Hire and pay employees in
Guatemala, hassle-free
With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Guatemala. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.
The average onboarding time frame in Guatemala is 10 days with Deel.
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Currency
Guatemalan Quetzal

Capital
Guatemala City
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Official Language
Spanish
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Payroll Cycle
Monthly
Onboard, pay and manage employees in Guatemala with Deel.
Usually, to hire in Guatemala, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.
Deel lets you hire employees in Guatemala quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.
All the necessary benefits for Guatemala
built right in
Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in Guatemala within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.
- National Industrial Training Fund
- Social Security
- Private Healthcare - Allianz (optional)
- Global Life Insurance - Allianz
Our quickstart guide to hiring in Guatemala
Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in Guatemala
Minimum Wage Requirements
Individual Income Tax
Payroll Cost
The employer cost is generally estimated at 29.3% of the employee's salary.
- Social Security (IGSS): 10.67%
- Workers Recreational Institute (IRTRA): 1%
- Professional Training Institute (INTECAP): 1%
- 13th Bonus: 8.33%
- Christmas bonus: 8.33%
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One-off administrative registration costs: USD 45
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One-off Mandatory Wet Ink Employment Agreement Handling Fee - 80 USD
These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.
Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours
Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard work week is from Monday to Friday. However, it is also common practice for employees to have a working week of 44 hours.
Overtime payment is mandatory and may be included in the salary. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. Employees can work a maximum of 4 hours of overtime a day. For additional hours, employees are paid:
- 150% of the hourly rate
- 200% of the hourly rate for work on official holidays, annual leaves, or regular leaves and an additional day of leave
Maternity Leave
Paternity Leave
Parental Leave
Sick Leave
Termination Requirements
Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.
Terminations in Guatemala are complex. There is no at-will termination in Guatemala for employers outside the probation period, and termination must be done for just cause.
Compliant terminations include:
- Voluntarily by the employee
- By mutual agreement
- Unilaterally by the employer based on:
- probation period
- objective grounds
- disciplinary dismissal
- performance due to unsuitability for the job
- By the expiration of the contract
Notice Period
The minimum notice period will vary according to the length of the employment and type of termination, between 1 week to 1 month.
Severance for Employees
Paid Time Off
Full-time employees are entitled to 15 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year after a year of continuous work. PTO accrues monthly at 1.25 days per month. Employees are eligible for annual leave after 12 months of work. Part-time employees’ leave is pro-rata to the time worked.
PTO in Guatemala includes public holidays
Public Holidays
Guatemala celebrates 12 national holidays:
- New Years Day
- Maundy Thursday
- Easter Friday
- Easter Saturday
- Labour Day Holiday
- Army Day
- Independence Day
- Revolution Day
- All Saints' Day
- Christmas Eve (Half Day)
- Christmas Day
- New Year's Eve (Half Day)
In Guatemala, all cities have their own holiday for their patron saint
Onboarding
Employment Contract Details
Contracts must be in Spanish and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.
A contract must include:
- name
- start date
- length of the employment
- job description
- termination conditions
Probation Period
Hiring in Guatemala, hassle-free
With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Guatemala with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in Guatemala and 150+ countries.
Starting at 599 USD
Management fee
29.3%
Estimate Employer Cost
*of employee salary
Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in Guatemala?
View our Employee Cost Calculator+
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