Easily manage employment and payroll in

Colombia
colombia flag

Make employment in Colombia easy. Let us handle payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and even stock options for your team in Colombia, all in one easy-to-use platform.

Services available in this country:
Employer of Record ProductContractor ManagementPayroll
  • Capital City

    Bogota

  • Currency

    Colombian peso ($, COP)

  • Languages

    Spanish

  • Population size

    51,049,498

Services available in this country:
Employer of Record ProductContractor ManagementPayroll
An aerial view of the city of santiago, colombia.

Facts & Stats

Colombia
  • Capital City

    Bogota

  • Currency

    Colombian peso ($, COP)

  • Languages

    Spanish

  • Population size

    51,049,498

  • Ease of doing business

    Easy

  • Cost of living index

    $ (131 of 139 nations)

  • Payroll frequency

    Biweekly/Monthly

  • VAT - standard rate

    19%

  • GDP - real growth rate

    3.3%

The second-most populous country in South America, Colombia is the only country on the continent with beaches on both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Colombia is well known for its coffee and its vibrant arts scene. With many public holidays (the second-most in the world, behind only India), plentiful natural resources, and a large population, Colombia is home to expert workers in a variety of important fields.

Grow your team in Colombia with Remote

Want to employ workers in Colombia? Companies hiring in Colombia are typically required to either own a local legal entity or work with a global employment platform like Remote that can legally provide employment services in the country.

Remote can employ team members in Colombia and keep you compliant. Remote can hire, onboard, and pay your Colombia team so you don't have to set up local HR services in the region. Remote also makes it easy to pay contractors in Colombia. now to get started or talk to an expert for more details.

Risks of misclassification

Colombia, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in Colombia may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.

A narrow street in colombia with colorful buildings.

Employing in Colombia

Colombia has many skilled workers, most of whom primarily speak Spanish, the country’s official language. Before you recruit Colombian or expat employees, you should understand the specifics of Colombian employment and labor laws.

Employment contracts are required for both fixed-term employment and permanent employment agreements. Remote recommends employment contracts for every hire, and every contract must adhere to Colombian employment and labour laws. Usually, fixed-term contracts in Colombia cannot be for more than three years, though there is a provision to extend them to a later date. The contracts are usually drafted in Spanish.

To employ workers in Colombia, contact Remote to learn more about your options.

Minimum Wage

Colombia labor laws for two types of salaries.

  1. Integral Salary: where salary is paid separately to other benefits and entitlements

  2. Ordinary Salary: where benefits and entitlements are included in the monthly salary payments for the employee

The type of salary must be agreed to by both the employee and employer. This salary type must be outlined in the relevant Employment Agreement.

The CST (Código Sustantivo del Trabajo) specifies that an integral salary cannot be less than 10 monthly minimum wage payments, plus 30% of the benefit factor.

Effective January 2024, the new minimum wages are as follows:

  • Integral Salary: 16,900,000.00 COP

  • Ordinary Salary: 1,300,000 COP

Integral and Ordinary Salaries

Colombia labor laws for two types of salaries.

  1. Integral Salary: where salary is paid separately to other benefits and entitlements

  2. Ordinary Salary: where benefits and entitlements are included in the monthly salary payments for the employee

The type of salary must be agreed to by both the employee and employer. This salary type must be outlined in the relevant Employment Agreement.

The CST (Código Sustantivo del Trabajo) specifies that an integral salary cannot be less than 10 monthly minimum wage payments, plus 30% of the benefit factor.

That means in 2023, the benchmark for a gross integral salary in Colombia must be at least 15,080,000 Colombian pesos (COP) as the minimum monthly wage is 1,160,000 COP.

13th Month Pay

Employees in Colombia who are earning an Ordinary Salary are entitled to receive an extra month’s pay each year, calculated by dividing the gross annual salary by 12.

The payment is equally split and delivered 50% in June and 50% in December. These payments are not only customary but are required by law.

