Great talent is everywhere. If you’re looking to hire remote talent globally, look no further than Venezuela. Situated on the northern coast of South America, Venezuela has excellent access to the east coast of the United States, the Panama Canal, Central America, and the Caribbean making remote, global work entirely possible across multiple continents and time zones.
For employers looking to tap into Venezuelan talent, hiring employees may seem like a complex process — however, it doesn’t have to be. An Employer Of Record (EOR) can be ideal for companies looking to hire and pay talent around the world without legal and administrative hassle. To overcome the nuances in Venezuelan working culture and to ensure a seamless process, work with an EOR. This article will walk you through the reasons, processes, and advantages of hiring employees in Venezuela through an EOR.
Why Hire Talent in Venezuela?
Expanding into Venezuelan markets means opening up your company to a diverse, hardworking talent pool of individuals hit hard by economic times, making the opportunity to access work beyond the confines of their geographic location particularly attractive. What’s more, Venezuela shares an Eastern Time Zone during eight months of the year, meaning that between March – October Venezuela-based employees are in the same time zone as individuals in major North American cities like New York City and Toronto. This means the onboarding process and day-to-day working operations of your Venezuela-based employees can more easily integrate into your operations on home soil.
How Can I Legally Hire an Employee in Venezuela?
To hire new employees in Venezuela, your business must have a local legal entity. The process of establishing a local entity can be complex, time-consuming, and expensive. Doing so is only worth it if you are planning 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 within. It will already have an entity set up and the legal framework in place to do the hiring for you. This gives you more time to focus on managing relationships with your employees and growing your business. Going through an EOR is a simple way to hire talent in Venezuela 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 Venezuela 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.
To learn more, check out our article on everything there is to know about EORs.
Contracts and Documentation
An EOR will handle the tedious administration involved in preparing contracts. Working with an EOR will guarantee that employment contracts are compliant with Swiss regulations. EORs will also help collect the correct documentation, such as employment offers, signed contracts, banking information, and more. This way, you can focus on growing your business and connecting with your employees.
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
In Venezuela, employees are entitled to 15 days of vacation plus one additional day for each year of service, up to 30 days. In addition, Venezuela has 15 public and religious holidays, which your employees may be granted the day off work or qualify for overtime pay. As of 2023, these include:
- January 1: New Year’s Day
- February 20 – 21: Carnival
- April 6: Maundy Thursday
- April 7: Good Friday
- April 19: Independence Declaration Day
- May 1: Labor Day
- June 24: St. John’s Day
- July 5: Independence Day
- July 24: Simon Bolivar’s Birthday
- August 15: Assumption Day
- October 12: Indigenous Resistance Day
- November 6: All Saint’s Day
- December 24: Christmas Eve
- December 25: Christmas Day
- December 31: New Year’s Eve
An EOR will help companies navigate the public holidays in Venezuela and keep track of paid time off and different types of leave.
Taxes
Employees in Venezuela contribute 6% in personal income tax which includes a mandatory social security contribution, an employment benefit, a housing contribution, an employee training contribution and a workplace prevention, conditions and environmental contribution. Employers are responsible for contributing 15.75% – 27% to the same funds. Understanding the tax laws in Venezuela can be a long and complicated process, but it is necessary to ensure you are paying employees compliantly and abiding by local Swiss laws. Thankfully, 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, everything else will fall to you as the employer. You take care of your global staff in the same way you would your local hires. That means search and recruitment, company onboarding, training, management, day-to-day communications, progress tracking and so on. With an EOR taking care of the legal complexities, you’re able to focus on building connections with your remote staff.
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 Venezuela?
Using an EOR to hire talent in Venezuela will save you time, reduce costs, and mitigate risks.
Setting up an entity for hiring in Venezuela is time-consuming and frankly, can be a huge headache. Since the EOR is already set up to hire employees in the country, 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. Most importantly though, you’ll be mitigating the risks associated with non-compliance. Because EORs have extensive experience 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?
Before selecting a vendor, consider these 4 things:
- Local Experience: Does the EOR have experience hiring in Venezuela? 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, 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: It’s critical to keep systems secure in a remote work environment, so look for a vendor that outlines ways they plan to keep information sensitive and secure.
- Collaboration: Ensure your vendor’s approach to communication and collaboration with its clients is aligned with your organization’s approach. Love having a point of contact person? 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 establish a business entity in Venezuela – giving you access to a massive talent pool without all 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 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.
