Colombian Employer Rates and Thresholds 2026

On top of salary, Colombian employers pay social security and payroll levies and three statutory benefits: the prima de servicios, cesantías and interest on the cesantías.

Companies that file income tax are exempt from the employer health contribution (8.5%) and the SENA (2%) and ICBF (3%) levies for employees earning under ten minimum wages a month, so they show as 0% below. Above that, they apply. ARL rates depend on the risk class; the lowest class is shown.

Employer costs for a full year, for an employee in the lowest ARL risk class (salaries of 10 minimum wages or more lose the health, SENA and ICBF exemption):

• Up to 8 hours a day and 42 hours a week (the end point of the gradual reduction under Law 2101 of 2021), spread over five or six days by agreement, always with a rest day and without cutting pay. By agreement, days can vary from 4 to 9 hours with no overtime due as long as the week averages 42 hours. Directors and positions of trust or management are excluded from the maximum-hours rules.
• Since the 2025 labour reform (Law 2466 of 2025), daytime work runs from 6 am to 7 pm and night work from 7 pm to 6 am; hours worked at night carry a night surcharge.
• Night work carries a 35% surcharge on the daytime rate. Daytime overtime is paid with a 25% surcharge and night overtime with a 75% surcharge, both on the ordinary daytime rate (so 125% and 175% of it). Surcharges are applied one at a time, not added together.
• Work on the mandatory rest day (Sunday unless another day is agreed in writing) or a public holiday carries a surcharge on top of ordinary pay, phased in by the 2025 reform: 80% from 1 July 2025, 90% from 1 July 2026 and 100% from 1 July 2027 (employers may apply 100% earlier). Working up to two rest days a month counts as occasional; three or more is habitual.
• Employees who have worked for a year are entitled to 15 consecutive working days of paid vacation. At least 6 working days must be taken each year; the rest can be accumulated for up to 2 years by agreement (4 years for technical, specialist, trust or management roles, and for foreign employees working away from their family). By written agreement at the employee's request, up to half of the vacation can be paid in cash instead.
• 18 paid public holidays a year: 13 fixed dates (1 and 6 January, 19 March, 1 May, 29 June, 20 July, 7 and 15 August, 12 October, 1 and 11 November, 8 and 25 December) plus Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Ascension, Corpus Christi and Sacred Heart. Ten of them move to the following Monday when they don't fall on a Monday.
• For certified non-work-related illness, the employee receives a sickness allowance for up to 180 days: two-thirds of salary for the first 90 days and half of salary after that.
• 18 weeks of maternity leave at full salary: normally 1 week before the expected birth and 17 after. It is extended for premature births, and by 2 weeks for multiple births or a child with a disability. Fathers get 2 weeks of paid paternity leave, paid by the health insurer (EPS). Parents can share the last 6 weeks of the mother's leave (she must take the first 12 weeks after birth), or swap part of it for a period of half-time work.

• An employer can end a contract without just cause by paying an indemnity. Indefinite contracts, salary under 10 minimum wages: 30 days' salary for the first year of service, plus 20 days for each further year (pro-rated). Salary of 10 minimum wages or more: 20 days for the first year, plus 15 days for each further year. Fixed-term contracts: the salary for the rest of the agreed term (for contracts tied to a specific job, at least 15 days). The same indemnity is owed if the employee resigns for a just cause attributable to the employer.
• However the contract ends, the employer must pay pending salary, the prima for the time worked in the half-year, cesantías not yet deposited in the fund with their interest, and untaken vacation paid in cash in proportion to the time worked (Law 995 of 2005).
• Companies and other legal entities that file income tax are exempt from SENA and ICBF payroll levies and from employer health contributions for each employee earning less than 10 minimum wages a month. For employees earning 10 minimum wages or more, they remain payable. Individuals who employ fewer than two people, and companies taxed at certain special rates, don't get the exemption.

Changes to these rates and rules, newest first. Every country is covered in our law changes tracker.

• From 1 July 2027: Colombia's Sunday and holiday surcharge reaches 100%. The final step of the 2025 labour reform: work on the mandatory rest day or a public holiday is paid with a 100% surcharge, up from 90% since 1 July 2026 and 80% since 1 July 2025.
• From 19 February 2026: Colombia's 2026 minimum wage re-fixed transitionally at COP 1,750,905. The 23% increase to COP 1,750,905 a month, first set by Decreto 1469 of 2025, was re-issued transitionally by Decreto 0159 of 19 February 2026 after the Consejo de Estado suspended the original decree. It applies until the court rules on the case.