Employer Record in Uruguay

Basic information

Capital:Montevideo

Time zone: GMT-3

Languages: Spanish

Currency code:UYU

Human Resources at a Glance 

Contract Terms

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

Guidelines Regarding Probation Period/Trial Period

Probation periods are not mandatory. The maximum probation period is 90 days.

Regulations and Rules Regarding Working Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday.

Overtime is paid according to the following rates

Wages in excess of the legal working hours shall be doubled, and overtime pay on non-working days shall be 2.5 times that of normal working days.

Minimum Wage Requirements

Uruguay’s minimum wage is 19,364 pesos.

Payroll Cost for Employers

The employer cost is generally estimated at 15.85% of the employee salary:

Monthly Costs

• Social Security (BPS) – 7.5%*
• Health Insurance (FONASA) – 5%
• Additional Fund (FRL) – 0.1%
• Guarantee Fund (FGL) – 0.025%
• Accident Insurance – 3.23%

*up to a maximum salary of UYU 236,309.

Annual Costs

• 13th Month Salary – 1 month basic salary
• 14th Month Salary (Vacation Bonus) – One day’s net compensation earned in the previous year for each day of time off taken

Termination

Grounds

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 Uruguay can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Uruguay 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

Notice period is not mandatory and will depend on what is agreed by both parties in the employment agreement.

Severance compensation

In Uruguay, all employees who are not terminated due to disciplinary breach during the probation period, or a fixed-term contract ending, are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay is one month of salary per year of service up to 6 months base compensation.

Payment & leave Compensation & Holidays

SalaryPayment

Monthly

Payslip Payroll

No explicit provision.

Annual Leave

Both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 20 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.67 days per month.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to unlimited paid sick leave. The first 3 days are unpaid and considered as a qualifying period. After day 3, the leave is paid at 70% by social security.

Maternity & Parental Leave

Pregnant employees are entitled to 14 weeks of paid leave. Forty-two days must be taken before the child’s birth but can be delayed until two weeks before birth if a medical certificate is presented and if there has been no absence due to medical reasons within the period of pregnancy. The employee will receive 100% of their average salary from the last six months, and Social Security will be responsible for this pay.

Employees are entitled to work 50% of the week for the first six months after birth. Either parent can take parental leave. Social security will pay 100% of the average salary during this period. Parental leave can’t be extended.

Tax and Social Security Information

Personal Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 0% to 36%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. Multiple additional factors may impact overall rates such as the household status and the number of children.

Social security

• Social Security
• Workers Compensation Insurance
• Private Healthcare – Unisure (optional)
• Private Healthcare – Allianz (optional)

Public Holidays 2024