Hire employees in

Colombia, hassle-free

Hire employees in Colombia, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Colombia. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in Colombia is 5 days with Deel.

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Currency

COP

Capital

Bogotá

Official Language

Spanish

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Hire employees in Colombia. No entity needed.

Usually, to hire in Colombia, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Colombia also treats contractors differently than full-time employees, so misclassifying a contractor could lead to fines. Deel lets you hire employees in Colombia quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more.

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All the necessary benefits for Colombia
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in Colombia within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Pension Fund
  • Unemployment Insurance
  • Workers Compensation Insurance
  • Private Healthcare - AXA Colpatria (optional)

Our quickstart guide to hiring in Colombia

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in Colombia

Pay & Tax Leave Policy Termination Statutory time off Onboarding Additional info

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage is COP 1,160,000 per month.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 0% to 39%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. Multiple additional factors may impact overall rates such as the household status and the number of children.

Gross Annual Income Tax Rate (%)
Up to COP 38,812,000 0%
Up to COP 60,532,000 19%
Up to COP 145,989,000 28%
Up to COP 308,713,000 33%
Up to COP 675,465,000 35%
Up to COP 1,103,817,000 37%
Over COP 1,103,817,000 39%

Employer Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated between 30.5% - 51.85% of the employee salary.

  • Severance Fund contribution- 8.33%
    • Interest on Severance - 1%
  • Vacation - 4.17%
  • Service Bonus - 8.33%
  • Pension fund - 12%
  • Labor Risk - 0.52%
  • Family fund management (CCF) - 4%
  • Social Security, Public Health - 8.5%
  • Family Fund "ICBF” - 3%
  • Training funds "SENA” - 2%

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday. However, the workweek can be extended to 48 hours, from Monday to Saturday.

From July 16th, 2023 the maximum workweek will be of 47 hours.

Maternity Leave

Employees are entitled to 126 days of paid leave. Seven days must be taken before the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of their average salary during this period, paid by the employer and reimbursed by Social Security.

The employee can’t extend leave.

Paternity Leave

Employees are entitled to 14 days of paid paternity leave that must be taken after the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period, paid by the employer and reimbursed by Social Security.

The employee can’t extend leave.

Parental Leave

In Colombia, no law covers parental leave. However, employees may be entitled to maternity leave and paternity leave.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 540 days. This leave is paid at different rates and by different payers depending upon the length:

Period Pay Payer
0 - 2 days 66.6% of base salary Employer
3 - 90 days 66.6% of base salary Employer - refunded by Social Security
91 - 180 days 50% of the base salary Employer - refunded by Social Security
181 - 540 days 50% of the base salary Employer - refunded by Social Security

 

If the sick leave is originated by an accident at work, the employee will receive 100% of the base salary during leave and the insurer will be responsible for the payment.

Termination Requirements

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Paid Time Off

Both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 15 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.25 days per month. Employees are eligible for annual after completing 1 year of service.

Public Holidays

Colombia celebrates 18 national holidays. National public holidays include:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Three Kings Day
  • Saint Joseph Day
  • Holy Thursday
  • Good Friday
  • Labor Day
  • Ascension Day
  • Corpus Cristi
  • Sacred Heart
  • Saint Peter and Saint Paul
  • Independence Day
  • Battle of Boyacá
  • Assumption of the Virgin Mary
  • Colombus Day
  • All Saints Day
  • Independence of Cartagena
  • Immaculate Conception Day
  • Christmas Day

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 1 business day.

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in Spanish and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.

A contract must include:

  • name
  • start date
  • length of the employment
  • job description
  • termination conditions
  • type of contract: integral or ordinary

Probation Period

Probation periods are not mandatory. For indefinite term contracts, the maximum probation period is 60 days and for fixed-term contracts, the maximum is 1/5 of the initial term agreed, up to a maximum of 60 days.
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Hiring in Colombia, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Colombia. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing
international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

Group (8)

599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

31-51%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in Colombia?

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