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Are you planning a company expansion into the Dominican Republic? An Employer of Record in the Dominican Republic can help. Expansions generally require capital and skillful labor, alongside an in-depth understanding of the local market. Still, the more traditional method for foreign market entry can be capital-intensive and inefficient.
For example, some companies spend many months creating and registering an entity or subsidiary in a new country. Later, these companies have to contend with hiring compliantly, documenting employment contracts, ensuring tax compliance, and administering workers’ benefits. Everyday administrative tasks like these can slow down core business activities and stifle growth.
As a result, many companies now prefer an Employer of Record (EOR) service like INS Global when expanding into the Dominican Republic. EOR services allow you to compliantly hire or dispatch workers in the Dominican Republic and onboard them in days—instead of months. After that, you can assign tasks to your new employees, like other team members.
In addition, your EOR partner can handle the following responsibilities on your behalf:
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Company incorporation is a known expansion route, but it may not be the best way to grow for you or your needs. Incorporation is helpful when you must have complete operational control and ownership. Otherwise, the process can be time-consuming, and you are liable for all legal and regulatory compliance, tax obligations, and administrative overheads.
Alternatively, an EOR allows you to expand your operations and start hiring safely and quickly. Your EOR partner becomes responsible for issuing contracts, onboarding hires, managing payroll, and fulfilling legal and tax obligations.
As a result, a reputable EOR like INS Global is helpful for:
The Advantage in Figures
PEO/EOR
Company Incorporation
Price
80% Less Expensive
Market Entry
2-5 Days
6 Months
Assured Legal Compliance
Dealing with complex foreign labor laws can be challenging. An EOR service minimizes your company’s legal burden by adhering to local tax and labor regulations.
Reduced Cost And Time
Outsourcing employment-related functions such as payroll administration, benefits management, and HR administration saves time and money.
Focus On Company Growth
For companies that may not have the budget or staffing to operate entire HR departments that can manage HR operations for overseas workers, PEOs provide all the services required to function efficiently.
Fast Market Entry
You can safely transfer employment-related risks to an EOR partner and decrease the threats posed by costly legal disputes and reputational damage.
One Platform For Everything
Access a wide range of countries and regions through an EOR partner with a global presence. Integrate your payroll and HR into one single and easy-to-use platform
Our EOR manages your employee recruitment or assignment needs in the Dominican Republic in 4 steps:
1
We discuss your business requirements and employment needs to help us develop a custom plan made uniquely for you.
2
Next, we provide a legal entity for hiring in the Dominican Republic so you can recruit or dispatch workers without the need for a new local structure.
3
Immediately, INS Global handles liability for HR administration and legal compliance with tax and labor law in the Dominican Republic as it relates to your operations.
4
You can focus on managing the day-to-day employee contributions toward your growth.
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and an Employer of Record provide many similar services but the two services remain distinct in some key ways.
PEOs in the Dominican Republic provide HR services, including payroll, benefits administration, and employee recruiting as a co-employer. Engaging a PEO means outsourcing your HR duties and sharing employment-related risks and liabilities with a co-employer.
In contrast, an EOR becomes the legal employer and hires on behalf of the client company in the Dominican Republic. EOR service providers then become responsible for employment-related risk and compliance with labor laws and payroll taxes.
Check Our Latests Labor Law Guides
Learn how the Labor Law Guide is applied in all aspects and situations, from both the employer and employee perspectives.
Employment contracts in the Dominican Republic may be verbal or written. Written agreements are recommended since they foster a clear and sound work relationship.
At least 80% of a company’s workforce must be Dominican nationals. Similarly, at least 80% of a company’s payroll (with the exception of salaries for technical or executive positions) must correspond to wages earned by Dominicans.
Employers are required to keep the following records on a permanent basis:
These records are admissible evidence that may be presented in court against claims by employees.
Any party of the employment contract in the Dominican Republic can terminate it unilaterally without specifying a cause. However, both employer and employee are required to provide a prior-termination notice period depending on the length of the employment as follows:
Length of Employment | Minimum Advance Notice |
From 3 to 6 months | 7 days |
From 6 months to 12 months | 14 days |
More than 12 months | 28 days |
Employers are required to make a severance payment for terminating employment contracts without cause, as detailed below:
Length of Employment | Severance Pay |
3 to 6 months | 6 days’ salary |
From 6 months to 1 year | 13 days’ salary |
From 1 year to 5 years | 21 days’ salary per year of employment |
More than 5 years | 23 days’ salary per year of employment |
Working Hours In the Dominican Republic
An employee required to work during his weekly rest period is entitled to a 100% premium on his salary for his or given compensatory time off the following week.
Work exceeding 44 hours a week is considered overtime and is paid with a 35% premium over regular hours. Work hours over 68 hours a week are paid at a 100% premium. Overtime pay does not apply to managers.
