Barbados
With localized contracts, easy invoice management, and best-in-class compliance, you can grow your team in Barbados with confidence. Currently, you can hire and manage contractors in Barbados through Remote, but our EOR services are not yet live.
- Capital City
Bridgetown
- Currency
Barbadian dollar ($, BBD)
- Languages
English and Bajan Creole
- Population size
287,371
Facts & Stats
- Capital City
Bridgetown
- Currency
Barbadian dollar ($, BBD)
- Languages
English and Bajan Creole
- Population size
287,371
- Ease of doing business
Medium
- Cost of living index
81.49 (2021)
- Payroll frequency
Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly
- VAT - standard rate
17.5%
- GDP - real growth rate
19.0% (2020)
The island nation of Barbados has been inhabited since the 13th century by the indigenous Kalinago people, prior to the arrival of European explorers, after which the territory rapidly changed hands as a Spanish, Portuguese, and finally a British colony.
In recent times, Barbados holds a place as a popular tourist haven with its pristine beaches, classical architecture, and Caribbean cuisine that draws over a million visitors annually.
Grow your team in Barbados with Remote
You can pay contractors now in Barbados with Remote in some currencies (talk to an expert now for full details).
Note that we are busy building our own entity in Barbados to provide you with the best possible employment solutions for your employees, but our employer of record service is not yet live in this country.
To employ in Barbados, companies must own a local legal entity in the country or work with a global employment solution. Developing the processes required to manage payroll, benefits, taxes, and onboarding in countries like Barbados can get complicated fast, especially without localized expertise.
If you're looking to start hiring in a country like this, partnering with a global employment solution like Remote makes it easy for your company to employ workers quickly, cost-effectively, and in full compliance with all local legislation.
In the countries where we do offer our EOR services, Remote takes on the responsibility and legal risks of international employment so you can focus on hiring great talent and growing your business.
Risks of misclassification
Barbados, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in Barbados may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.
Employing in Barbados
Provisions for employee protections and workers’ rights are spelled out in the Barbadian Constitution and across several government statutes, such as:
the Employment Rights Act,
the Trade Unions Act,
the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and
the Severance Payments Act.
Employees in Barbados generally enjoy protection against discrimination based on age and race.
Common questions that could come up during the hiring process include the minimum wage, overtime rates, and guaranteed paid time off. Remote can help you offer a complete, competitive, and compliant benefits package to your employees in Barbados.
Minimum wage
The Barbadian minimum wage is currently fixed between BDS$ 6.25 - BDS $8.5 per hour, or roughly $3.12 - $4.25 hourly.
Effortless HR in Barbados: Take the Tour
Competitive benefits package in Barbados
At Remote, we’re obsessed with helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in practicing “fair equity”, which means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive (and that will allow you to attract the best local talent).
We are still busy building our own entity in Barbados, but our benefits packages for all countries are tailored to fulfill the local needs of your 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
Taxes in Barbados
Learn how employment taxes and statutory fees affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Barbados.
6.75%
National Insurance Fund
2%
Non-contributory Fund
0.75%
Unemployment contribution
0.75%
Employment Injury
0.5%
Severance contributions
0.5%
Training Levy
1.5%
Health Service Contribution
Types of leave
After working with an employer for five months, employees are entitled to three weeks of paid time off, although this can be postponed by an employer for up to six months.
In practice, this means that employees might end up taking their first vacation after a year of employment.
Employment termination
Termination process
Employee contracts can be terminated with written notice provided a reasonable justification is provided. Otherwise, an employee who is deemed by a labor tribunal to have been terminated unfairly might have to be reinstated.
Notice period
Employees should be informed of a termination anywhere from a week to ten weeks in advance — depending on their tenure, otherwise payment can be made in lieu of notice.
Severance pay
The Barbadian Severance Payments Act states that employees who’re laid off for reasons other than misconduct are entitled to severance benefits, provided they have been employed for at least 104 weeks.
In such circumstances, an employee would be owed two and half weeks’ wages for each year worked, for the first ten years of employment.
This rate increase to three weeks’ pay for the 11th to the 20th year of employment, and finally, three and half weeks’ pay for the next 13 years of employment, i.e., years 21 to 33 of an employee’s tenure.
Years 1 - 10: 2.5 weeks’ pay per year
Years 11 - 20: 3 weeks’ pay per year
Years 21 - 33: 3.5 weeks’ pay per year
Probation periods
There are no statutory probation periods and employees can generally be dismissed at will until after they’ve completed a year of service.
Fair Pricing in Barbados
Top features
Only pay for contractors you actively work with
Work with contractors in 200+ countries
Create, edit, and sign tailored, localized contracts
Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay
Transparent payments with complete visibility
Remote Payroll
Consolidate your multi-country payroll
$50
per employee/month
Top features
Reduce costs by centralizing payroll management
Ensure local compliance for every country
Direct support from in-house local payroll experts
Accurate, on-time, compliant payroll to level-up your employee experience
Tax and labor authority reporting handled for you
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