Employer of Record in Hungary: 13 Providers Compared (2026)

Employing someone in Hungary: key facts

Hungary has one national Labour Code (Mt.), two national minimum wages, and one employer-borne payroll tax, the social contribution tax (szocho).

Minimum wage

Two national statutory series, both gross per month for full-time work: the general minimum wage (minimálbér) and the guaranteed minimum wage (garantált bérminimum) for jobs that require at least secondary education or a secondary vocational qualification.

• 2026 monthly amounts are HUF 322,800 and HUF 373,200, up 11.0% and 7.0% on 2025. Weekly, daily and hourly amounts for 2026 (minimum: HUF 74,210, 14,850 and 1,856; guaranteed: HUF 85,800, 17,160 and 2,145) come from a Hungarian-language summary of the decree, not the page text (njt.jog.gov.hu, checked 2026-10-07).
• Tripartite talks on the 2027 figure started on 2026-08-31; no decree as of 2026-10-07 (wageindicator.org, checked 2026-10-07).

Employer contributions

The only payroll tax an employer pays on top of an ordinary employee’s gross pay is szocho, 13% with no ceiling, since 2022-01-01.

• Szocho rate by period: 22% in 2017; 19.5% from 2018-01-01 to 2019-06-30; 17.5% from 2019-07-01 to 2020-06-30; 15.5% from 2020-07-01 to 2021-12-31; 13% from 2022-01-01 (nav.gov.hu, checked 2026-10-07).
• Szocho credits depend on the employee’s category (young, older, parents, disabled, long-term unemployed), not on salary. Our cost examples apply none.

Working hours and overtime

• A full-time working day is 8 hours (Art. 92(1)), which on the general Monday-Friday schedule is 40 hours a week. We did the weekly arithmetic; the schedule section was not read.
• Overtime is work outside the schedule or the working-time frame, or on-call time (Art. 107). Limit: 250 hours a calendar year, plus up to 150 more by written agreement (Art. 109(1)-(2)).
• Pay: a 50% surcharge on regular pay, or time off in lieu if agreed (Art. 143(2)).
• Source: net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07.

Annual leave and public holidays

• 20 working days of basic leave (Art. 116), plus extra days by age: 1 from age 25, rising to 10 from age 45, so up to 30 working days (Art. 117(1)). Parents of children under 16 get more (Art. 118).
• Sick leave: 15 working days a year, paid at 70% of the absence fee (Art. 126(1), Art. 146(3)).
• 11 public holidays: 1 Jan, 15 Mar, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1 May, Whit Monday, 20 Aug, 23 Oct, 1 Nov, 25 Dec, 26 Dec (Art. 102(1)). The minister may swap working days around holidays by annual decree; we did not check the 2026 one.
• Source: net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07.

Probation

• Up to 3 months from the start of employment, agreed in the contract; a shorter period can be extended once but never beyond 3 months (Art. 45(5)).
• Source: net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07.

Notice and severance

Employer dismissal needs a stated justified reason (Art. 66, not read in full). Notice is 30 days (Art. 69(1)); when the employer gives notice it lengthens with tenure at that employer (Art. 69(2)).

• The parties may agree up to 6 months (Art. 69(3)).
• Severance applies when the employer dismisses with notice or ceases without a successor: 1 month of absence fee after 3 years, 2 after 5, 3 after 10, 4 after 15, 5 after 20, 6 after 25 (Art. 77(1), (3)). It is not due if dismissal is for the employee’s conduct or non-health-related capability (Art. 77(5)).
• For agency-work employment, notice is 15 days (Art. 220(2)) and severance counts only the last assignment (Art. 222(5)).
• Source: net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07.

13th salary and bonuses

• Not mandatory. We found no 13th or 14th month pay in the Labour Code; bonuses come from the contract or a collective agreement, and we did not review collective agreements (net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07).

