Employer of Record in Colombia: 20 Providers Compared (2026)

Employing someone in Colombia: key facts

Colombia runs one national labour code with no provincial variation, but several 2025–2026 reforms are phasing in on fixed dates, so the figures below flag what’s already in force versus what’s still ramping up.

Minimum wage

• SMMLV (Salario Mínimo Mensual Legal Vigente): COP 1,750,905/month, in force from 2026-01-01 — a 23% jump that the Consejo de Estado provisionally suspended on 2026-02-12 over its technical justification, before the government kept the same figure in force on a transitional basis via Decreto 159 de 2026 (2026-02-19) (hklaw.com, checked 2026-10-01).
• A separate auxilio de transporte (transport allowance) of COP 249,095/month is paid to any employee earning up to 2 SMMLV (COP 3,501,810/month); it is not part of the SMMLV itself and doesn’t apply at the higher, EOR-typical salaries used below.
• An employee may instead be paid a flat salario integral only if it totals at least 13 SMMLV/month (COP 22,761,765 in 2026); that factor is deemed to already cover prestaciones sociales, though pension and health contributions are still owed on 70% of it.

Employer contributions

The art. 114-1 exemption is a per-employee salary-band rule, not a small-business carve-out: it applies to a large EOR’s payroll exactly as to a small company, waiving 13.5 points of employer cost for anyone paid under COP 17,509,050/month and nothing above it. The IBC (contribution base) floor is 1 SMMLV and the ceiling is 25 SMMLV/month (COP 43,772,625 in 2026) (buk.co, checked 2026-10-01).

Working hours and overtime

• Maximum ordinary workweek: 42 hours from 2026-07-15, the final step of a phased reduction from 48 hours (48h → 47h in 2023 → 46h in 2024 → 44h in 2025 → 42h in 2026) under Ley 2101 de 2021 as implemented by Ley 2466 de 2025 art. 11 (funcionpublica.gov.co, checked 2026-10-01).
• Daytime hours run 06:00–19:00, night hours 19:00–06:00 — moved from a 21:00 start under Ley 2466 de 2025 art. 10, in force since 2025-12-25.
• Daytime overtime: +25%; night overtime: +75%; ordinary night-shift surcharge: +35%. Overtime is capped at 2 hours/day and 12 hours/week.
• Sunday/public-holiday surcharge: 80% through 2026-06-30, rising to 90% from 2026-07-01 and 100% from 2027-07-01 (CST art. 179, as rewritten by Ley 2466 de 2025).

Annual leave and public holidays

• 15 working days of paid annual leave per year of service (CST art. 186), accruing proportionally from the start of employment. Up to half can be compensated in cash by agreement; the rest must be taken as rest (leyes.co, checked 2026-10-01).
• 18 official paid public holidays/year. Most non-fixed-date religious and civic holidays shift to the following Monday under the “Ley Emiliani” (Ley 51 de 1983); a handful of fixed-date holidays (1 January, 1 May, 20 July, 7 August, 8 December, 25 December) don’t move (funcionpublica.gov.co, checked 2026-10-01).

Probation

• Up to 2 months for indefinite-term contracts; for fixed-term contracts under 1 year, capped at one-fifth of the agreed term, never exceeding 2 months overall (CST arts. 76–78).
• Must be agreed in writing in the contract itself, or no probation period exists.
• Between the same employer and worker, a probation clause can only be stipulated once, on the first contract — a later or renewed contract can’t carry a new one (leyes.co, checked 2026-10-01).

Notice and severance

• Colombia has no statutory notice period the employer must give before dismissal, with or without just cause — dismissal without just cause is instead handled through an immediate cash indemnización.
• The only pre-existing notice rule covers fixed-term contracts the employer doesn’t want to renew: written notice at least 30 calendar days before expiry, or the contract auto-renews.
• Since Ley 2466 de 2025, an employee resigning from an indefinite-term contract must now give the employer 30 calendar days’ notice — previously there was no such duty (funcionpublica.gov.co, checked 2026-10-01).

Source: CST art. 64, via buk.co, checked 2026-10-01.

13th salary and bonuses

• Not a literal 13th salary: prima de servicios (CST art. 306, as amended by Ley 1788 de 2016) is the mandatory equivalent — one full month’s salary per year of service, paid in two equal halves no later than 30 June and 20 December (blog.alegra.com, checked 2026-10-01).

Mandatory benefits

• Cesantías (CST art. 249): one month’s salary per year of service, deposited into the worker’s chosen fund by 14 February each year, paid out only on termination.
• Intereses sobre cesantías (Ley 52 de 1975): 12% annual interest on the cesantías balance, paid directly to the worker by 31 January.
• Prima de servicios and paid annual leave (see above).
• Dotación (work clothing/footwear, CST art. 230) applies only up to 2 SMMLV/month — above the salary levels used on this page.
• Mandatory enrollment in health (EPS), pension (AFP) and occupational-risk (ARL) systems from day one.

