– – Companies are also obliged to ensure that housing conditions are as specified in the relevant employment agreement and also provide the plane ticket for the early return in case of dismissal of foreign employee; – – Employment agreements entered into with foreign non- resident employees may only last for up to 36 months. The new regulation no longer provides for the possibility of rehiring foreign non-resident employees beyond that maximum limit; – – Only 30% of the workforce of a company in Angola could be composed of foreign non-resident employees. The new regulations does not foresee circumstances where companies could exceed this maximum quota. The employment contract for a non-resident foreign worker must be registered at the employment centre and cancelled when terminated. The maximum duration of employment contracts for non-resident foreign workers is 3 years. After this time has elapsed, the worker must return to his country of origin. Under the Angolan General Employment Law, employment contracts may be terminated for the following reasons: a. Objective causes, including, among others, death of the employee, partial or total permanent incapacity of the employee preventing him/her fromworking professionally for a period of over 12 months, retirement of the employee, bankruptcy or insolvency of the employer, unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure; b. Mutual agreement, to be presented in writing and signed by both parties; or c. Unilateral decision of either party. Unilateral termination by the employer is only valid when a serious infringement has been committed by the employee, subject to a disciplinary procedure or objective reasons of an economic, technological or structural nature, renders the employment contract impossible to maintain. On the other hand, the employee may terminate the employment agreement at will, without having to have a fair cause of dismissal. However, the existence of such fair cause is relevant to determine when the termination becomes effective – should it be based on a fair cause, the termination becomes effective immediately; otherwise, the employee must respect a 30 day prior notice. Termination of employment contracts may be judicially challenged by employees, in particular based on the absence of grounds for the dismissal, discriminatory
reasons or the infringement of procedural formalities. In the event the courts find the dismissal to be unfounded or illegal, the employer shall immediately reinstate the dismissed employee to his/her former position or compensate the employee according to the legal terms. Real Estate In accordance with the provisions of the Angolan Constitution, the Land Law (Law no 9/04, of 9 January) determines that all land is originally owned by the State and that only land that integrates the private domain of the State may be subject to transfer or encumbrance. As a general principle, the right of ownership over the land may only be transferred by the State to private parties on restricted terms. Given this, a common situation to get around this issue is the transfer of land rights in a different manner, generally surface rights. Rural land cannot be transferred to individuals or corporate entities, whereas urban land can only be transferred to Angolan individuals. Such restrictions do not apply to the transfer of other land rights. The General Regulation on Land Concession (Decree no 58/07, of 13 July) and the regime applicable to the sale of the State housing (Law no 12/01, of 14 September) further regulate the terms and conditions of real estate transactions in Angola. Banking, Finance and Exchange Control The Exchange Law (Law no 5/97, of 27 June), sets out the regime applicable to foreign exchange operations and foreign exchange trade, defining the National Bank of Angola (the BNA ) as the competent authority. As a general principle, the Exchange Law provides that all foreign exchange operations must be transacted by a duly authorised financial institution. For the purposes of the Exchange Law, Angolan residents include, in particular, individuals with normal residence in Angola, legal entities with head office in Angola and branches, agencies and other forms of representation in Angola of foreign corporates. On the contrary, individuals with normal residence outside Angola, legal entities with head office outside Angola, individuals who are out of the country for more than one year and branches, agencies and other forms of representation abroad of Angolan corporates, are considered to be non-resident in Angola. The Exchange Law permits non-residents to open bank accounts in national or foreign currency, although under specific terms determined by the BNA.
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