Colombia is a Latin American country surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, Panama, North Pacific, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru. The country has Petroleum, natural gas, coal, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, and hydropower. It has a fertile land of 37.5 percent of its total landmass with 54.4% being forested area. The largest ethnic groups are Mestizo and white (84.2 percent), followed by Afro-Colombian(10.4 percent). 79 percent of Colombians are Roman Catholics. It is governed by a presidential republic government.
Colombia is South America’s oldest democratic state. It has seen problems in the form of drug-funded guerilla attacks from Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that caused numerous casualties numbering in the hundreds of thousands. It comes in third after Brazil and Argentina in terms of economic power and relies on petroleum, coffee and cut flower exports. It enjoys the benefits of free trade agreements with many Pacific nations including the United States. The combined value of imports and exports is equal to 35 percent of the country’s GDP.
Employment contracts concluded for an indefinite term are considered permanent in Colombia. The Substantive Labor Code does not prohibit the use of fixed-term contracts for tasks of a permanent nature. Unless otherwise stipulated, any contract made for an indefinite duration or without a defined term continues to be in effect for as long as the purpose for its creation and the subject matter of the work persists. Fixed-term employment contracts that exceed 4 years and/or are not in writing are considered to be for an indefinite term from the start of the employment relationship.
Although Colombia's Labor Code allows both oral and written contracts, fixed-term contracts must be in writing and are applicable for a term of no more than 4 years, including renewals.
Under the law, all personal employment relationships must be governed by an employment contract, which, like all other contracts, must be executed in good faith.
The Code states that employment contracts concluded in writing are to be made in multiple copies for the employee and the employer. The agreement must include the following information:
Identification and domicile of the parties
The place and date of the signing of the contract
The place of work
The nature of work
The amount of remuneration, its form, and the periods of payment
Any other allowances included in the salary
Any non-salary payments
The length of the probationary period
Duration of the contract and conditions of termination
Employers can include a non-competition clause that requires an employee to agree not to work in a certain activity or not to provide their services to the employer's competitors, once their employment contract has concluded. However, this clause has no legal effect, except for 1 year in case of technical, industrial, or agricultural employees, in which case compensation must be agreed upon for the period of abstention, which in no case can be less than half the salary.
A temporary services company is defined as one that contracts the provision of services with third-party beneficiaries to collaborate temporarily in the development of its activities through the work carried out by natural persons hired directly by the temporary services company, which has with respect to these the character of the employer. Users are defined as any natural or legal person who contracts the services of temporary service companies. Temporary contracts may only be used in the following circumstances:
For services required on an occasional, accidental, or transitory basis (for a maximum of 30 days)
To replace employees of the user firm who are on vacation, maternity, or sickness leave (for the time required to cover the leave)
To respond to an increase in production, transport, sales of goods, stationary periods of harvest, and in the provision of services (for 6 months, renewable for another 6 months)
If, upon the expiration of the term or fulfillment of the conditions outlined above, the specific reason that necessitated the contracted services still exists within the user company, the user cannot extend that particular service with the same agency nor engage another temporary employment agency for the same purpose. If the time limits are transgressed, the user company will be considered the true employer of the temporary workers.
The contracts entered into between temporary service companies and users must be in writing and state that the temporary service company will be subject to the provisions of the law for purposes of payment of wages, social benefits, overtime, day and night surcharges, Sundays, and holidays. The contract with the temporary worker must specify the reason for their employment, in the course of the commercial relationship between the user company and the temporary services company.
The Labor Code of Colombia requires the probationary period to be stipulated in writing. The maximum duration of the probationary period is 2 months. When the probationary period is agreed upon for a period shorter than the maximum limit, the parties may extend it before the initially stipulated period expires, provided that the total trial time does not exceed the maximum limit.
Either party may unilaterally terminate the employment contract at any time during the probationary period without incurring penalties or obligations, and without prior notice.
Effective July 15, 2026, the maximum working hours for adults are 42 per week (down from 44 prior to that date). The number of hours of daily work can be distributed in a variable manner during the respective week, having a minimum of 4 continuous hours and a maximum of up to 8 hours per day without any surcharge for supplementary work, provided the number of working hours does not exceed the average of 42 weekly hours.
The maximum working duration for minors is as follows:
Persons between 15 and 17 years of age can work a maximum of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week
Persons over 17 years of age can work a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week
When the nature of the work does not require continuous activity, and it is carried out in shifts, the duration of the workday can be extended to more than 8 hours, or 42 hours per week, provided that the average working hours do not exceed 8 hours per day or 42 per week.
