The Ecuadorian government has set the minimum wage at:

• $400 per month base rate, excluding social benefits, plus a 13th and 14th salary, or
• $466.66 per month, factoring in mandatory 13th and 14th salaries prorated over the year

For customers of Remote, all employee payments will be made in equal monthly installments on or before the last working day of each calendar month, payable in arrears.

Ecuador’s ‘13th salary’ consists of an additional monthly bonus equivalent to the proportional monthly part of one twelfth of everything received by the employee in the year. This payment can be paid once a year, but if offered it must be paid by December 22nd.

Ecuador’s 14th salary is equal to the government monthly minimum wage ($400 for 2020) and is payable in March or August depending on the location of the workplace. The employee can request to receive it in an accumulated manner, in which case it must be paid before March 15 in the Coastal and Insular regions, and until August 15 in the Highlands and Amazon regions.

We can help you get a new employee started in Ecuador fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 5 working days.

Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.

For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.

Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.

Employees are entitled to 15 days of continuous annual leave, including weekends (i.e. 11 working days + 4 weekend days).

Ecuadorian law mandates that employees should take the 12 public holidays off, and if the nature of the job or the employment contract requires an employee to stay on the job during a public holiday, the employer will compensate with a working day off.

Payment for public holidays depends on the agreement reached between employers and their staff, i.e., it should be pre-negotiated.

Up to 2 months, at 50% of the employee’s salary.

New mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, of which the employer will be responsible for 25% while social security covers the rest.

The employer is required to grant the working father a paid parental leave of 10 days for a natural birth, 15 for multiple births or birth by C-section, and 23 days if the baby is premature or has special needs.

Employees who obtain a scholarship for studies abroad after spending more than 5 years with a company are entitled to an entire year of absence, with their salaries paid for 6 months, provided the scholarship is in a field related to the employee’s work activity.

• Bereavement leave: employees are entitled to one day of paid leave for the death of any 1st or 2nd-degree relative.
• Hospitalization leave: parents are entitled to 25 days of leave if any of their children are hospitalized.
• Adoption: adoptive parents are entitled to 15 days of leave, from the day their child is handed over to their legal custody.