New employee
Sign the contract, complete social-security affiliation and set prima and cesantías accruals.
Colombia EOR Guide
Hiring in Colombia: employment contract, social security and statutory pay
Colombian employment cost is not twelve monthly salaries. The Código Sustantivo del Trabajo adds statutory extra pay and severance savings, and the employer must affiliate the worker to social security before work starts.
Employment system
What shapes a Colombia hiring plan
ContractDocument the employment relationship in writing
Social securityAffiliate health, pension and occupational-risk coverage
PrimaBudget the statutory service bonus
CesantíasAccrue severance savings and the related interest
These are planning inputs. Employee category, location, compensation, immigration status, collective terms and later rule changes can alter the required process.
Hiring decision
Put statutory annual items on the calendar before approving monthly pay
Contractor draft
Test direction, tools and dependence before using a services invoice.
Existing Colombian payroll
Reconcile PILA, payroll and statutory-payment dates each cycle.
Country-specific workflow
The records and decisions that need separate review
The Código Sustantivo del Trabajo is the employment baseline
The Ministry of Labour and the official compilation of the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo set written employment terms, working time, leave, prima de servicios and cesantías. A services invoice does not rewrite a relationship that meets the employment tests.
Record salary, transportation allowance where it applies, and variable pay so statutory items can be calculated from the correct base.
Primary reference: Ministry of Labour
Statutory extra pay and cesantías sit outside monthly salary
Prima de servicios is a statutory annual payment, commonly treated as 30 days of salary per year and paid in two instalments. Cesantías are an annual severance-savings item deposited to the worker's fund, with a related interest payment to the worker.
Ministry of Labour guidance reminds employers of the cesantías deposit deadline in February. Accrue both items through the year; do not treat June, December or February as surprise spikes.
Primary reference: SUIN-Juriscol — Código Sustantivo del Trabajo
Social-security affiliation is a pre-start control
Employers affiliate workers to health, pension and occupational-risk administrators and declare contributions through the integrated payroll form. UGPP oversees social-security contribution duties.
Health, family-compensation and training levies can change with exemptions and occupational-risk class. Confirm the worker's IBC, risk class and any exemption before locking an employer-cost percentage.
Primary reference: UGPP
Control points
What to catch before onboarding
Each item can change the budget, start date or employing route.
Budgeting only twelve monthly salaries
Starting work before social-security affiliation
Paying prima or cesantías from an incomplete salary base
Using a services contract for a directed, full-time role
Primary sources
Official references for Colombia
Open the current authority guidance before making a final employment, payroll, tax or immigration decision.
Reference links checked: 30 September 2026. General operational information; confirm the current requirements for the worker and engagement.
Plan the hire
Review the Colombia case before the offer goes out.
Share the work location, role, compensation, worker status, target date and any immigration dependency. We will identify the employing path and open verification items.