Morocco HR and Payroll Glossary: 20 Local Terms and Acronyms Explained

The terms and acronyms you meet on payslips, tax and employment documents in Morocco. Figures are for 2026; the calculations are on Morocco's HR data page and in the take-home pay calculator.

Allocations familiales AMO CDI / CDD CIMR CNSS DGI Faute grave Frais professionnels Indemnité de licenciement Inspection du travail IPE IR Licenciement abusif Période d'essai Préavis Prestations à court terme Prestations à long terme Prime d'ancienneté SNI TFP

Tax

Frais professionnels Standard deduction for professional expenses

Frais professionnels (المصاريف المهنية)

A flat deduction from gross salary before income tax, with no receipts needed: 35% where gross annual taxable salary is MAD 78,000 or less, 25% above that, never more than MAD 35,000 a year. Above MAD 140,000 a year it is the fixed MAD 35,000. Source

IR Impôt sur le revenu (income tax)

Impôt sur le revenu (الضريبة على الدخل)

Income tax, withheld monthly by the employer on salaries (retenue à la source) and paid to the DGI. The 2026 scale on annual net taxable salary is 0% up to MAD 40,000, then 10%, 20%, 30%, 34% and 37% above MAD 180,000. There is no regional or municipal income tax. Source

SNI Salaire net imposable (net taxable salary)

Salaire net imposable (الدخل الصافي الخاضع للضريبة)

The amount the income tax scale is applied to: gross taxable salary minus frais professionnels and the employee's CNSS, AMO and any pension contributions. It is shown on Moroccan payslips and is not the same as net pay. Source

TFP Taxe de formation professionnelle (vocational training tax)

Taxe de formation professionnelle (رسم التكوين المهني)

An employer-only levy of 1.6% of total pay, collected by the CNSS with social contributions and passed to the OFPPT, the national vocational training office. Source

Social security and pensions

Allocations familiales Family allowances contribution

Allocations familiales (التعويضات العائلية)

An employer-only CNSS contribution of 6.40% of total pay with no ceiling, funding child benefits for employees. It is the largest uncapped employer charge after AMO. Source

AMO Assurance maladie obligatoire (compulsory health insurance)

Assurance maladie obligatoire (التأمين الإجباري الأساسي عن المرض)

Compulsory basic health insurance managed by the CNSS: 2.26% from the employee and 2.26% from the employer on all pay with no ceiling, plus a 1.85% solidarity contribution paid by the employer alone. The employee share is deductible for income tax. Source

CIMR Caisse interprofessionnelle marocaine de retraite

Caisse interprofessionnelle marocaine de retraite (الصندوق المهني المغربي للتقاعد)

The main supplementary pension fund for private-sector staff, which employers join on top of the CNSS basic scheme; not compulsory and not included in this site's calculator. Employee contributions are deductible for income tax, and CIMR pensions remain taxable even though basic-scheme pensions are exempt from 2026. Source

IPE Indemnité pour perte d'emploi (job-loss allowance)

Indemnité pour perte d'emploi (التعويض عن فقدان الشغل)

Morocco's unemployment benefit, paid by the CNSS to employees who lose their job involuntarily. It has no separate payroll line: it is financed within the 1.57% short-term benefits contribution, and does not replace the employer's own dismissal indemnity. Source

Prestations à court terme CNSS short-term benefits

Prestations à court terme (التعويضات القصيرة الأمد)

The CNSS branch paying sickness and maternity daily allowances, death grants and the job-loss allowance (IPE). In 2026 it costs 1.57% of pay capped at MAD 6,000 a month: 0.52% employee and 1.05% employer. Source

Prestations à long terme CNSS long-term benefits (pension branch)

Prestations à long terme (التعويضات الطويلة الأمد)

The CNSS branch paying old-age, invalidity and survivors' pensions. In 2026 it costs 11.89% of pay capped at MAD 6,000 a month: 3.96% employee and 7.93% employer. Pay above the ceiling earns no further basic pension, which is why larger employers add a supplementary scheme such as the CIMR. Source

Pay and payroll

Prime d'ancienneté Seniority bonus

Prime d'ancienneté (منحة الأقدمية)

A statutory pay supplement unless pay is already seniority-based by contract or agreement: 5% of pay after 2 years' service, 10% after 5, 15% after 12, 20% after 20 and 25% after 25. It is not included in this site's calculator. Source

Employment law

CDI / CDD Contrat à durée indéterminée / déterminée (open-ended / fixed-term contract)

Contrat à durée indéterminée / à durée déterminée (عقد الشغل غير محدد المدة / محدد المدة)

The two main contract types under the Labour Code (Law 65-99). Notice, the dismissal indemnity and the probation periods quoted here apply to the CDI; a CDD ends on its term and its probation is capped at one day per week (max two weeks) under six months, or one month above. Source

Faute grave Serious misconduct

Faute grave (الخطأ الجسيم)

Misconduct listed in the Labour Code (for example theft, breach of trust, violence or unjustified absence) that allows dismissal without notice or indemnity. The employee must first be heard, with a staff or union representative, within 8 days of the facts, and the decision delivered within 48 hours. Source

Indemnité de licenciement Statutory dismissal indemnity

Indemnité de licenciement (التعويض عن الفصل)

Owed on dismissal from a CDI after 6 months' service, except for serious misconduct: per year of service, 96 hours' pay for years 1-5, 144 hours for years 6-10, 192 hours for years 11-15 and 240 hours beyond 15. It is due on top of notice and of any damages for abusive dismissal. Source

Licenciement abusif Abusive (unfair) dismissal

Licenciement abusif (الفصل التعسفي)

A dismissal without a valid reason or without the required procedure. The court may order reinstatement or damages of 1.5 months' pay per year of service, capped at 36 months. A settlement reached in preliminary conciliation before the labour inspector is final. Source

Période d'essai Probation period

Période d'essai (فترة الاختبار)

On a CDI: 3 months for managers (cadres), 1.5 months for employees and 15 days for workers, renewable once. Either side may end it without indemnity, but after one week 8 days' notice is due for monthly-paid staff unless for serious misconduct. Source

Préavis Notice period

Préavis (أجل الإخطار)

Minimum notice to end a CDI, the same for both sides (Décret 2-04-469): managers 1 month under 1 year of service, 2 months for 1-5 years, 3 months over 5 years; employees and workers 8 days, 1 month and 2 months. None is due for serious misconduct. Source

Agencies and institutions

CNSS Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale (National Social Security Fund)

Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale (الصندوق الوطني للضمان الاجتماعي)

The public body that runs private-sector social security: employers register, declare pay monthly and pay all contributions to it. In 2026 the pension and short-term branches cost 4.48% for the employee and 8.98% for the employer on pay up to MAD 6,000 a month; it also collects family allowances, AMO and the vocational training tax on uncapped pay. Source

DGI Direction générale des impôts (tax authority)

Direction générale des impôts (المديرية العامة للضرائب)

Morocco's tax authority, under the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Employers file and pay withheld income tax to it through its SIMPL online services and file the annual salary statement with it. Source

Inspection du travail Labour inspectorate

Inspection du travail (مفتشية الشغل)

Labour inspectors under the Ministry in charge of employment enforce the Labour Code, step in when a disciplinary hearing is refused, and run the preliminary conciliation that most dismissal disputes go through before reaching the courts. Source

For Japan, see the Japan HR Glossary.