ONEM DRC: 0.5% employer levy, filings and contract visa

The official website of ONEM DRC (Office national de l’emploi, the national employment office) is onem.cd: that is where employers find their online space, the forms and the legal texts, and ONEM is the body that collects an employer contribution of 0.5% of monthly pay since ministerial order no. 028 of September 2025 (0.2% before). The return is due by the 10th of the month after salaries are paid, and payment within 15 days after that month. Socium publishes HR and payroll software and has no connection with ONEM. This page explains what employers must do, with article numbers and official sources. Up to date as of 5 November 2026.

At a glance

• Body: a public institution set up by articles 204 to 206 of the Labour Code, under the Ministry of Employment and Labour.
• Contribution: 0.5% of monthly pay, paid by the employer alone; public, semi-public, private and humanitarian employers are all covered.
• Deadlines: return by the 10th of the following month, payment within 15 days.
• Penalties: 50% of the contribution for a missing or false return, 0.5% per day of late payment.
• Other filings: establishment declaration, declaration of every hire and departure, annual workforce return, visa of written contracts.

ONEM DRC: employer obligations in one table

Articles 216 to 218 are quoted as amended by Law no. 16/010 of 15 July 2016. Some pages still show the former 48-hour deadline for declaring a hire: that is the 2002 wording, replaced in 2016 by a fifteen-day deadline.

The ONEM DRC employer contribution: rate, base and calculation

Ministerial order no. 028/CAB/MIN.ET/FMM/RK/09/2025, published by the Office on its website, amended order no. 095 of 17 August 2018, which set the contribution at 0.2%. Under its article 1, the rate is now 0.5% of the monthly pay the employer pays its workers, for every public, semi-public or private employer, humanitarian organisations included, subject to exemptions provided by law. The order took effect on signature (article 10), and contributions still unpaid on that date are calculated at the new rate (article 6). Article 7 states that the rate may change again with economic conditions.

Step-by-step calculation

1. Add up the monthly pay of all staff, in Congolese francs.
2. Apply 0.5%: this is an employer cost, nothing is deducted from salaries.
3. Enter the amount on the monthly return and pay on time.

As an illustration, take a Kinshasa SME whose monthly payroll is 14,000,000 CDF. Its ONEM DRC contribution is 70,000 CDF, against 28,000 CDF at the former 0.2% rate. The same company also pays CNSS, INPP and IPR: see our guides on CNSS contributions in the DRC, the INPP levy in the DRC and IPR tax rates in the DRC.

Filing and paying: ONEM DRC deadlines and penalties

• Return: completed every month and filed no later than the tenth day of the month after salaries are paid (article 2).
• Payment: no later than fifteen days after the month in which pay was made (article 3).
• Missing or wrong return: a penalty of 50% of the contribution due (article 2).
• Late payment: a surcharge of 0.5% per day of delay from the day after the deadline; any month started counts in full (article 3).
• Audits: ONEM inspectors check declared pay and all benefits granted; without documents, the amount is assessed by the inspector (article 5). The Office may also go to court to recover what is owed (article 8).

Ten days late on 70,000 CDF therefore costs a 3,500 CDF surcharge, and a missed return adds 35,000 CDF. The safest way to avoid these costs is to produce the return with the payroll run, using the same gross as for CNSS. Payroll software in the DRC can produce this summary every month.

The employer space on onem.cd

The ONEM DRC website offers an “Espace employeurs”: you create a user account, then log in to post job offers and follow your formalities. The steps:

1. Open onem.cd by typing the address yourself, then the Employeurs menu, section “S’identifier à l’ONEM”.
2. Choose “Enregistrez-vous” to create an account, or “Accéder à votre compte” if you already have one.
3. If you lose your password or your account is blocked, write to or call the official contact below rather than creating a new account.

The Downloads section provides the forms: establishment declaration, worker movement declaration (DMT), annual workforce return (DASMO) and social report, plus the text of the 2025 order. Formalities can also be completed at the Office’s counters.

