Great talent is everywhere. One popular outsourcing destination is Bolivia — offering a large pool of highly skilled professionals. However, it can be a challenge to hire international talent in compliance with the country’s rules and regulations.
An Employer Of Record (EOR) is ideal for companies looking to hire, pay, and manage talent around the world without the legal hassle.
This article will walk you through the reasons, processes, and advantages of hiring employees in Bolivia through an EOR.
Why Hire Talent in Bolivia?
Bolivia represents an often overlooked destination for outsourcing in Latin America. However, the country is home to a growing number of highly-skilled professionals, including in areas like IT and customer services.
Another advantage of hiring employees in Bolivia for companies based in the US and Canada is real-time collaboration. Bolivia’s time zones match up nicely with both the East and West coasts, allowing companies to integrate Bolivian staff into their meetings and processes seamlessly.
This is also true for culture and language. In addition to the various indigenous languages and Spanish, the country’s official language, many Bolivians speak fluent English. Plus, for companies working with the Spanish-speaking market, doing business in Bolivia can be a huge advantage.
Notably, cost plays a significant role when hiring Bolivian employees. Salaries remain well below the US and Canadian averages. So, it’s a good opportunity to save on human resources expenditures while employing some of the global top talent.
How Can I Legally Hire an Employee in Bolivia?
Things can get tricky if you want to compliantly hire talent in Bolivia on your own. Essentially, hiring in Bolivia requires companies to set up a local entity. The process can be a legal nightmare and may only be worth it if you are going to set up long-term operations in the country.
This is where EORs come in handy. An EOR acts as a broker for hiring talent outside of the country you legally operate in. It will already have an entity set up and the legal framework in place to do the hiring for you. You, on the other hand, will manage the relationship with your employees.
Going through an EOR is possibly the easiest way to hire talent in Bolivia without all the legal hassle.
What Does an EOR Do?
Simply put, EORs take care of the legal procedures while you manage your employees. The legal frameworks for hiring in Bolivia can be quite different from those in the US and Canada. EORs handle worker visas and work permits, employment contracts, payroll, local compliance, termination, and any other HR services.
For example, did you know that you need to pay a mandatory thirteenth-month bonus to employees in Bolivia? There is also a fourteenth month bonus if the country’s GDP is above 4.5%. EORs will take care of this and so much more.
Contracts and Documentation
An EOR will handle the tedious administration involved in preparing and collecting contracts and documentation. This includes employment offers, signed contracts, banking information, and more so you can focus on growing your business.
Employee Insurance and Benefits
When the world is your competition, it pays to incentivize new and existing hires with attractive benefits like medical, dental, vision and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. A comprehensive EOR will have those kinds of benefits built into its service offering.
Vacation and Public Holidays
Laws in Bolivia dictate that full-time employees are entitled to fifteen working days of paid time off per year after the first year of service. This number increases to twenty days after five years and thirty days after ten years. An EOR can keep track of all this and the corresponding payments for you.
In addition, Bolivia has certain statutory holidays that companies are obligated to provide to their employees.
- January 1: New Year’s Day
- January 23: Plurinational State Foundation Day
- Dates depend on Easter: Carnival Monday and Tuesday
- Friday before Easter Sunday: Good Friday (Western Christian)
- May 1: Labor Day
- Second Thursday after Pentecost: Corpus Christi
- June 21: Willkakuti
- August 6: Independence Day
- November 2: All Souls Day
- December 25: Christmas
Taxes
According to local labor law, employers in Bolivia pay a range of taxes or social security contributions, which are calculated based on the employee’s gross salary. These include social security, pension, and housing funds.
This can be a tedious process but is necessary to ensure you are paying employees in a compliant manner. As your business partner, an EOR can handle the logistics and ensure that payroll is processed properly and per the regulations in whichever country you are operating.
What Are Your Responsibilities?
While the EOR handles everything related to legal and HR processes, many aspects of the company’s workings fall under your purview. So, you take care of your staff in the same way you would with your local hires. That means search and recruitment, company onboarding, training, management, day-to-day communications, progress tracking, and so on, should be managed by you.
While the relationship with the employee won’t be all that different through an EOR, you need to be clear with your staff on the legalities of their contracts. Of course, retention is also up to you. You will need to consider how you help your staff grow and succeed in their new roles at your organization.
What Are the Advantages of Going Through an EOR in Bolivia?
Using an EOR to hire talent in Bolivia will save you time, reduce costs, and mitigate risks.
Setting up an entity for hiring in Bolivia is time-consuming and can be a huge headache. Since the EOR is already set up to hire employees in your country of choice, it will be faster and easier to start hiring right away. In fact, the process won’t be that much different from hiring locally.
The set-up and HR costs can also be quite high, so going through an EOR can save you money. You will also be paying lower salaries than you would be in the US and Canada, so you’re bound to see some positive impact on your bottom line.
Most importantly though, you’ll be mitigating the risks associated with non-compliance. Because EORs have extensive experience in navigating complex local HR policies, you won’t have to worry about any issues arising from improper hiring practices.
How Do I Choose the Right EOR for Me?
There are a few key things to consider when you are selecting an EOR in Bolivia.
- Local Experience: Does the EOR have experience hiring in Bolivia? As discussed earlier, one of the biggest advantages of hiring an EOR is the assurance of compliance. Often, this requires a lot of past experience, so check the EOR’s track record in the country.
- Service Scale: Do you need someone who offers a full suite of services? If you want happy employees that you can retain in the long run, then you may need to offer them benefits like insurance and other welfare. Some EORs have systems in place for this but others may not. Also, certain EORs will offer consulting services to optimize your global hiring practices.
- Data and Systems Security: Protecting intellectual property in a remote working environment is critical. Ensure your vendor of choice has a specific agreement outlining the ways in which they plan to keep your sensitive information safe and secure.
- Collaboration: Ensure your vendor’s approach to communication and collaboration with its clients is aligned with your organization’s approach. Prefer having a quick and easy point of contact? Perhaps all you need is access to a Slack channel so you can quickly reach your vendor. Whatever your communication style, ensure your vendor can meet your needs.
Borderless: The Employer of Record Your Company Needs
Need an EOR? Look no further than Borderless. We can help you hire employees in Bolivia – giving you access to a massive talent pool without the headaches of traditional global expansion.
Book a demo today and see how we can help you quickly and easily hire, onboard, pay, and retain the Bolivia-based talent your organization needs.
Disclaimer
Borderless does not provide legal services or legal advice to anyone. This includes customers, contractors, employees, partners, and the general public. We are not lawyers or paralegals. Please read our full disclaimer here.
