Skip to content
Move with confidence.
Destination  Monaco

Getting a Monaco work permit – hiring priority, the June 2026 minimum wage and the new labour law

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Every foreign employee needs a Monaco work permit, French and EU citizens included, and since December 2025 a contract is void without one. Here is how the hiring authorisation works now that it is fully digital, who gets priority, what the minimum wage is from 1 June 2026, and what Law 1.583 changed.

A woman works through papers at a desk by a large window in a Monaco office, the harbour and apartment towers outside
Illustration: Relocate in Europe

A Monaco work permit is not reserved for people from outside Europe. Under Law 629 of 17 July 1957 no foreigner may hold a private-sector job in Monaco without a permis de travail (work permit), whatever the form or length of the contract – and in Monaco a French or Italian citizen is a foreigner. Three changes shape 2026: hiring has been fully digital since March 2026, Law 1.583 of 2 December 2025 makes a contract void without a permit, and the minimum wage rose on 1 June 2026.

IMSEE counted 59,724 private-sector employees at the end of 2025 and 69,529 private-sector jobs in June 2026, a record for a second quarter. Nine in ten private-sector employees commute in: 81.5 per cent live in France and 8.3 per cent in Italy.

Who needs a Monaco work permit – and who gets priority?

Everyone who is not Monegasque. The permit is tied to the job: a change of employer, occupation or profession requires a new application, and starting or ending telework requires a modification. Your employer must first hold a written autorisation d'embauchage (hiring authorisation), and the permit is issued only after opinions from the Director of the Sûreté Publique (police) and the Director of the Office de la Médecine du Travail (occupational health).

Ties to Monaco, not nationality, decide who gets a job first. Under Article 5 of Law 629, as replaced by Law 1.512 of 3 December 2021, an employer gives priority to Monegasques and then to five groups of foreigners. Every vacancy is notified to the Service de l'Emploi (Employment Office), which has four clear days to send priority candidates.

RankPriority for hiring, after Monegasques
1Foreigners married to a Monegasque, or born of or adopted by a Monegasque
2Foreigners in a contrat de vie commune (civil partnership) with a Monegasque
3Foreign parents of a Monegasque child
4Foreigners domiciled in Monaco
5Foreigners living in the neighbouring communes – Cap d'Ail, La Turbie, Beausoleil and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin – who have already worked in Monaco
–Any other foreigner, only if no priority candidate is retained

Source: Legimonaco (Law 629, art. 5) and the Direction du Travail, read 24 September 2026.

The order runs in reverse for redundancies – foreigners living outside Monaco and the neighbouring communes go first, Monegasques last. Once domiciled in Monaco you sit in rank four; EU citizenship gives no rank at all.

How the hiring authorisation works, step by step

The employer drives the process through its employer area on MonGuichet, the Government's online portal, and you sign electronically. The official pages give no processing time.

StepWhat happensWho
1The vacancy is declared to the Service de l'EmploiEmployer
2Within four clear days any priority candidates are sent; if none is retained, the employer proposes youService de l'Emploi, employer
3You sign the Demande d'Autorisation d'Embauchage (DAE) online, then the employer signsYou, then the employer
4Stamp duty is paid online (€5 on the paper route)Employer
5Opinions of the Sûreté Publique and occupational health; approval by the Direction du Travail (Labour Department)Administration
6Work permit, plus registration with the CCSS (health) and the CAR (pensions); a provisional registration certificate comes as soon as the file is lodgedCaisses Sociales de Monaco

Source: Direction du Travail (Mon Entreprise) and Caisses Sociales de Monaco, read 24 September 2026.

One special case: a non-European candidate without an Alpes-Maritimes prefecture residence permit allowing work, who would settle in Monaco for the job, is handled by the head of the Service de l'Emploi – the employer must contact that office directly.

