El Salvador
Make employment in El Salvador easy. Let us handle payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and even stock options for your team in El Salvador, all in one easy-to-use platform.
- Capital City
San Salvador
- Currency
United States Dollar ($, USD)
- Languages
Spanish
- Population size
6,420,746
Facts & Stats
- Capital City
San Salvador
- Currency
United States Dollar ($, USD)
- Languages
Spanish
- Population size
6,420,746
- Ease of doing business
Easy
- Cost of living index
44.57 (2021)
- Payroll frequency
Monthly
- VAT - standard rate
13%
- GDP - real growth rate
2.4 (2019)
El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated Central American nation and it’s known as the land of volcanoes, with frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
It has the lowest income inequality in Latin America and doubles as the easiest place to do business in the region.
El Salvador is a strong agricultural economy buoyed by exports of sugarcane, coffee, and over $2.5 billion in textile exports. Lately, it has become even more interesting being the only country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in the world.
Grow your team in El Salvador with Remote
You can pay contractors now in El Salvador with Remote in some currencies (talk to an expert now for full details).
Note that we are busy building our own entity in El Salvador 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 El Salvador, 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 El Salvador can get complicated fast, especially without localised 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
El Salvador, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in El Salvador may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.
Employing in El Salvador
Workers' rights in El Salvador are protected by:
The Salvadoran Constitution of 1983,
The Civil Code of 1859, and
The Labor Code of 1972
— all of which guarantee equal pay for equal work and protections against discrimination based on age, religion, gender expression, 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 El Salvador.
Minimum wage
El Salvador’s minimum wage is fixed at $202.82 for workers in the agricultural sector and $304.4 for commerce and service employees.
Note that skilled workers will generally negotiate their pay on a case-by-case basis which may often be higher than the national minimum wage.
Paid Overtime
Overtime must be tracked and paid by employers of Salvadoran employees (the employee cannot be compensated via time off in lieu).
Wet Signature Requirement
Please note that Employment Agreements must be physically signed in El Salvador. Documents cannot be signed digitally, they must be signed in wet-ink in the country. The document must be an original, so scanned signatures will not work.
Effortless HR in El Salvador: Take the Tour
Competitive benefits package in El Salvador
At Remote, we’re obsessed with helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in practising “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 El Salvador, but our benefits packages for all countries are tailored to fulfil 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
Fair Pricing in El Salvador
Employer of Record
Hire and pay your global team
Starting at $800/month
paid annually, or S$940/month paid monthly
Top features
Satisfaction guaranteed
No deposits or hidden fees
Zero onboarding or offboarding fees
Compliant equity incentives support including withholding and reporting
Built-in security and compliance
Fast onboarding (average 2-3 days)
Flexible, localised benefits
Contractor Management
Compliantly onboard and pay contractors
$39
per contractor/month
Top features
Only pay for contractors you actively work with
Work with contractors in 200+ countries and territories
Create, edit, and sign tailored, localised contracts
Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay
Transparent payments with complete visibility
Payroll
Consolidate your multi-country payroll
$39
per employee/month
Top features
Simplify: Comprehensive platform that integrates all payroll functions
Support: Personalised assistance with a dedicated team and specialists
Accuracy: Test runs and parallel pay runs before implementation
Compliance: Adhere to local labour laws in every country
Timeliness: Accurate and on-time payroll with labour authority reporting handled
Experience: Seamless payroll with easy access to payslips and expenses
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