Mandatory benefits

• Statutory social insurance runs through the contributions above, and statutory sick leave is 15 working days at 70%. We found no statutory private health, life or pension insurance obligation for the employer in the Labour Code text read (net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07).

Work permits

• EEA citizens need no work permit under EU free movement; we did not check this separately against Hungarian law.
• Third-country nationals need a residence permit that carries work rights under Act XC of 2023: the employment residence permit (up to 2 years, extendable by 1, 3 at most, Art. 28), the National Card (Art. 50, expressly covering agency work, for nationals of countries a Government decree lists), the Hungary Card (Art. 36) or the EU Blue Card (Art. 37).
• The employment residence permit and Hungary Card can also be granted where the person works for an employer established in a third country to perform an agreement with a Hungarian employer (Art. 28(2), Art. 36(4)).
• The guest-worker residence permit, which only a registered qualified agency or a preferential employer could use, has been closed to new applications since 2026-06-06 (Government Decree 92/2026).
• Source: net.jogtar.hu, oif.gov.hu, checked 2026-10-07.

Currency and payroll

• Hungarian forint (HUF); all statutory amounts here are in forint (mnb.hu, checked 2026-10-07). 1 USD = 323.85 HUF (ECB cross rate, 2026-10-06).
• Pay is monthly, due by the 10th day of the month after the month worked, by transfer to the employee’s payment account unless the parties agree in writing on cash (Art. 157(1), Art. 158(1)) (net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07).

Is Employer of Record legal in Hungary?

Allowed with limits, and only through the agency regime. Hungarian law has no EOR category. The one statutory route for an employer to hire a person who works under another company’s direction is agency work under Labour Code Chapter XVI (Articles 214-222). This is our reading of the statute: we found no Hungarian law-firm, ministry or court position on the EOR product itself (net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07).

• Who may lend. An EEA-seated company allowed to do agency work under its own law, or a Hungarian Kft. or co-operative that meets the legal conditions and is entered in the state employment body’s register. If the lender is deleted from the register, the invalidity rules apply to the employment contract (Art. 215).
• Registration. Notification to the government office of the seat 30 days before starting; a qualified person employed at least 20 hours a week; a suitable office; a HUF 15,000,000 security in a segregated account, usable only for workers’ damages claims; and no public debts. The registration number goes on business documents (118/2001 Government Decree Art. 4-6, 9(2); text in force from 2024-10-15, later amendments not checked).
• Five-year limit. A worker may be lent for 5 years at most, counting extensions and repeat assignments within 6 months of the previous one, whether with the same lender or another. Lending beyond that is forbidden (Art. 214(2), 216(1)(c)).
• Agreement. The agency-borrower agreement must be in writing and is void if lender and borrower are linked by ownership (Art. 217(1)).
• Equal treatment. The worker gets the basic working and employment conditions of the borrower’s own staff, including pay and benefits (Art. 219(1)-(2)). Pay equality applies from the start, except from day 184 for three groups: open-ended agency contracts paid between assignments, the long-term unemployed, and workers placed with municipally owned companies (Art. 219(3)).

Source for the points above, unless linked: net.jogtar.hu and 118/2001 Government Decree, checked 2026-10-07.

Open question. The Code defines the borrower as the employer under whose direction the worker temporarily works, and does not require a Hungarian seat. We found no ministry opinion or court decision on a foreign borrower with no Hungarian presence who directs the work from abroad.

Risks for the client:

• Invalid arrangement. If the agency is not on the register or is deleted from it, the invalidity rules apply to the employment contract (Art. 215(2)). The text we read does not spell out the consequences for the client.
• Client directs the work. It carries occupational safety, working-time and rest-time duties and records during the assignment (Art. 218(4)), must give the agency written work-condition and pay data (Art. 217(3), (5)), and must keep employee-representative bodies informed about agency workers (Art. 216(4)).
• Equal-pay exposure. The client’s own pay and benefits scale is the comparator (Art. 219(1)-(3)). A client with no Hungarian staff has no comparator and the text gives no rule for it. That is our reading; we found no ministry guidance.
• Five-year ceiling. After 5 years the arrangement has to end or move to a direct Hungarian employer. We found no fine for breaching the cap in the laws read.
• Provider sanctions. The government office fines an agency that skips registration or reporting duties; amounts not found (njt.jog.gov.hu, checked 2026-10-07). Check the provider’s registration number.
• Visas. The guest-worker route closed on 2026-06-06. The Act does not say whether a local agency can be the sponsoring employer for a foreign client’s role.