Official contacts

Head office: 6A, avenue des Forces armées, Kinshasa-Gombe. Phone: +243 85 277 53 75 or +243 99 701 84 80. Email: [email protected]. These are the details on the site’s Contacts page, checked on 5 November 2026.

Beware of phishing

Check that the address ends in onem.cd before entering any login. Be wary of messages asking for urgent payment to a personal account or mobile money number, or containing a shortened link. If in doubt, call ONEM on its official number.

Contract visa and foreign workers

The ONEM DRC contract visa

Article 47 of the Labour Code requires employers to submit every written contract to the Office for a visa. Without it, the worker may end the contract at any time, without notice, and claim damages; a contract refused a visa ends automatically. Order no. 15/67 of 3 October 1967 sets the deadline at fifteen days from signature. According to ONEM, the contract is filed in four copies and checked against the particulars required by article 212: CNSS number, family situation, pay, notice period, medical fitness. The Office also asks for the job-seeker card and the DMT.

Obligations for foreign workers

• Work card for foreigners: the Commission nationale de l’emploi des étrangers (CNEE, national commission on the employment of foreigners), attached to the ministry, decides on issue and renewal (articles 208 and 209). The ministry reminds employers that a foreigner may not be hired or kept on without this card.
• Fee: a tax is charged on issuing the card, set by inter-ministerial order (article 211).
• ONEM filings: a foreign worker gets a DMT like any employee, and the annual DASMO separates national and foreign staff (articles 217 and 218).
• Payroll: expatriate pay also bears IERE, a tax paid by the employer, covered in our IPR page.

Common mistakes with ONEM DRC

• Keeping the 0.2% rate. It was replaced by 0.5% in September 2025.
• Deducting the contribution from pay. It is entirely an employer cost.
• Mixing up deadlines. Return by the 10th, payment within 15 days: not the CNSS calendar.
• Forgetting the DMT when someone leaves. Article 217 also covers departures, dismissals included: see severance pay in the DRC.
• Signing without a visa. The employee may then leave without notice.
• Declaring pay below the legal minimum. The DRC minimum wage (SMIG) applies to every contract.

Automating ONEM DRC filings

Contribution, DMT, DASMO, visa: each obligation starts from the employee file and payroll data. Socium’s DRC payroll software calculates the ONEM DRC contribution with each payroll, keeps the history of hires and departures, and prepares the statements to file. For the underlying rules (contracts, probation, notice), read our guide to the DRC labour code, then book a demo.

See also: employment contract in the DRC.

Frequently asked questions

What is the ONEM DRC contribution rate in 2026?

0.5% of monthly pay to workers, paid by the employer, under order no. 028 of September 2025.

What is the official ONEM DRC website?

onem.cd. The employer space opens from the site’s Employeurs menu. Socium has no connection with the Office.

When must the ONEM contribution be filed and paid?

Return by the 10th of the month after salaries are paid, payment within fifteen days after that month.

What are the ONEM DRC penalties?

50% of the contribution for a missing, false or incomplete return, and 0.5% per day of late payment.

Does the employee pay a share to ONEM?

No. The contribution is paid by the employer only.

Must every contract get an ONEM visa?

Yes, every written contract, within fifteen days of signature (article 47 of the Labour Code and the 1967 order).

How soon must a hire be declared to ONEM DRC?

Within fifteen days of hiring, and under the same conditions on departure (article 217, amended in 2016).

Do NGOs pay the ONEM contribution?

Yes. The 2025 order expressly covers humanitarian employers, unless an exemption is provided by law.

Key takeaways

• ONEM DRC: 0.5% employer contribution since September 2025, filed by the 10th and paid within 15 days.
• Penalties: 50% for a missing return, 0.5% per day of late payment.
• Establishment, movement and workforce declarations (art. 216 to 218), contract visa (art. 47).
• Foreign workers: work card issued after a CNEE decision, then DMT and DASMO.

Sources: ONEM’s employer contribution page, order no. 028 of 2025, the 2002 Labour Code and Law no. 16/010 of 2016.