When your company finds success at home, you may consider expanding your company beyond your country's borders. This move can be an excellent investment, but the process can be challenging to confront...
Read MoreWhen your company finds success at home, you may consider expanding your company beyond your country's borders. This move can be an excellent investment, but the process can be challenging to confront on your own. With differing labor laws and the limitations of managing a company from another country, it's helpful to have extra support.
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When your company finds success at home, you may consider expanding your company beyond your country’s borders. This move can be an excellent investment, but the process can be challenging to confront on your own. With differing labor laws and the limitations of managing a company from another country, it’s helpful to have extra support.
Globalization Partners offers Employer of Record services that provide the resources and assistance your company needs to expand. Rather than setting up a subsidiary, we hire your employees through our entity. With this arrangement, we add your workers to our payroll and ensure they receive the required wages, benefits, and employment terms.
Our team of legal experts and HR specialists have knowledge of over 185 countries to bring you the comprehensive expansion services you need. With your employees on our payroll, you shift all liability to us, allowing you to focus on your company’s growth.
Guyana is one of many countries we can help you expand to. Take a look at some of our extensive legal knowledge.
Settled along the North Atlantic coast of South America, Guyana offers extensive natural beauty from rainforests to waterfalls. It also has promise for businesses, especially with many companies from the United States investing in their economy.
The labor laws in the country are generally loose, with most employment practices governed by collective agreements. With labor characterized on an industry level, regulations change depending on the type of company you run. There’s also a strong focus on employee representation in unions. As an employer, you should consider your employees’ needs as much as the needs of your company.
Guyana labor laws outline employment contracts as written or oral agreements between an employer and employee. The regulations don’t require certain information for these agreements, as long as both parties agree on wages and all other parameters.
Typically, workers enter contracts with an undetermined duration, but employers can introduce contracts for fixed periods. There are also contracts for completing specific tasks and receiving pay upon completion. You and your worker decide on the nature of the contract.
Rather than having a single required working amount, the Minister of Labor determines working hour limitations according to the industry. Not all industries have requirements for working hours. In those situations, collective agreements or employment contracts specify the prescribed hours.
Working hours vary by industry, however, the government has clarified that any time worked beyond 40 hours a week and 5 days per week is overtime and must be paid at a rate of 150% the employee’s normal rate and higher on specific holidays. There are no legal limitations on overtime, but the Minister of Labor or collective agreements may consider these maximums.
Employees receive 13 public holidays off every year:
Typically, employees don’t receive payment for these days off, but employers don’t deduct wages if they earn pay on a weekly or monthly basis. Sometimes, collective agreements will permit compensation on these days off if the employee works the day before and after the holiday.
The Holidays with Pay Act outlines the parameters for paid personal leave. Employees receive their standard pay for days off, and the amount of days they receive depends on how they’re employed.
Standard workers employed on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule receive one day of paid leave for every completed month. Employees working on a daily schedule earn one day for every 20 days of work, while hourly employees earn one day for every 160 hours.
Workers need to set their paid day off with their employer before taking it, and they’re allowed to request a pay advance for their day off.
Employees are not entitled to sick leave under employment laws, but employers often provide authorized and unauthorized sick leave. Employers can determine the authorized terms upon employment, such as requiring a doctor’s confirmation. The national health insurance scheme pays sick days after the third day of absence.
Collective agreements often cover sick leave regulations. These agreements will usually require employers to cover the first three sick days not handled by social security. These terms may also include additional specialty leave for sports events, education, and bereavement.
Women are entitled to 13 weeks of maternity leave, and they can take up to six weeks before delivery. If the employee experiences complications during labor that require longer rest time, they receive an additional 13 weeks.
The National Insurance scheme covers 70 percent of insurable income during this leave. Many collective agreements will require the employer to pay the remaining 30 percent.
The National Insurance scheme covers medical expenses for employees, so health insurance is not required under the law. However, private insurance is available within the country. An employer may choose to offer an additional private insurance scheme to workers, but it’s often expensive and inaccessible to the general public.
Collective agreements will outline any other additional benefits and bonuses. While Guyana is a South American nation, it does not require a 13th-month bonus like many neighboring countries. However, an employer may choose to provide one.
If an employment contract doesn’t have a specified duration, it can be terminated under the following terms:
Sufficient cause for termination does not include pregnancy, military service, retirement age, or personal identity. An employer might terminate on the grounds of incompetency, too many unauthorized sick days, or misconduct in the workplace.
The required notice periods depend on the number of years an employee served. If a person has worked for less than a year, they receive two weeks’ notice. For a year or more of service, the notice period is one month. Severance pay also depends on the amount of time served.
Employers are responsible for deducting income tax for their employees, and the percentage depends on gross income. Employers must also deduct social security contributions for the National Insurance scheme. They must deduct a percentage from the employees’ paychecks and contribute a portion themselves.
International expansion can lead to tremendous success for your business, and Globalization Partners provides the resources you need to take your company to the next level. Skip the liability concerns and subsidiary establishment for a reliable partner in international employment. Want to learn more? Talk to our team today.
If you’re ready to grow your business, or you have questions about a specific country, complete the form. One of our experts will be in touch shortly.