Minimum wage from 1 June 2026, hours and holidays

Under Law 739 of 16 March 1963, minimum pay in Monaco may not be lower than that for the same work in the neighbouring French region – the French SMIC. From 1 June 2026 the reference is €12.31 gross an hour, or €2,080.39 a month for 39 hours a week (169 hours a month), up from €12.02 on 1 January 2026. Monaco then requires a 5 per cent indemnité exceptionnelle (exceptional allowance) on minimum pay, free of social contributions. The two are published separately.

Rate from 1 June 2026Amount
Adult, per hour€12.31 gross, plus the 5 % indemnité exceptionnelle
Adult, per month for 169 hours€2,080.39, plus 5 %
Age 17–18, per hour€11.08
Age 16–17, per hour€9.85
Overtime, first 8 hours (+25 %)€15.39
Overtime beyond that (+50 %)€18.47

Source: Journal de Monaco (Circulars 2026-7 and 2026-8 of 26 May 2026), read 24 September 2026.

There is no income tax on your payslip unless you are French, but you will see employee contributions for pensions and unemployment insurance (part 9).

Legal working time is 39 hours of actual work a week; a day may not exceed 10 hours without the Labour Inspector's authorisation, and the ceilings are 48 hours in a week and an average of 46 over 12 consecutive weeks. Paid leave is 2.5 working days per month of actual work, up to 30 days a year, counted from 1 May to 30 April. Weekly rest falls on Sunday, and Monaco has 12 statutory public holidays in 2026 (part 14).

Your contract under the December 2025 labour law

Law 1.583 of 2 December 2025 came into force the day after its publication in the Journal de Monaco of 12 December 2025. The headline rule: a contract is valid only if the hiring authorisation has been obtained and you hold a work permit, and it ends without notice or severance if the permit is revoked or refused on renewal.

Rule under Law 1.583What applies
Probation periodMust be written in the contract; one month for monthly-paid staff if nothing is set; renewable once with your agreement; three months in total at most
Notice of dismissalOne month after more than six months' continuous service, two months after more than two years, three months for cadres (managers) with more than two years; not for gross misconduct
Rupture conventionnelle (mutual-agreement termination), since 12 March 2026A preliminary interview; seven calendar days to withdraw; the Labour Inspectorate has 15 working days to approve, silence counting as approval except for protected employees
Minimum payment on a rupture conventionnelleA quarter of a month's salary per year of service under two years; at least the statutory dismissal indemnity from two years
DisputesTribunal du Travail (Labour Court): conciliation, then judgment; a rupture conventionnelle must be challenged within six months

Source: Journal de Monaco (Law 1.583) and Mon Service Public, read 24 September 2026.

Telework, diplomas and regulated jobs

Telework may not exceed two-thirds of your weekly working time and may be done only from France, Italy or Monaco; Italy was added on 1 June 2024. Monaco has no legal system of diploma equivalence: the Centre ENIC Monaco issues a free attestation de comparabilité for a foreign higher-education diploma, usually within one to three months, but it has no legal value.

Liberal and regulated professions are a different route: medical and paramedical professions go through the Direction de l'Action Sanitaire, the others through the Direction du Développement Économique – until 2023 the Direction de l'Expansion Économique – at the Monaco Business Office, 9 rue du Gabian. Foreign nationals need an administrative authorisation for any craft, commercial, industrial or professional activity.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Have the employer declare the vacancy and start the DAE; sign it online when the email arrivesBefore your first day
2Non-European and moving for the job? The employer must contact the head of the Service de l'EmploiAt the offer stage
3Check the offer against €12.31 an hour plus 5 per cent, and that probation is in the contractBefore you sign
4Keep your registration certificate and permit; a new job or employer needs a new permitFrom your first day
5Problems at work: Inspection du Travail, 17 rue Princesse Florestine, +377 98 98 87 26Monday–Thursday 9:30–16:30, Friday 9:30–12:30

Source: Direction du Travail (Mon Entreprise) and Mon Service Public, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.