Effective April 2022, Colombia enacted Decree 555 to regulate remote work. Furthermore, employees and public servants have the right to disconnect from work, which begins once the working day is over. The employer must guarantee that the work and public servants can effectively and fully enjoy rest time, licenses, permits, vacations, and their personal and family life.
Colombia's labor law provides 15 consecutive working days of paid annual leave (one and two-thirds of a day for every month of service), after completion of 12 months of continuous service. Employer and employee can agree in writing, upon request of the employee, that up to half of the vacations be paid in money.
The amount of the annual leave benefit is equal to the basic salary that the employee was earning the day on which the annual leave started. Payment for annual leave for employees with a variable salary is calculated as the average wage earned in the year immediately preceding the year in which annual leave commences.
Employees must take at least 6 continuous working days of vacation annually, which are not cumulative. However, the parties may agree to accumulate remaining leave for up to 2 years. The accumulation may be for up to 4 years, when it comes to technical, specialized, trusted, management employees or foreign employees who provide their services in places other than the residence of their relatives.
According to Colombia's labor code, an employee is entitled to sick leave of up to 180 days (6 months) in the case of a non-occupational injury or disease. The law provides paid sick leave as follows:
2/3 (66.67%) of wages during the first 90 days of sick leave, and
1/2 (50%) of wages during the remaining period of sick leave
The state health system is responsible for payment during non-occupational sickness leave. The benefits are paid through the state social security system that is funded through employees' (4% of monthly earnings) and employers' (8.5% of payroll) contributions.
Female employees are entitled to 18 weeks of maternity leave with full pay, including 1 week of prenatal and 17 weeks of post-natal leave. If, for any medical reason, the expectant mother requires an additional week prior to delivery, she may take 2 weeks, with 16 weeks postpartum. If, in a different case, for a medical reason, she cannot take the week prior to delivery, she may take the 18 weeks immediately postpartum. Maternity leave can be extended up to 2 additional weeks in case of multiple births. In the case of miscarriage and premature birth, a female employee is entitled to paid leave of 2 to 4 weeks.
The leave is fully paid through Colombia's social security system, and the pay is provided in advance. Maternity leave and related benefits are also extended to adoptive mothers. It is illegal for an employer to dismiss a female employee during her maternity leave and nursing period.
Colombia's Labor Code provides paid paternity leave of 2 weeks. Fathers are required to present a birth certificate for the leave to be approved. The certificate must be submitted to the EPS (Entidad Prestadora de Salud) within 30 days of birth. Paid paternity leave is available for the children born to the spouse or permanent partner, as well as for the adoptive father. In addition to this, parents may freely divide the last 6 weeks of the maternity leave between themselves, provided the mother takes at least the first 12 weeks after childbirth. Shared parental leave will be paid based on the salary of the parent taking the leave for the corresponding period. Payment will be the responsibility of the respective employer or EPS.
Paternity leave will be extended by 1 additional week for each percentage point decrease in the structural unemployment rate compared to its level at the time of the entry into force in 2021, without in any case exceeding 5 weeks.
In Colombia, employers may terminate indefinite-term contracts without notice for just cause. Employees under indefinite-term contracts may unilaterally terminate by giving the employer 30 calendar days' prior written notice, without penalty for failing to do so.
Terminating a fixed-term contract requires prior notice of at least 15 days in cases of termination for just cause. Employers may also give an employee pay in lieu of notice when terminating a fixed-term contract.
According to the Labor Code of Colombia, dismissed employees are entitled to severance pay for their service. If the termination was unilateral and without cause, indefinite term employees are entitled to receive severance as follows:
For employees earning less than 10 times the minimum legal monthly wages, the compensation is 30 days of salary for the first year of service and 20 days of salary for each additional year of service (proportional to the fraction of a year)
For employees who earn 10 minimum legal wages or more, the compensation is 20 days of salary for the first year of service and 15 days of salary for each additional year of service (proportional to the fraction of a year)
To calculate severance pay, the last monthly salary earned by the employee is used as the basis, provided that it has not changed in the last 3 months.
In fixed-term contracts, the severance is paid as salary corresponding to the time remaining to fulfill the stipulated term of the contract or the period determined by the duration of the work or the contracted labor, in which case the severance pay shall not be less than 15 days.
