Colombian employment, handled
from offer to final settlement.
Once you pick a candidate, we cost the offer in pesos, write the Spanish contract, affiliate the employee to an EPS, a pension fund, an ARL and a caja before day one, and register them for payroll. The first payslip follows at month end, with tax withheld and the contributions paid on the PILA.
Price it up
Four facts about employing through us
A flat monthly fee for each role, quoted in US dollars and never turned into a percentage of pay.
EPS, pension fund, ARL and caja, each in place before the employee’s first day.
Half the service bonus by 30 June and half in the first 20 days of December.
You hire in Colombia with no SAS, no NIT and no peso account.
How can you run a Colombian hire from abroad?
Colombian rules on probation, leave, discipline and dismissal are stricter than many foreign managers expect. We apply them for you and tell you before a decision carries a cost.
- Written probation clause, two months max
- Leave plans and the 18 holidays, with Ley Emiliani Monday moves
- Sick certificates, EPS and ARL claims, pay for each day
- Raises, new hours or a move to salario integral, written up properly
- Fixed-term renewals, 30-day notices and the four-year cap
- Final settlement and exit certificate
One rule catches foreign employers out. An employer may end an indefinite contract without just cause, but must pay an indemnity: below 10 SMMLV, 30 days’ salary for the first year and 20 days for each year after. Before any termination, the employer must also show that social security and payroll levies for the last three months were paid; until then the termination has no effect.
Why does Colombian payroll vary by month?
A Colombian salary bill is not twelve equal months. The prima is paid in June and December, and all payments in a month are taxed together, so withholding jumps then. Thresholds are set in UVT, a tax unit worth COP 52,374 in 2026, and in multiples of the minimum wage, so a pay rise can cross a line. The biggest is 10 SMMLV, where 13.5 points of employer contributions return on the whole salary.
- Withholding under art. 383 of the Tax Code, recalculated for every pay run
- Pension solidarity fund at 1% from 4 SMMLV, more in steps from 16 SMMLV upwards
- Pension and ARL base capped at 25 SMMLV a month
- Cesantías into the fund by 14 February, interest in January
- Overtime: no more than 2 hours daily or 12 weekly, at 25% or 75% extra
Which benefits do Colombian candidates expect?
The statutory package is generous on its own: a service bonus of 30 days’ pay a year, 15 working days of paid leave, severance savings of one month a year paid into a cesantías fund, and work clothing (dotación) three times a year for staff on up to 2 SMMLV. Many employers add extras. We set each one up with the right treatment: extras agreed in writing as non-salary stay outside the contribution base, regular bonuses count as salary.
- Prepaid private health plan
- Voluntary pension savings, partly tax-free
- Internet and power costs for home work
- Laptop and software, or pay for using their own
- Annual bonus agreed in writing
Who handles which part of the job?
Our name is on the employment contract, the PILA and the DIAN filings. The employee has a Colombian contract with every statutory right from the first day of work.
You set the tasks, goals and working hours within the 42-hour week, and you run the team meetings.
Payroll, withholding, contributions, prestaciones, leave records and the electronic payroll file are prepared by our team.
Some Colombian rules surprise foreign managers. Night hours begin at 7 pm, Sunday work costs 90% extra and will cost 100% from 1 July 2027, and a post-employment non-compete has no effect at all. Before you change hours, give a warning or end a contract, we set out what Colombian law requires and what it will cost.
Our fee next to six EOR platforms
You pay from USD 560 per employee per month in fees. That covers the Colombian contract, payroll, the PILA, DIAN filings, statutory benefits, leave tracking and a named account manager. Salary, contributions and benefits are billed at cost, with no margin added.
| EOR ColombiaColombia only | Deel | Remote | Oyster | RemoFirst | Native Teams | Papaya Global | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | from USD 560 | $599 | $699 | $699 | from $199 | from $99 | $650 |
| Fee quoted in US dollars | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Written Colombian contract | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Affiliations done before the first day | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Monthly PILA filed for health, pension, ARL and levies | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Prima, cesantías and interest paid on the legal dates | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Electronic payroll file sent to DIAN | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Named account manager for each client | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Single-country focus | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Dismissal costs set out before you act | ✔ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Prices checked 9 October 2026, from the public pricing page of each provider, for one employee per month. Every price in the table is in US dollars, so no conversion is needed. At from USD 560 we cost less than Deel ($599), Papaya Global ($650 outside Europe), Remote and Oyster ($699), and more than RemoFirst ($199 upwards) and Native Teams ($99 upwards). A dash only means we found nothing on that row in the provider’s published pricing; it does not say the provider lacks it.
Employing in Colombia from abroad?
Tell us the job title, where in Colombia the person will work and the monthly gross you plan. We return the yearly cost in pesos, our fee and the earliest workable start date.