How to read your payslip in Algeria: line items, CNAS contributions, IRG and common errors (2026)

A number, a column of amounts, a few acronyms and a total at the bottom: many employees only read the last line of their payslip. Yet every line is part of your file: it sets your pension rights, your sickness benefits, your leave and your tax. This guide reads it with you, line by line, from a 60 000 DA gross example, then gives you the method to check your own and act when something is off.

A payslip is mandatory, and it belongs to you

Law 90-11 requires the employer to hand over, with each payment, a written document detailing the remuneration and each of its components, and to keep a payroll ledger. Paper or PDF, the form is free; the absence of a payslip, however, is an offence the labour inspectorate sanctions. Keep every one of them: the CNR rebuilds your career from the employer’s declarations, and the payslip is the proof that fills the gaps when a period was never declared.

• The header identifies the employer (company name, address, CNAS employer number) and you (name, position, grade or category, hire date, social security number). A wrong social security number means a career declared on someone else’s file.
• The period (the month) and the time base: 173.33 hours for a full-time 40-hour week, or the number of days worked. Absences, leave and public holidays appear with their count.
• The body lists earnings, then deductions, then net. Each line carries a label, a base, a rate or quantity, and an amount.
• The footer shows net pay, the payment method (transfer, cheque, cash), the year-to-date taxable income and IRG, and often the leave balance (2.5 days per month worked, 30 days a year).

Earnings: base salary, bonuses and allowances

Law 90-11 (article 81) distinguishes three families of pay components, and the payslip separates them for a precise reason: they are not all subject to the same deductions.

Deductions: CNAS 9 %, IRG, and the rest

The social security contribution: 9 % of the contributory salary

The employee share of contributions is 9 % of the contributory salary (decree 94-187 as amended). It breaks down into social insurance 1.5 %, pension 6.75 %, unemployment insurance 0.5 % and early retirement 0.25 %. The employer pays an employer share of about 26 % on top, plus 0.5 % to the social works fund; it does not always appear on your payslip, but it is part of what you cost. Check the base above all: contributory bonuses must be in it, expense allowances must not.

IRG: a tax by brackets, after a rebate

The global income tax (IRG) is withheld at source on taxable income: contributory salary minus the CNAS contribution, rounded down to the nearest ten dinars. The monthly scale has six brackets: 0 % up to 20 000 DA, 23 % from 20 001 to 40 000, 27 % from 40 001 to 80 000, 30 % from 80 001 to 160 000, 33 % from 160 001 to 320 000, 35 % above. The resulting tax gets a 40 % rebate, between 1 000 and 1 500 DA a month. Taxable income up to 30 000 DA is exempt, and a smoothing applies between 30 001 and 35 000 DA. Details and a calculator are in our gross-to-net guide.

The other deduction lines

• Unpaid absences: deducted at the hourly rate (contributory salary ÷ 173.33) or daily rate, on the earnings side or as a deduction, never from net.
• Advances and instalments: recovered by deduction, with your written agreement on the schedule.
• Mutual insurance, company loan, social works: contractual deductions, authorised by the contract or company accord.
• Wage garnishment or assignment: only on a court decision or a notified deed, within the attachable fraction.

Worked example: 60 000 DA gross, line by line

Take a full-time employee with a 45 000 DA base salary, 10 % IEP, a 5 000 DA performance bonus, a 3 000 DA meal allowance and a 2 500 DA transport allowance.

Net here is 82 % of gross. Had the 5 500 DA of meal and transport allowances been wrongly included in the CNAS and IRG base, the employee would lose 495 DA of contribution and about 1 485 DA of extra tax every month. Conversely, had the performance bonus been left out of the base, the deduction would fall by 450 DA, but pension and sickness benefits would be computed on a truncated salary: it is the CNAS that, when the day comes, applies the declared salary.

Check your payslip in six steps

1. 1

   Check the header and the working time

   Name, position, grade, hire date, social security number, then the number of hours or days. An absence you never had, a public holiday counted as absence, part time shown for a full-time job: this is where most discrepancies start.

2. 2

   Recompute the contributory salary

   Base salary + IEP + contributory bonuses + overtime. Compare the base salary with your contract and the pay scale; compare the IEP rate with your actual seniority. If you obtained a raise, check it applies from the right date, with back pay for the months elapsed.

3. 3

   Verify the CNAS base and rate

   The deduction must equal 9 % of the contributory salary, no more (expense allowances wrongly included) and no less (bonuses left out). Log into the CNAS insured-person portal to confirm the employer declares the same salary: that amount is what opens your rights.

4. 4

   Redo the IRG

   Taxable = contributory salary − CNAS, rounded down to the ten. Apply the brackets, subtract the rebate (between 1 000 and 1 500 DA), check the exemption below 30 000 DA. IRG computed on gross, or without the rebate, is a frequent error of hand-made payrolls.

5. 5

   Check overtime and absences

   Hourly rate = contributory salary ÷ 173.33. Each overtime hour is paid at least 1.5 times that rate (more at night and on rest days, per the agreement). An absence is deducted at the same rate, not more.

6. 6

   Compare net pay with the bank transfer

   The amount transferred must be exactly the payslip’s net. A gap signals an unmentioned deduction (advance, garnishment) or a transfer error. Keep the bank statement with the payslip.

The eight most common errors

• Expense allowances in the CNAS or IRG base: you pay deductions on reimbursed expenses.
• Contributory bonuses left out of the CNAS base: less deducted today, less pension and daily benefits tomorrow.
• IRG computed on gross, or without the 40 % rebate, or without the exemption below 30 000 DA.
• Overtime at the normal rate or with only 25 % premium: the legal minimum is 50 %.
• Frozen seniority: the IEP did not follow your years of service, or the agreed raise is not applied from the promised date.
• Leave not tracked: the balance shown does not match 2.5 days earned per month minus days taken, or leave pay is not computed at one twelfth of the reference year’s remuneration.
• Absence deducted from net instead of the base, which inflates deductions and distorts the year-to-date taxable income.
• Wrong social security number or a salary declared to the CNAS that differs from the payslip: the error only shows up at sickness or retirement time.

What to do if the payslip is wrong

Start with a written request to the payroll department or the employer, with your calculation: most gaps are configuration errors fixed by back pay on the next payslip. Without an answer, refer the matter to the labour inspectorate of the wilaya, competent for payslips, the SNMG, overtime and leave; it can summon the employer and draw up a report. For the declared salary, the CNAS agency compares the employer’s declaration with your payslip. As a last resort, the social court decides, after the mandatory conciliation board. Mind the deadlines: act as soon as the gap appears, and before leaving the company, because the final settlement settles everything still owed at departure.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources