Employer of Record (EOR) in Colombia

Hire in Colombia in days, with no entity and no exposure to getting Código Sustantivo del Trabajo compliance wrong. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for you in Colombia

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your Colombian staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in Colombia without forming your own company.

In practice the EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Colombian legal entity and local expertise: a compliant employment contract under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo (CST), monthly payroll with income tax, pension, health, and ARL withholding, employer contributions and all statutory filings to UGPP, the employee’s EPS and pension fund, and DIAN, statutory benefits and leave, and compliant onboarding and lawful exits with the correct statutory severance, since Colombia has no general notice requirement but does require an indemnización for unjustified dismissal. You get a working team in days. The EOR carries the legal and compliance weight; you carry the commercial relationship. The only question worth spending time on is which partner is genuinely strong in Colombia, and that is the question we answer for you.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant Colombian employment contract under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, with all statutory terms correct from day one.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly payroll, income tax, pension, health, and ARL withholding, employer contributions, and all statutory filings to UGPP, the employee’s EPS and pension fund, and DIAN.

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits, annual leave, and lawful exits under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, including the severance (indemnización) due on unjustified dismissal. You get a working team in days; the EOR carries the legal weight.

How it works: four steps to a compliant hire

From first call to a compliant Colombian hire at work, usually in days.

01 – Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 – Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Colombian standards by the partner, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 – Onboard in days

A correct Colombian contract is issued under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, with all statutory terms from day one. Your hire can start in days.

04 – Payroll & compliance run

Income tax, pension, health, and ARL calculated and withheld, payslips issued, statutory filings made to UGPP, EPS, and DIAN. You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in Colombia costs

Two parts: the statutory cost of employing someone, and the EOR partner fee. In Colombia the statutory employer cost runs through four separate lines, pension, health, ARL, and parafiscales, rather than one combined tax. We make all four transparent before you commit, so there are no surprises.

Employer pension, health & ARL

Employer pension 12% plus employer health 8.5%, employer ARL workplace-risk insurance from 0.522% to 6.96% by risk class, plus employer parafiscales of SENA 2% and ICBF 3%, and Caja de Compensación Familiar 4%. The health and SENA/ICBF shares are exonerated for qualifying employers under Ley 1819 de 2016 on staff earning under 10x the minimum wage; Caja de Compensación is never exonerated. Predictable and fully costed before you commit.

Minimum wage (2026)

COP 1,750,905 per month (the SMMLV) for 2026, plus a mandatory COP 249,095/month transport subsidy for staff earning up to twice the minimum wage, one national rate with no regional variation.

Income tax (employee)

Progressive, keyed to the UVT (Unidad de Valor Tributaria, COP 52,374 for 2026): withholding starts once taxable pay exceeds 95 UVT (about COP 4,975,530/month), rising through marginal bands to a top rate of 39% on the highest incomes. Withheld monthly at source from the employee’s pay as an advance tax. Borne by the employee, not added to your cost.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in Colombia, by sector and by complexity. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

Colombia’s employer cost splits across four separate lines, pension, health, ARL, and parafiscales, each with its own rate and, in places, its own exemption rule, which makes it easy to under- or over-quote a monthly fee up front. We benchmark across our partner network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate on your behalf at renewal. Most companies do not know how much room there is to negotiate. We do.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across markets

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across global markets, with the local knowledge of the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, the pension/health/ARL contribution split, and Colombian severance rules that keeps you compliant.

  • EOR specialists
  • CST compliance
  • Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most companies use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own Colombian S.A.S. We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to entity path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

Why an EOR is the fastest compliant way into Colombia

Two things slow foreign employers down in Colombia: the time to register a company, and the risk of getting the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo’s severance and dismissal rules wrong. An EOR removes both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Compliance handled under one national Código Sustantivo del Trabajo. Colombian employment law requires mandatory pension, health, and ARL contributions, plus parafiscal payroll taxes, and dismissal without just cause triggers a statutory indemnización rather than a fixed notice period. An EOR carries all of it correctly from day one, so a wrong assumption never becomes a liability.

Operational in days, not weeks

Registering a company in Colombia through the Cámara de Comercio can take one to several weeks depending on the route, and you cannot legally employ anyone until that registration completes. An EOR removes that wait entirely: a compliant Colombian contract is issued and your hire starts in days. You prove the market first, then incorporate later only if the headcount justifies it. This is the real value of EOR in Colombia: speed into a market with a genuinely distinctive four-part employer-cost stack, with the compliance carried by an expert.

Everything your Colombian EOR covers

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Colombian contract

A compliant Colombian employment contract under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, issued and maintained for you.

Payroll, pension, health & ARL

Monthly payroll run, with income tax, pension, health, and ARL contributions calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: paid annual leave, public holidays, the prima de servicios (statutory mid-year and year-end bonus), cesantías (severance-savings), and maternity/paternity leave. Employee pension and health contributions run 4% and 4% of salary (plus a solidarity-fund surcharge above 4x the minimum wage), deducted from salary, not billed to you.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in Colombia.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the Colombian EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal employer obligations.

Usually within days once the role and salary are agreed, with a compliant Colombian contract from day one. Compare that to the one to several weeks a Cámara de Comercio registration can take, during which you cannot legally employ anyone.

It depends on salary level, since parts of the cost are exonerated below a threshold: broadly, employer pension 12%, employer health 8.5%, employer ARL from 0.522% to 6.96% by risk class, and employer parafiscales SENA 2%, ICBF 3%, and Caja de Compensación 4%. Health, SENA, and ICBF are often exonerated for qualifying employers under Ley 1819 de 2016; Caja de Compensación never is. Add the transparent EOR partner fee and you have your all-in cost.

Yes, when done properly. The EOR is a real Colombian legal employer meeting all Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, social-security, and tax obligations. The risk is using an under-resourced partner, which is exactly why we place you with vetted partners and stay on your side.

The compliant contract, monthly payroll (income tax, pension, health, and ARL withholding), employer contributions, statutory benefits and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with no hidden extras.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own Colombian S.A.S., and can support the incorporation itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Ready to hire in Colombia?

Tell us the role and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working in Colombia.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (DIAN, UGPP, Ministerio del Trabajo). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.