You need to put together a strong team in Colombia to establish your business. However, recruiting and employing Colombian workers also means meeting all employment laws to stay compliant. Here is everything...
Read MoreYou need to put together a strong team in Colombia to establish your business. However, recruiting and employing Colombian workers also means meeting all employment laws to stay compliant. Here is everything you need to know about the employee hiring process and choosing to outsource.
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You need to put together a strong team in Colombia to establish your business. However, recruiting and employing Colombian workers also means meeting all employment laws to stay compliant. Here is everything you need to know about the employee hiring process and choosing to outsource.
Staffing and recruiting in Colombia are complicated tasks that often rely on who you know rather than what you know. Recruiting in the country leans heavily on recommendations, which can also help you save on recruiting costs. If you end up hiring a candidate you like, encourage them to have their friends apply. Recommendations are a great way to fill your open positions, especially in sectors such as services, sales, and production.
If you decide to use job boards when recruiting employees in Colombia, you will usually need to include the salary. Job boards highlight pay and may allow searchers to filter jobs by wage. Showcasing a competitive salary will help you attract more jobseekers and move your position to the top of the search.
One great place to find talent is at Colombian universities. As these are some of the best educational institutions in Latin America, you can find talented candidates roaming the campus. Some schools, such as Los Andes University and the University of Antioquia are known for engineering, business, medicine, and agriculture.
While staffing your Colombia business, you must follow the correct recruiting laws. For example, you cannot perform any kind of background check that could be considered discriminatory unless you have objective justification. This policy bars HIV tests, pregnancy tests, and evaluations of diseases or disabilities.
You also cannot ask any discriminatory questions. For example, do not ask a candidate about their age, sexual orientation, civil status, or political opinions. It’s important that you don’t request any background tests as a condition for their application unless the employee’s circumstances make them incompatible with the position they applied for.
Hiring in Colombia starts with creating a written employment contract and offer letter. Make sure you include an outline of an employee’s probationary period and put the salary and compensation amounts in Colombian pesos.
Probationary periods in Colombia are two months maximum for undefined term contracts and fixed-term contracts between one and three years. For fixed-term contracts outlining less than one year of work, the probationary period cannot be more than one-fifth of the agreed term.
The three regulations that handle Colombia employment compliance are the Constitution, the Substantive Labour Code, and the Social Security Regime. The maximum amount of hours an employee can work per week is 48, either Monday through Friday or Monday through Saturday. This amount will reduce gradually to 42 hours from 2023 to 2026. Your employees cannot work more than two extra hours each day or 12 extra hours each week. For each extra hour an employee works, they receive an additional 25% of their salary on top of their base pay or 75% more if they work on Sundays or holidays.
Employers in Colombia typically pay their employees monthly. More casual employees are paid weekly. Colombia employment compliance also mandates that you give employees a payslip and that they get a minimum wage of 1,000,000 pesos each month, as of January 2022.
Once you set up your subsidiary and hire Colombian employees, you’ll need a streamlined process through which to onboard them. While there is no right or wrong way to onboard employees, it is best to start by going over the terms of the employment contract. You can also mention areas such as dress code, working hours, and code of conduct expectations.
Although it might require extensive travel time, try to fly back and forth to Colombia throughout the hiring process to create a bond with your new hires. You can also send another person from management to Colombia for a new hire’s first day.
Choosing Globalization Partners for your Colombia hiring outsourcing offers multiple benefits. First, we’ll help you find the top talent that will grow your subsidiary. Finding the best workers is especially crucial to get a new business in a new country off the ground.
You’ll also need extensive knowledge of Colombian employment compliance to pay employees on time and make sure you are within every law. If you do not have the time or money to learn these ins and outs, Globalization Partners can help. We act as the Employer of Record, hiring employees on your behalf and assuming the risk. Our wealth of knowledge ensures your subsidiary will always be compliant.
If you are ready to hire employees in Colombia, contact Globalization Partners today. We’ll help you get the top talent you need and make sure your subsidiary succeeds.
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