Employer of Record in Panama

What it costs and what the law requires to employ someone in Panama through an EOR, with every figure cited to a primary source.

Best fits

Best EOR providers for one employee in Panama

Ranked the way Get matched ranks a hire: employing through its own entity in Panama, a lower published fee and no deposit, each read from the provider's own pages. A provider whose referral program pays us carries a labeled referral boost, and the few providers we do not work with are listed below, never among these three.

Set team size or visa need, and get quotesStill looking for the person? Ask for candidates tooHow referral programs affect ranking

Hiring demand

Remote jobs open only to people in Panama

Companies hiring remotely for a role that must be based in Panama need someone employed there. Without an entity of their own in Panama, an employer of record is how they do it.

Companies hiring full-time
24↗
Contract roles
9↗

Panama ranks #68 of 177 countries↗ for full-time remote jobs open only to its residents. Most hired fields: Sales, Customer Service, Human Resources.

Counted daily from job postings on Himalayas, a remote job board: a job counts for a country when it accepts applicants based only there. Counting began Oct 29, 2026; a job posted before then counts if it was still open that day. Last updated Nov 11, 2026.

Cost of employment

What an employer pays in Panama

The statutory employer contributions that sit on top of gross salary, each cited.

Rates are the statutory employer contributions; the total employer burden in Panama is ~14.75% employer: social security (CSS) 13.25% (from 1 April 2025) plus educational insurance 1.50% on wages. A separate professional-risk premium (variable by risk class) also applies.↗. Confirm the current rates for your case before hiring. Compare employer costs in every country.

Total cost

What an EOR really costs in Panama

The full cost to employ combines gross salary, the statutory employer burden, and the EOR provider's own service fee.

The total cost to employ someone in Panama through an EOR is their gross salary, plus ~14.75% employer: social security (CSS) 13.25% (from 1 April 2025) plus educational insurance 1.50% on wages. A separate professional-risk premium (variable by risk class) also applies.↗ in mandatory employer contributions, plus a per-employee service fee from the provider. Across the 56 of 93 providers that publish a fee, the median is $349/employee/month (from $99 to $740); the rest quote per country.

Flat-rate illustration at a $100,000↗ salary
Gross salary
$100,000↗
Employer statutory contributions (~14.75%↗)
$14,750
EOR service fee (median $349/mo)
$4,188
Illustrative annual budget
$118,938

This illustration applies the representative rate to the full salary. It does not apply contribution caps, local-currency thresholds or employee eligibility rules, so it is not a payroll quote. Actual cost depends on the salary, the provider, and country-specific quotes; some countries also add mandatory items such as 13th-month pay or severance accruals. Run your own numbers in the calculator.

Providers

EOR providers that employ in Panama

Each provider below names Panama on its own website as a country where it offers Employer of Record. Cheapest published starting fee first.

27 providers name Panama on their own websites as a country where they offer EOR. Published starting fees among them run from $199 /mo↗ (Asanify, Gloroots, RemoFirst and 2 more) to $699 /mo↗ (Oyster HR and Safeguard Global); 4 quote Panama on request. 1 of them says it employs here through its own entity.

Not sure which one fits? We rank these providers for your team size and visa needs, and get you quotes from the ones you pick.

Get matched

Before you sign with one of them: the questions worth asking each provider. Already employing someone in Panama through an employer of record? Check what you pay against these fees.

A listing is the provider's own statement that it can employ in Panama, read on its site on Nov 9, 2026. Fees are each provider's cheapest published rate, not a quote for Panama. We read the country lists and country pages of all 93 providers we track; 78 name the countries they serve, and a provider that does not name Panama on its own site is not shown here, even where it may serve it. Confirm availability for your role and contract type before signing.

Employment law

Statutory rules in Panama

The employment terms an employer must meet, each linked to the source that states it.

Paying someone in Panama as a contractor instead? The law looks at how the work runs, not at what the contract calls it. Check whether the role is employment.

Hiring

How to hire in Panama

Two ways to put someone on payroll here.

Use an employer of record

An EOR already has an entity in Panama and employs your worker on your behalf, handling payroll, tax and the statutory terms above. Fastest way to hire without incorporating.

Compare EOR providers
Economy

Panama at a glance

World Bank indicators (2025) for context on the labour market.

GNI per capita (Atlas method)
$19,140↗
GDP per capita
$19,790↗
GDP (current US$)
$90.5B↗
GDP growth
4.4%↗
Inflation, consumer prices
-0.2%↗
Population, total
4.6M↗
Population ages 15-64
65.8%↗
Urban population
66.2%↗
Labour force, total
2.3M↗
Labour force participation rate
66.3%↗
Female labour participation rate
54.9%↗
Male labour participation rate
77.9%↗
Unemployment rate
8.4%↗
Wage & salaried workers
59.4%↗
Self-employed
40.6%↗
Questions

Hiring in Panama: FAQ

How much does it cost to employ someone in Panama?

On top of gross salary, mandatory employer contributions in Panama run ~14.75% employer: social security (CSS) 13.25% (from 1 April 2025) plus educational insurance 1.50% on wages. A separate professional-risk premium (variable by risk class) also applies.↗, made up of social security (CSS) 13.25% + Educational insurance 1.5% = 14.75%↗. An employer of record adds its own per-employee service fee on top; across the 56 of 93 providers that publish a fee, the median is $349 per employee per month.

What does an EOR charge to employ someone in Panama?

EOR service fees are billed per employee per month, on top of salary and statutory employer contributions in Panama. The contribution basis is ~14.75% employer: social security (CSS) 13.25% (from 1 April 2025) plus educational insurance 1.50% on wages. A separate professional-risk premium (variable by risk class) also applies.↗. Providers rarely publish a Panama-specific fee: across the 56 providers on our price board that publish a price, the median is $349 per employee per month (from $99 to $740), and the rest quote per country. Request a quote for Panama for an exact figure.

How much paid annual leave is mandatory in Panama?

Statutory paid annual leave in Panama is 30 days per 11 continuous months of work (paid as one month's salary)↗.

What is the statutory notice period in Panama?

The minimum employer notice period in Panama is 30 days (workers under 2 years of service and other Art. 212 exceptions)↗.

What is the minimum wage in Panama?

The statutory minimum wage in Panama is B/.1.95-3.70/hour (no single national rate)↗.

What is the maximum probation period in Panama?

The maximum statutory probation period in Panama is 3 months (only if special skill is needed; in the written contract)↗.

Which EOR providers can employ someone in Panama?

27 of the 93 providers we track name Panama on their own websites as a country where they offer Employer of Record. By published starting fee: Asanify from $199 /mo↗, Gloroots from $199 /mo↗, RemoFirst from $199 /mo↗, Skuad (Payoneer) from $199 /mo↗, Thera from $199 /mo↗, and 18 more with a published fee; 4 quote Panama on request. Each provider's listing is its own claim, so confirm availability for your role and contract type before signing.

How many companies are hiring remotely in Panama?

In the 30↗ days to Nov 11, 2026, 24 companies↗ posted 50↗ full-time remote jobs open only to people based in Panama on the Himalayas job board, plus 9↗ contract roles, which ranks Panama #68 of 177 countries↗. The most hired fields are Sales, Customer Service, Human Resources. A company hiring this way without its own entity in Panama employs through an employer of record.

Do I need a local entity to hire an employee in Panama?

No. An employer of record (EOR) already holds a legal entity in Panama and can employ your worker there on your behalf, running local payroll, tax and compliance, so you can hire without setting up your own entity. That settles the employment side only: what the person does for your company (signing or negotiating its contracts, running a sales team, working from one place for most of the year) can still make your company taxable in Panama as a permanent establishment, whoever employs them.

When a hire abroad makes your company taxable there

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