Who actually employs your hire in Hungary

Hungarian company records are public, but e-cegjegyzek.hu search runs through a session form, so we read them through a public mirror, companywall.hu. The column “Registered as” gives the main activity code (TEÁOR) of the vendor’s Hungarian entity there. The decree says the register of temporary-work agencies is public, but the page we found shows only statistics by county, not names. A code of 7820 therefore shows an agency profile, not a confirmed register entry, and we confirmed no vendor’s licence directly.

Five of these 13 providers don’t say whether Hungary is served by their own entity or a partner’s, and we found no Hungarian company record we could tie to them. Of the eight with a record, four carry the temporary-agency code: Remote, Skuad, Playroll and Boundless. Deel, G-P, Native Teams and Safeguard Global are coded otherwise, and from public sources we can’t see how they structure an EOR hire. Multiplier and Pebl (as Velocity Global Hungary Kft.) also have entities coded 7820, but they are not in the table because we could not confirm they offer EOR in Hungary; Oyster and Rippling have records coded 7020 on the same basis.

Boundless says it plainly: its Hungary guide states that an EOR in Hungary requires a temporary agency licence and that “The EOR model isn’t recognised in Hungary”. Its licence number is not on the page, and we could not check it. Before signing, ask: “Which Hungarian entity will employ my hire, what is its registration number in the government office’s agency register, and under which agency agreement will it place the worker with us?”

How to choose an EOR in Hungary

Need an entity with the agency profile? Remote, Skuad, Playroll and Boundless are the four whose Hungarian entities carry the temporary-agency code (TEÁOR 7820); Boundless also says it holds the licence. The code is a company-record marker, not proof of a register entry, so still ask for the number. Playroll’s entity was registered in June 2025 and had one employee that year; Remote’s had 176.

Hiring someone from outside the EEA? The guest-worker route is closed. Rivermate’s guide gives hiring times of 3 days for locals, 3 to 5 days for EU nationals and 3 months for non-EU nationals, and says a new entity may be limited in hiring third-country nationals (Rivermate, checked 2026-10-07). The Act does not say whether a local agency can sponsor a worker for a foreign client’s role, so ask the provider in writing who files the application.

Comparing price and speed? Prices shown for Hungary run from $249 (Skuad, archived page, 12-month commitment) through $399 (Playroll), $579 (Borderless AI) to $599 (Deel and G-P). Native Teams, at $99, has the lowest figure in the table, but it is a global list price with no Hungary quote. On speed, Deel’s Hungary page says “as little as 3 days” and Playroll’s says within 10 business days (Deel, Playroll, checked 2026-10-07).

Expect the same person in the same job for more than five years? Then the agency regime’s limit applies to you, and the arrangement must end or move to a direct Hungarian employer. That points to your own Hungarian entity rather than any provider.

What it costs to employ someone in Hungary through an EOR

Hungarian employer on-cost is one line: szocho at 13% of gross pay, with no ceiling. The 18.5% social security contribution is withheld from the employee’s gross and is not an extra cost for the client. The examples assume a large-payroll EOR entity. The salaries are about USD 50,000 and USD 100,000 (HUF 16,200,000 and HUF 32,400,000, which are USD 50,022 and USD 100,044 at 1 USD = 323.85 HUF), both far above the 2026 minimum wage of HUF 3,873,600 a year.