If an employee earns less than $15,080,000 COP per month, an Ordinary Salary would apply. Note that the 13th salary should not be included in the total annual gross salary.

If an employee earns a gross salary of $15,080,000 COP per month or more, an 'integral salary' is usually applied. Employees who receive an integral salary, do not receive a 13th salary payment.

Payroll Cycle

For customers of Remote, all employee payments will be made in equal monthly installments on or before the last working day of each calendar month, payable in arrears.

Onboarding Time

We can help you get a new employee started in Colombia fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 5 working days.

Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.

For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.

Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.

18 Public holidays

Jan
Monday, January 1, 20241New Year's Day (Año Nuevo)
Monday, January 8, 20242Epiphany (Día de los Reyes Magos)
Mar
Monday, March 25, 20243Saint Joseph's Day (Día de San José)
Thursday, March 28, 20244Maundy Thursday (Jueves Santo)
Friday, March 29, 20245Good Friday (Viernes Santo)
May
Wednesday, May 1, 20246Labor Day (Día del Trabajador)
Monday, May 13, 20247Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (Fiesta de la Ascensión de Jesucristo)
Jun
Monday, June 3, 20248Feast of Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi)
Monday, June 10, 20249Sacred Heart (Sagrado Corazón)
Jul
Monday, July 1, 202410Saint Peter and Saint Paul (San Pedro y san Pablo)
Saturday, July 20, 202411Declaration of Independence (Declaración de la independencia)
Aug
Wednesday, August 7, 202412Battle of Boyacá Day (Batalla del día de Boyacá)
Monday, August 19, 202413Assumption of Mary (Asunción)
Oct
Monday, October 14, 202414Columbus Day (Día de la Raza)
Nov
Monday, November 4, 202415All Saints' Day (Fiesta de Todos los Santos)
Monday, November 11, 202416Independence of Cartagena (Independencia de Cartagena)
Dec
Sunday, December 8, 202417Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Inmaculada Concepción)
Wednesday, December 25, 202418Christmas Day (Navidad)

Want to see and manage all holidays? Sign up for our free HRIS!

Effortless HR Colombia: Take the Tour

Seamlessly manage your workforce, from first hire to final paycheck

Competitive benefits package in Colombia

At Remote, we’re passionate about helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in developing globally competitive benefits programs. This means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive, and your company has the localized expertise needed to attract and keep the best global talent.

Our benefits packages in Colombia are tailored to fulfill the local needs of employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:

  • Health Insurance

  • Dental Insurance

  • Vision Insurance

  • Mental Health Support

  • Pension or 401(K)

  • Life and Disability Insurance

Fair Pricing in Colombia

Employer of Record

Hire and pay your global team

Starting at $599/month

for annual plans

Top features

  • Satisfaction guaranteed

  • No deposits or hidden fees

  • Zero onboarding or offboarding fees

  • Compliant equity incentives support including withholding and reporting

  • Built-in security and compliance

  • Fast onboarding (average 2-3 days)

  • Flexible, localized benefits

Contractor Management

Compliantly onboard and pay contractors

$29

per contractor/month

Top features

  • Only pay for contractors you actively work with

  • Work with contractors in 200+ countries and territories

  • Create, edit, and sign tailored, localized contracts

  • Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay

  • Transparent payments with complete visibility

Payroll

Consolidate your multi-country payroll

$29

per employee/month

Top features

  • Support: Personalized assistance with a dedicated team and specialists

  • Accuracy: Test runs and parallel pay runs before implementation

  • Compliance: Adhere to local labor laws in every country

  • Timeliness: Accurate and on-time payroll with labor authority reporting handled

  • Experience: Seamless payroll with easy access to payslips and expenses

HR Management

Manage all of your employees in one place

Free

Top features

  • Guided onboarding and offboarding

  • Employee profile and document management

  • Time and attendance (time off and tracking)

  • Expense management and reimbursement

  • Employee self-serve on the platform and mobile app