Trinidad and Tobago
Min. wage
(x12 payments)
TTD 20.50 /hr
About the minimum wage
Employer tax
Annual leave
14 days
Learn about annual leave
Notice period
45 days min
Termination and notice info
Updated
Sep 2026
The indefinite (open-ended/permanent) contract is the standard and most common form of employment in Trinidad and Tobago. It continues until terminated by either party in accordance with the contract, collective agreement, or statutory requirements, and gives employees full access to protections under the Industrial Relations Act once continuous employment is established.
Fixed-term contracts are legal and commonly used, particularly for project-based, seasonal, or specialist work. They automatically end on the specified date without requiring notice or severance, unless renewed. Repeated renewals of fixed-term contracts can risk the arrangement being reclassified by the Industrial Court as a de facto indefinite contract, extending unjustified-dismissal protections to the worker.
The standard workweek is 40 hours, usually 8 hours per day. Overtime is common practice (not uniformly codified in a single statute) and is typically compensated at 150% of the regular rate for the first 4 overtime hours and 200% thereafter, with higher premiums often applied for work on Sundays or public holidays.
Probationary periods are not mandated by statute but are standard market practice, typically lasting between 3 and 6 months depending on the role and seniority. Terms should be specified in the employment contract, including any shortened notice period applicable during probation.
There is no statutory requirement for a 13th or 14th month salary in Trinidad and Tobago. Many employers nonetheless pay a discretionary, performance-based bonus, often around the Christmas period, but this is a matter of company policy or collective agreement rather than law.
Trinidad and Tobago does not impose statutory restrictions on job titles for private-sector employees. Employers have flexibility in assigning job titles, though titles used for work-permit or immigration purposes should accurately reflect the role and align with National Insurance Board (NIBTT) and Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) registration records.
Employers contribute approximately 10.8% of an employee's insurable weekly earnings to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), administered by NIBTT, which is two-thirds of the total 16.2% combined contribution (effective January 2026, up from 13.2%, as part of a phased increase — a further rise to 19.2% total is scheduled for January 2027). Contributions are calculated using fixed weekly earnings-class bands rather than a flat percentage, up to maximum insurable earnings of TTD 13,600 per month. Employers must also match the employee Health Surcharge contribution and remit both to the Board of Inland Revenue and NIBTT monthly.
Employees contribute approximately 5.4% of insurable weekly earnings to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) — one-third of the total 16.2% combined rate effective January 2026. Employees also pay a weekly Health Surcharge (TTD 8.25 if earning above TTD 469.99/month, or TTD 4.80 if at or below that threshold) and are subject to PAYE income tax (25% up to TTD 1,000,000 of annual chargeable income, 30% above that), after a TTD 90,000 annual personal allowance and a deduction for 70% of NIS contributions paid.
In addition to statutory leave, employees are entitled to the following statutory benefits:
Trinidad and Tobago's National Insurance Scheme (NIS), administered by the National Insurance Board (NIBTT), is funded by combined employer and employee contributions totaling 16.2% of insurable earnings, effective January 2026 (increased from 13.2%; a further increase to 19.2% is scheduled for January 2027).
NIS provides benefits including sickness, maternity, invalidity, retirement, survivors', and employment injury benefits.
Workplace injury protection is governed primarily by the Workmen's Compensation Act, Chap. 88:05, which requires employers to compensate employees for injuries or death arising out of and in the course of employment.
Severance (redundancy) pay is governed by the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act, Chap. 88:13, and applies to employees with at least 1 year of continuous service who are retrenched (made redundant) rather than dismissed for cause.
A 13th (or 14th) month salary is not required by law in Trinidad and Tobago.
P.S. our team speaks multiple languages and we'd love to chat in your preferred language if requested.
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), Australian Dollars (AUD), or Singapore Dollars (SGD) around the 15th of each month to make sure your employees are paid on time. 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).
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.
Whenever the employee or employer has a question about, or anything else related to international employment, they can speak with our customer support team to get answers from our team of experts.