Not included: employer-paid sick pay, the rehabilitation contribution for non-quota employers, benefits, severance, bonuses and szocho credits, which depend on the employee’s category. Source: net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07. Exchange rate: ECB cross rate, 2026-10-06.

The EOR’s own fee comes on top, per month. The Hungary-specific prices we found run from $249 (Skuad, archived page) to $599 (Deel and G-P), with Playroll from $399 and Borderless AI at $579; the rest are global list prices, from $99 (Native Teams) to $699 (Remote).

Other costs, where published:

• Skuad: the $249 monthly rate carries a 12-month commitment on the archived page (Skuad, checked 2026-10-07).
• Playroll: the fee is billed separately from payroll costs (Playroll, checked 2026-10-07).

For the other vendors, setup, deposit and termination fees are unpublished; treat a blank as unknown, not zero.

When you don’t need an EOR

• A genuinely independent contractor. If the person works on their own terms rather than inside your team’s direction, see how to hire contractors in Hungary and how to pay them.
• Your own Hungarian entity. The route when the same person will hold the same job for more than 5 years: the agency arrangement must then end or move to a direct Hungarian employer (Mt. Art. 214(2), 216(1)(c)) (net.jogtar.hu, checked 2026-10-07).

What changed in 2026

• 2026-01-01 — Minimum wage rises 11% to HUF 322,800 a month from HUF 290,800, and the guaranteed minimum wage 7% to HUF 373,200 from HUF 348,800 (426/2025 Government Decree). The 2024 wage agreement had planned a 13% rise to HUF 328,600; press reports say it was cut for weaker growth and higher inflation.
• 2026-06-06 — Guest-worker residence permits close to new applications (Government Decree 92/2026): no third country is currently eligible. Applications paid by 2026-06-05, valid permits and extensions continue. This removes the main route by which qualified agencies brought in third-country workers; the employment residence permit and National Card are not affected, per the immigration authority, which says a wider review of employment rules is planned (oif.gov.hu, checked 2026-10-07).
• 2026-06-07 — Deadline for member states to transpose the Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970. A law-firm note said Hungary might miss it, and we found no Hungarian transposition act. We read the note only through a search summary (cms.law, checked 2026-10-07).
• 2026-08-31 — Tripartite talks on the 2027 minimum wage start. The Government sets the figure by decree at year-end; the 2026 decree was published on 2025-12-23. No decree as of 2026-10-07 (wageindicator.org, checked 2026-10-07).

Numbers vendors haven’t updated

• Remote People gives a 1.5% vocational training contribution next to the 13% employer rate, and elsewhere a “14.5% employer social contribution rate”. The training contribution was abolished on 2022-01-01, and 13% is the only employer-borne contribution we found (Remote People, checked 2026-10-07).
• Deel shows “Estimated Employer Cost 13.60%+fixed fees” on its Hungary page, where the law we read gives 13%. The page does not say what the difference covers. Its blog says onboarding is live in under 5 days, its Hungary page says as little as 3 (Deel, checked 2026-10-07).
• Playroll describes annual leave of 21 days after 3 years of service rising to 25 after 25 years. The Labour Code ties extra days to age: 1 from age 25, up to 10 from age 45 (Art. 117(1)) (Playroll, checked 2026-10-07).
• Skuad’s prices come from an archived copy labelled “Updated for 2025”; the live site did not open (Skuad, checked 2026-10-07).

How we built this page

Facts were collected and checked on 2026-10-07 against the Labour Code, the social security and szocho laws, the Act on residence of third-country nationals and NAV and OIF notices. Hungarian entities were read through companywall.hu, a public mirror of the company register, because the register’s own search runs through a session form; the register of temporary-work agencies has no open list of names that we could find, so no vendor’s licence is confirmed. Where no Hungarian record turned up, we relied on the vendor’s own statements and left the employer as “not disclosed”. Vendors with a Hungarian entity record come first, ordered by published Hungary price and completeness of data, then those that don’t disclose. Nobody pays for placement on this page.