The Moroccan Labour Code covers three main employment-contract types — CDI (permanent), CDD (fixed-term) and temp / agency work. This guide summarises the core rules. It is not legal advice for a specific case.
CDI — permanent contract
The CDI is the rule. Any employment relationship is presumed CDI unless another type’s strict conditions are met.
Features:
- No fixed end date;
- Probation capped by the Code:
- 3 months for executives (renewable once),
- 1.5 months for employees (renewable once),
- 15 days for workers (renewable once);
- Termination is framed — resignation (notice), dismissal (real and serious grounds, disciplinary procedure where applicable, severance), mutual agreement, force majeure.
CDD — fixed-term contract
A CDD is allowed only in closed list of cases under the Code:
- Opening of a new company or establishment;
- Launch of a new product;
- Replacement of a temporarily absent employee;
- Temporary increase in activity;
- Seasonal work;
- Jobs for which constant industry practice never uses anything but CDD.
Maximum duration:
- 1 year, renewable once, i.e. 2 years max under the general regime;
- Specific rules apply to “new-company” openings (the prevailing interpretation is 12 months non-renewable — verify).
Key consequences:
- A CDD signed outside the closed list, or renewed beyond the legal cap, is reclassified as CDI by the social court.
- Early termination by either party is tightly framed (force majeure, gross misconduct, mutual agreement) — otherwise damages are owed.
- The CDD must be in writing; without writing, CDI is presumed.
Temp / agency work
Temporary work is a tripartite CDD:
- The employee is employed by a licensed temporary-work agency (ETT);
- They are placed with a user company for a defined mission;
- Three contracts coexist — a mission contract (employee-ETT), a placement contract (ETT-user), and a functional subordination relationship from employee to user.
Authorised cases: similar to CDD (absence, increase in activity, seasonal), with capped durations. The mission must match a specific, non-durable task.
Mandatory written-contract fields
- Parties’ identities and addresses, CNSS numbers (employer and employee);
- Position, place of work;
- Start date, duration (for CDD), probation;
- Pay and ancillary components (bonuses, allowances, benefits);
- Working hours;
- Reference to the applicable collective agreement if any;
- Probation.
Common pitfalls
- Abusive CDD renewals — risk of reclassification and damages.
- Disguised probation — chaining short CDDs to “test” a candidate circumvents probation rules.
- No written contract — case law is near-uniformly pro-employee.
- Internship vs CDD confusion — internships have a distinct regime (internship agreement) and must not be used to mask employment.
Further reading
- Labour Code glossary entry.
- Guide — severance calculation.
- Official text: sgg.gov.ma (Law 65-99, consolidated).