Central America

Guatemala

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Employer of Record (EOR) in Guatemala

What you'll learn

  • Country Introduction
  • Employment Terms
  • Minimum Wage and Working Hours
  • Statutory Leave Laws
  • Termination Process
  • Additional Information
Guatemala Introduction

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Ocean. The country is considered a developing economy that is highly dependent on agriculture. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, 4 of which are active.

Employment Terms

The minimum wage in Guatemala is GTQ 2,959.24 per month. The standard workweek is 8 hours per day, 44 hours per week for 5.5 days. Overtime work is paid at 150% of the regular salary.

Types of Leave

Parental Leave

Employees in Guatemala are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave, beginning 30 days before the expected due date. There is no provision for paternity leave.

Sick Leave

Employees can take sick leave that is paid by social security (or by the employer if the employee isn’t covered by social security). The amount of sick pay depends on the length of employment.

Paid Leave

There are 12 public holidays in Guatemala, and employees are entitled to 15 days of paid time off. Employees can request other types of leave for wedding and bereavement.

Termination Process

Process

The termination process in Guatemala depends on the employment contract and collective agreement. If an employee is terminated without just cause, the employer may owe severance pay.

Notice Period

Notice periods usually depend on the employment contract and collective agreements in place, or on the length of employment at the company:

  • 0-6 months- 1 week notice
  • 6 months - 1 year = 10 days notice
  • 1-5 years = 2 weeks notice
  • 5+ years = 1 month notice

Severance Pay

Employees who are terminated without just cause receive severance pay up to 12 months of wages. Employers cannot terminate union members, employees on maternity leave, and those in a collective dispute. If terminated in the cause of force majeure, the payment is usually between 2 days to 4 months of wages.

Additional Information

Full-time employees in Guatemala are entitled to a 13th and 14th month salary, each equivalent to 1 month’s salary. One is paid in July and the other in December.

OVERVIEW
Language(s):
Spanish
Currency:
Guatemalan Quetzal (GTQ)
Capital City:
Guatemala City
Population:
18.6 Million
Cost of Living Rank:
70th
VAT (Valued Added Tax):
12%
Employer TaxES
12.67%
(estimated)

★  10.67% - Social Security

★  1% - Workers Recreational Institute (IRTRA)

★  1% - Professional Training Institute (INTECAP)

Get Started in 3 Steps

1

Remote candidate

You've sourced a full-time employee or contractor located in a country where your company is not incorporated.

2

Cost Calculation

Pass us the details of your candidate and we will let you know exactly what it costs to employ your candidate in that country.

3

Onboarding & Admin

Sit back and relax as we onboard your new team member and take care of all the local compliances and admin work.

Same-day onboarding
Best Pricing
Available in 180+ countries
How Remofirst employs in Guatemala

It can be prohibitively expensive to establish an entity in every country you want to hire talent in, so Remofirst will hire and pay your employee on your behalf while you manage their daily duties. Remofirst will handle formal HR procedures and employment contracts that adhere to local laws, so that you can simply approve invoices via our platform. When you work with an Employer of Record (EOR) you can compliantly hire the best employees around the world.

How employees in Guatemala get paid
Your employee's hours, time off, holidays, bonuses, and commissions are automatically calculated into payroll. Remofirst will invoice you in either US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP), Canadian Dollars (CAD), or Singapore Dollars (SGD) around the 15th of each month to make sure your employees in Guatemala are paid on time in Guatemalan Quetzal (GTQ). To make it even easier, you can summarize your entire global team's salaries to aggregate them into one payment (instead of many individual payments).
Full-time Employees vs Global Contractors

Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.

Dependable support for employees
Whenever the employee or employer has a question about benefits, Visas, or anything else related to international employment in Guatemala, they can use our platform's chat function to get answers from our team of experts. Every client of Remofirst also receives a dedicated account manager that will serve as a point of contact for global HR support.