Working in human resources in Algeria: posts, payroll, recruitment, labour law (2026)

An HR department runs the employment contract from the first interview to the last day: it recruits, registers the employee, prepares the payroll, follows leave and absences, organises training, handles discipline and departures. In Algeria this work rests on a precise framework — law 90-11 on labour relations, social security, placement through ANEM — and a lot of paperwork. This guide describes the posts, the rules to master and the way in, based on the offers published on Chghol.

The posts behind the title

The employers are almost all different: manufacturing (Time Com Manufacturing, Faderco, Easy Emballage), food (Danone, Cevital, Lactalis Algérie, Biodattes), pharmaceuticals and cosmetics (Genericlab, Laboratoire Kalos, Niall Cosmétique), construction and oil (CSCEC, Great Wall Drilling), transport (Maghrébine de Transport et Auxiliaire), health, property development, recruitment agencies. See all the HR officer offers.

The rules an HR professional applies

For onboarding a new employee day by day — written contract, CNAS, register, medical check, probation — our guide to onboarding a new employee works as a checklist. For choosing the contract, see fixed-term vs permanent.

Payroll: the most sought-after skill

Even in a generalist post you will be asked to read and check a payroll: base salary, bonuses and allowances, overtime, the employee’s CNAS contribution (9 % of the base), IRG withheld according to the scale of the Direct Taxes Code (art. 104), absences and leave. The overall social security rate is 34.5 % of the base, shared between employer, employee and the social works fund (decree 94-187, as amended). Our guide on how to read your payslip works through a full example. Offers often mention payroll software or an ERP, and Excel.

Skills expected

• Applied labour law: knowing where to find the rule (law 90-11, collective agreements, internal rules) and applying it to a real case.
• Payroll and figures: Excel (pivot tables, lookups), payroll software, checking month-on-month differences.
• Recruitment: writing a clear ad, running a structured interview, checking references, without discrimination (law 90-11, art. 17).
• Writing: contracts, certificates, internal memos, minutes — often in French, sometimes in Arabic for the administration.
• Discretion: salaries, sanctions, medical files and disputes all go through HR.
• People skills: listening to employees, negotiating with staff representatives, explaining a decision.

Getting into HR in 5 steps

1. 1

   Choose a training path

   A bachelor’s or master’s in human resources management, management sciences, social law or work psychology; in vocational training, a BTS in the field (exact titles on takwin.dz).

2. 2

   Start with an entry post

   HR assistant, administrative assistant or junior payroll administrator: that is where you learn the files, the CNAS and the payroll calendar. See our guide to administrative assistant jobs.

3. 3

   Prove what you can do

   On the CV, write facts: « payroll for 120 employees », « 35 hires in a year », « updated the internal rules ».

4. 4

   Prepare the interview

   Expect a case study: calculating overtime, drafting a formal notice letter, choosing between fixed-term and permanent for a given need.

5. 5

   Set an alert

   A Chghol alert « HR officer + your wilaya » tells you as soon as an offer is published; with 45 employers for 48 offers, they appear one at a time.

Career and pay

The classic path goes from HR assistant to HR administrator or officer, then HR manager and HR director. You can also specialise: recruitment and employer branding, payroll, training, industrial relations, reward. Bridges towards payroll and accounting (86 accountant offers on Chghol the same day) or legal work are natural. None of the 48 HR offers of 4 November 2026 showed a salary; the HR officer salaries page helps you place yourself, and at interview always talk in net monthly terms.

Frequently asked questions