Employer and employee are free to negotiate salary, but the agreed figure cannot be less than the legally-established minimum salary.
The National Salary Committee establishes minimum salaries in the Dominican Republic, and the figure varies according to business size or industry type. The current private sector minimum salaries in Dominican pesos (DOP) are:
Business Size or Industry | Monthly Minimum Salary in DOP |
Large business | 12,872 |
Medium-sized business | 8,849 |
Small business | 7,843 |
Free trade zones | 8,310 |
Tourism industry | 9,005 |
Farm workers | 267 per day |
Businesses with installations and inventory exceeding 4 million DOP are categorized as large. Meanwhile, those with installations and inventory between 2 – 4 million DOP are medium-sized. Businesses with less than 2 million DOP are small.
Public Holidays in the Dominican Republic
Employees in the Dominican Republic are eligible for paid leave on the country’s 10 nationally recognized public holidays:
Every employee in the country receives a “Christmas salary” on or before December 20th, in addition to their regular salary. However, the Labor Code establishes a maximum Christmas Salary as 5 times the minimum wage.
Still, many employers waive this limitation and pay employees who have worked the whole year a full extra month’s salary. This extra salary is tax-exempt.
Annual Leave in the Dominican Republic
An employee is eligible for annual paid vacation leave as follows:
The employer is required to pay the vacation salary a day before vacation begins.
In addition, the Labor Code allows employees paid time off or leave of absence in the following scenarios:
Sick Leave & Maternity/ Paternity Leave in the Dominican Republic
Employees in the Dominican Republic can obtain sick leave with proof of illness, but there is no mandatory paid sick leave.
Pregnant employees are entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave with 6 weeks leading up to the expected birth date and 6 weeks after.
After childbirth, the employee is entitled to 3 rest periods of 20 minutes each per workday for breastfeeding the infant, and to half a workday every month to allow for visits to the pediatrician.
Male employees are allowed 2 days off after the birth of their child.
Employers are obligated to share 10% of their annual pretax profits (if any) with their employees. However, the Labor Code allows employers to cap profit sharing as follows:
Profitable companies must pay employees within a 90 to 120-day period after the end of the company’s fiscal year.
However, specific industries, such as agricultural, industrial, forestry, mining companies, and free trade zone businesses, are exempt from profit sharing during the first three years of operation.
The country’s social security system considers 3 types of assistance, namely:
Employers and employees fund the system by paying a percentage of employee’s salaries as described below:
Benefit | Employee Contribution | Employer Contribution |
Health Insurance | 7.09% | 3.04% |
Risk Insurance | 0% | 1.2% + 0.6 (variable) |
Incapacity/Retirement Fund | 7.10% | 2.87% |
Income tax in the Dominican Republic is progressive, with workers paying a tax percentage in proportion to their income level, ranging from 0% to 25%.
The country imposes a value-added tax (VAT) on some goods and services. The standard VAT tax rate is 18%.
The corporate tax rate in the Dominican Republic is 27%.
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faqs
No, it is necessary to use a local entity abroad to comply with each country labor law.
The employer of record is the legal entity liable for the staff employed in a specific country. In practice, a foreign company can either open a subsidiary to become the employer of record of its abroad employees or use a PEO to act as the employer of record.
The National Salary Committee establishes minimum salaries in the Dominican Republic, and the figure varies according to business size or industry type as described below (salaries are in Dominican pesos):
There are many types of visas available to applicants when traveling to the Dominican Republic. The most commonly applicable visa for work purposes are:
Employers are required to make a severance payment for terminating employment contracts without cause depending on the employees’ duration of service as detailed below:
A Global Employer of Record is an effective solutions for companies like yours that are looking to expand a workforce abroad effortlessly.
This approach allows you to outsource the international hiring process quickly and efficiency, providing access to a global talent pool while still managing payroll compliance in each country.
Public Holidays Calendar
Dominican Republic
| Date | Day | Holiday |
| 1 Jan 2025 | Wednesday | New Year’s Day |
| 6 Jan 2025 | Monday | Epiphany |
| 21 Jan 2025 | Tuesday | Our Lady of Altagracia |
| 26 Jan 2025 | Sunday | Duarte’s Day |
| 27 Feb 2025 | Thursday | Independence Day |
| 18 Apr 2025 | Friday | Good Friday |
| 5 May 2025 | Monday | Labour Day |
| 19 Jun 2025 | Thursday | Corpus Christi |
| 16 Aug 2025 | Saturday | Restoration Day |
| 24 Sep 2025 | Wednesday | Our Lady of Mercedes Day |
| 10 Nov 2025 | Monday | Constitution Day |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Thursday | Christmas Day |
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