Work permits

• Foreign hires generally need a Visa M-5 (trabajador), sponsored by the specific hiring company, valid up to 3 years and renewable.
• The sponsoring company must show financial solvency — an average bank balance of at least 100 SMMLV (≈COP 175 million in 2026) over the last 4 months — and justify the need to hire a foreign national.
• Once granted, the worker must register a Cédula de Extranjería with Migración Colombia within 15 days of entry (stanfordbaker.com, checked 2026-10-01).

Currency and payroll

• Payroll runs in Colombian pesos (COP); 1 USD = 3,312.84 COP (TRM, Banco de la República, 2026-10-01, datos.gov.co, checked 2026-10-01).
• No fixed statutory pay period for monthly-salaried staff beyond “not exceeding one month” (CST art. 134); monthly payroll is standard market practice for EOR-hired employees, with fortnightly splits also common.

Is Employer of Record legal in Colombia?

Grey area. Colombia has no licensed or separately regulated “Employer of Record” category. The only licensed labour-intermediation vehicle is the Empresa de Servicios Temporales (EST) — narrowly capped to three specific temporary causes and a strict 6-month term, extendable once for 6 more months (Ley 50 de 1990 arts. 71–94). Using an EST-style structure for an ongoing, permanent role is illegal “simple intermediación.” Most commercial EOR vendors instead hire the worker directly as an ordinary employee of their own Colombian entity, which is lawful in itself — the real risk is fact-based: if the foreign client, not the EOR, actually directs the worker’s day-to-day tasks, schedule and tools (“subordinación”), Colombian courts and labor inspectors can apply primacía de la realidad and deem the client the true employer regardless of the paperwork.

That risk was sharply reinforced by Decreto 0581 de 2026 (2026-06-05), which added 26 specific indicators of illegal tercerización/intermediación and a rebuttable presumption of direct employment whenever a company’s permanent activities run through a third party lacking genuine operational autonomy, with fines up to 5,000 SMMLV (hklaw.com, checked 2026-10-01). Separately, Ley 2466 de 2025 art. 45 makes a client company the true employer if it uses an EST-style arrangement beyond the three authorized causes or the 6-plus-6-month cap, and CST art. 34 (as rewritten by Ley 2466 de 2025 art. 44) keeps a solidary-liability rule for contractors whose work isn’t genuinely unrelated to the client’s own business.

Client risks:

• If the client, not the Colombian EOR, effectively directs the worker’s tasks, schedule and tools, a labor judge can declare the client the real employer — full retroactive liability for salary gaps, prestaciones sociales and contributions, plus fines up to 5,000 SMMLV under Decreto 0581/2026.
• If the arrangement is, in substance, an EST-style “worker in mission” relationship used beyond the 6-plus-6-month cap or outside the three authorized causes, the client risks being declared the real employer under Ley 2466 de 2025 art. 45.
• Even where the EOR is clearly the worker’s lawful employer on paper, the client isn’t automatically shielded from CST art. 34’s contractor-solidarity rule if the outsourced work isn’t unrelated to the client’s own normal business.

Who actually employs your hire in Colombia

Vendors describe their entity model globally (“130+ owned entities,” “hybrid network”) far more often than they confirm it for Colombia specifically. Here’s what each vendor’s own Colombia-facing page — or a public registry mirror — actually says:

Nine of these 20 don’t say whether Colombia is served by their own entity or a partner’s — including Oyster, Boundless and Papaya Global, three of the more prominent names in the category. That matters because it decides who’s actually on the hook if payroll, tax filings or a reclassification claim goes wrong under Decreto 0581. Before signing, ask directly: “Is the entity that will employ my hire in Colombia wholly owned by you, and can you name it?” A vendor that answers with a company name and, ideally, a RUES registry record is a different risk profile from one that repeats its global “owned + partner network” line.

How to choose an EOR in Colombia

Need the clearest evidence of who’s actually employing your hire? Deel and Remote both state they own their Colombian entity and name it, independently matched by RUES registry mirrors; Borderless AI and Rivermate make Colombia-specific ownership statements too. Multiplier, Rippling, Atlas and G-P are also backed by RUES-mirrored registry entries, even where their own Colombia pages stay silent on entity model.

Weighing price against a confirmed Colombia-specific figure? Skuad discloses the lowest number, $249/month. Borderless AI follows at $579/month with no setup fee or security deposit. G-P and Justworks both quote a flat $599/month. Most of the rest publish only a global list price or nothing at all for Colombia specifically.

Hiring near the 10-SMMLV line? A salary just under COP 17,509,050/month and one just over it carry a 13.5-percentage-point difference in employer cost, purely from the salud/SENA/ICBF exemption threshold — worth asking any vendor to model both sides of that line before you set the offer.

Need the hire’s work visa sponsored? Rivermate is the only vendor here that states explicitly it’s authorized to sponsor M-5 work visas in Colombia; others are silent on the point, so confirm it directly before counting on it.

