. when it is derived from or in Mauritius).

For any foreign citizens working remotely in Mauritius under a Premium Visa (generally provided for a period between 6 months up to 1 year), Mauritian-sourced income of a Premium Visa holder (e.g. emoluments for work performed remotely in Mauritius) will be taxed on a remittance basis. That money spent in Mauritius through the use of foreign credit or debit cards will not be deemed to have been remitted to Mauritius. The holder of a Premium Visa will be liable to pay income tax on money brought and deposited in a bank account in Mauritius. As an additional facility, such bank deposits will not be subject to income tax if a declaration is made to the effect that the required tax has been paid thereon in his country of origin or residence.

A Mauritian citizen travelling abroad to work remotely shall comply with the relevant immigration requirements, where a tourist admission may not cover remote work and may require a work permit or specific visa in the host country.

Similarly, a valid Premium Visa is required for stays beyond the ordinary tourist admission period in Mauritius. Moreover, Premium Visa holders are precluded from working for a Mauritius-based employer under this visa, which is expressly restricted to remote work for foreign employers.

N/A.