Hire and pay employees in

Ecuador, hassle-free

Hire and pay employees in Ecuador, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Ecuador. 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 Ecuador is 4 days with Deel.

Currency

United States Dollar

Capital

Quito

Official Language

Spanish

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Onboard, pay and manage employees in Ecuador with Deel.

Usually, to hire in Ecuador, 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.

Deel lets you hire employees in Ecuador quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.

Download the Guide

All the necessary benefits for Ecuador
built right in

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

  • Private Healthcare - Allianz (optional)

Our quickstart guide to hiring in Ecuador

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

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage is USD 450 per month.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 0% to 37%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates.

Payroll Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 12.5% of the employee's salary during the first year of employment, and approximately 20.5% of the employee's salary during and after the second year:
  • Social Security - 12.15%
  • Reserve Fund - 1-month salary, calculated as 8.33% of the annual salary (paid from the second year of employment)
  • 13th month salary (Christmas Bonus) - 1 month salary, calculated as 8.33% of the total salary earned between the period from December of the previous year to November of the current year.
  • 14th Salary (Educational/School Bonus) - 1 monthly minimum wage (currently USD 450)
  • A profit-sharing bonus - 15% of the corporate net income divided among all the company’s employees
  • One-off Mandatory Wet Ink Employment Agreement Handling Fee - USD 80

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard work week is from Monday to Friday.

Maternity Leave

Employees are entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. The first 2 weeks must be taken before the estimated time of the due date. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period. Social Security will be responsible for 75%, and the employer will cover the remaining 25% of the basic salary.

Paternity Leave

Employees are entitled to 10 days of paid paternity leave that must be after the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay.

Parental Leave

In Ecuador, 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 70 days. This leave is paid at different rates and by different payers depending upon length:

Period

Pay

Payer

0 - 3 days

50% of base salary

Employer

4 - 70 days

75% of base salary

Social Security

4 - 70 days

25% of base salary

Employer

70 days and over

66% of base salary

Social Security

70 days and over

34% of base salary

Employer

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.

Terminations in Ecuador can be complex. There is at-will termination in Ecuador for employers (outside the probation period) and will include higher severance payment.

Compliant terminations include:

  • Voluntarily by the employee
  • By mutual agreement
  • Unilaterally by the employer based on:
    • probation period
    • objective grounds
    • disciplinary dismissal
    • performance due to unsuitability for the job
  • By the expiration of the contract

Notice Period

By law, there is no notice period. However, the employer and employee may agree on the length of the employment contract.

Severance for Employees

In Ecuador, all employees who are terminated without cause are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay is 30 days of salary per year of service up to 25 months based on compensation.

To protect you from unforeseen financial risks arising from terminations, Deel applies a Severance Accrual to all employment agreements in this country.  Deel has extensive expertise in managing litigation risk globally and our Severance Accrual calculation is based on the prevailing common-law or statutory entitlements and local best practices. In the event your employee resigns or is not entitled to severance, all unused amounts will be returned to you.

Paid Time Off

Full-time employees are entitled to 15 calendar days of paid time off (PTO) per year. On the Deel platform, employees will see an allotment of 11 days PTO as this is shown in business days. PTO accrues monthly at 1.25 days per month after 12 months of work. Paid time off includes Saturdays and Sundays.

The length of time off increases 1 day per year after 5 years of employment, up to 30 calendar days.

Part-time employees are entitled to the same vacation allowance as full-time employees of 15 calendar days.

Public Holidays

Ecuador celebrates both 10 national and multiple regional holidays based on the location of the employee.

National public holidays include:

  • New Year Day
  • Carnival Day
  • Labor Day
  • Pichincha Battle
  • Independence Day
  • Guayaquil Independence Day
  • Day of the Death
  • Independence of Cuenca
  • Christmas Day

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 4 business days. Documents must be completed 1 day before the start date.

Employee must complete a medical check at least 2 days before their start date, and must be revalidated annually as required by Ecuador law.

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
  • place of birth
  • start date
  • length of the employment
  • job description
  • termination conditions

Probation Period

The probation period lasts 90 days.
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Hiring in Ecuador, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Ecuador with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in Ecuador and 150+ countries.

Group (8)

Starting at 599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

21%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

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

View our Employee Cost Calculator

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