What it costs to employ someone in Colombia through an EOR

Colombia’s main cost quirk isn’t regional — it’s a salary-band exemption. Under art. 114-1 of the Estatuto Tributario, any Colombian legal entity (including an EOR’s local S.A.S.) is exempt from the 8.5% salud contribution and the 2% SENA + 3% ICBF parafiscales for each individual employee earning under 10 SMMLV/month (COP 17,509,050 in 2026). That threshold, not company size, is what decides whether a given hire costs roughly 38% or roughly 52% more than gross.

The employer statutory total includes both the ongoing contributions (pensión 12%, ARL Class I 0.522%, Caja 4%, plus salud/SENA/ICBF where owed) and the prestaciones sociales accruals — prima de servicios, cesantías, interest on cesantías, and vacation pay — which are a separate legal obligation, not folded into “gross” (buk.co, checked 2026-10-01).

The EOR’s own fee is on top of the above. Published Colombia-specific figures in our data range from $249/month (Skuad’s discounted rate) to COP 29,192,121/year — about $734/month at the 2026-10-01 TRM — at Deel; G-P and Justworks both quote a flat $599/month, Borderless AI $579/month, and Remote $699/month (its global list price, displayed on the Colombia page). Multiplier, Atlas, RemoFirst, Oyster and several others publish only a global list price ($199–$699/month), and Rippling, Rivermate, Safeguard Global, Boundless, Pebl, RemotePass, Papaya Global and Native Teams publish no Colombia-specific figure at all.

Hidden costs, where actually published: Borderless AI states “no hidden fees or salary deposit requirements” on its Colombia page — the only vendor in this set to address setup fees or a deposit specifically for Colombia. No other vendor here discloses a setup fee, deposit, minimum term or termination fee for Colombia — where the table above is blank, treat it as unpublished, not zero.

Basis: both examples assume a large-payroll EOR S.A.S. in Bogotá, IT/office activity, ARL risk Class I (0.522%); no small-employer exemptions apply, since Colombia’s only relevant exemption is the per-employee salary-band rule above, applied in full here.

When you don’t need an EOR

• A genuinely independent contractor. Cheaper and closer to the real relationship if the person sets their own hours and tools and can serve other clients — though relabeling actual employment as a contract carries the same “primacía de la realidad” reclassification risk discussed above. See how to pay contractors in Colombia, our hiring guide and the contractor misclassification glossary entry.
• Your own Colombian entity. The route that best limits “primacía de la realidad” exposure if your own staff will keep directing the hire’s day-to-day work — routing that same fact pattern through an EOR doesn’t remove the underlying risk, since Decreto 0581 de 2026 looks at who actually controls the work, not who signs the contract.

What changed in 2026

• 2026-02-12 — Consejo de Estado provisionally suspends Decreto 1469 de 2025, finding the government didn’t sufficiently justify the 23% SMMLV increase.
• 2026-02-19 — Government issues transitional Decreto 159 de 2026, maintaining the same COP 1,750,905 SMMLV figure while the legal challenge continues.
• 2026-06-05 — Decreto 0581 de 2026 takes effect: 26 indicators of illegal tercerización/intermediación, a rebuttable presumption of direct employment for outsourced permanent work, and fines up to 5,000 SMMLV.
• 2026-07-01 — Sunday/public-holiday work surcharge rises from 80% to 90% (CST art. 179, as rewritten by Ley 2466 de 2025), scheduled to reach 100% on 2027-07-01.
• 2026-07-15 — Maximum ordinary workweek reaches its final step of 42 hours (Ley 2101 de 2021, as implemented by Ley 2466 de 2025 art. 11).

Numbers vendors haven’t updated

• Oyster states Colombia’s minimum wage as COP 1,300,000/month on its country guide — a roughly 2022-era figure, well below the current COP 1,750,905 (2026).
• Papaya Global’s only available Colombia page is a Wayback snapshot dated May 2023, citing COP 1,160,000/month plus a COP 140,606 transport allowance — both stale by several years.
• Pebl cites COP 1,000,000/month, matching roughly Colombia’s 2022 minimum wage, not 2026’s.
• Deel and RemoFirst both state COP 1,423,500/month — the 2025 SMMLV, one step behind the current COP 1,750,905 (2026-01-01, hklaw.com, checked 2026-10-01).

How we built this page

Facts were collected and checked on 2026-10-01 against official sources (Función Pública’s Gestor Normativo, the Estatuto Tributario, Banco de la República) and, for the 2026 outsourcing reform, Holland & Knight’s legal alert alongside corroborating press coverage. Vendor entity claims were checked against RUES registry mirrors where one could confirm them — Multiplier, Rippling, G-P and Atlas are backed by RUES-mirrored registry entries — and against the vendor’s own Colombia-facing statement otherwise; where a vendor states only a global entity model, we recorded Colombia as not disclosed rather than assuming. The ranking above puts confirmed, Colombia-specific own entities first. Nobody pays for placement on this page.