Employer of record in Panama
21 sourced figures on hiring in Panama, drawn from 9 sources and normalized for comparison: statutory rules, employer cost and exactly what an EOR covers locally. Every figure is dated.
Hiring here: moderately complex, mid-range on cost, and fast to hire via EOR.
Employer of record in Panama: the statutory snapshot
The headline employer costs, pay floor and worker protections for hiring in Panama through an employer of record, each figure sourced and dated. 33 EOR providers cover Panama.
| Minimum wage | PAB 482/mo | ILOSTAT, 2024-01-01 |
|---|---|---|
| Employer social security | 14.5% | ISSA Country Profiles, 2024-01-01 |
| Corporate tax | 25% | PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, 2026-01-18 |
| Notice period | None | World Bank Employing Workers / B-READY, 2019-05-01 |
| Severance | 18.1 weeks | World Bank Employing Workers / B-READY, 2019-05-01 |
| Public holidays | 13 | Nager.Date (open public-holiday dataset), 2026-01-01 |
| Maternity leavePaid leave available to mothers, incl. mother-eligible parental leave | 14 weeks | World Bank Women, Business and the Law, 2026-02-23 |
As of 2026-08-03. Each value is the winning figure from primary and harmonized sources, resolved by a documented priority chain. Full record with provenance below.
Reading the data
What the figures say about Panama
Employers in Panama pay a statutory minimum wage of PAB 482 per month against an average monthly wage of PAB 929, giving a sense of where actual payroll tends to sit. On top of gross wages, employers contribute 14.5% in social security, while employees contribute a further 9.75%, and a mandatory 13th salary adds roughly one month of additional pay per year. Exiting an employment relationship carries real cost: statutory severance stands at 18.1 weeks, though the statutory notice period is zero weeks. Employees are entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave and 0.4 weeks of paternity leave, alongside 13 public holidays per year. The corporate tax rate and the top personal income tax rate both sit at 25%, figures relevant when structuring local entity costs alongside payroll obligations.
Where to start
Three ways to hire in Panama
You are the employer. Lowest per head cost at scale, months to establish.
You direct the work, the provider's local entity is the employer on paper. Compliant in days.
See the 33 providers below ↓Not your employee. Fastest and cheapest, with misclassification exposure.
The full record
Every figure behind the snapshot
Not a guide, a record: 21 figures for Panama from 9 sources, last refreshed 2026-08-03. Each value carries its source and the date it was pulled. Hover any provenance tag for the full chain.
Average monthly earnings in Panama by occupation (2025)
Gross monthly earnings of employees per ISCO-08 major occupation group, in PAB — the official ILOSTAT survey figures, not estimates. Use them to sanity-check an offer before an EOR quote turns it into total employer cost.
| Occupation group | Monthly (PAB) | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| All occupations | 929 | $929 |
| Managers · ISCO 1 | 1,823 | $1,823 |
| Professionals · ISCO 2 | 1,636 | $1,636 |
| Technicians and associate professionals · ISCO 3 | 1,084 | $1,084 |
| Clerical support workers · ISCO 4 | 822 | $822 |
| Service and sales workers · ISCO 5 | 686 | $686 |
| Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers · ISCO 6 | 522 | $522 |
| Craft and related trades workers · ISCO 7 | 727 | $727 |
| Plant and machine operators and assemblers · ISCO 8 | 829 | $829 |
| Elementary occupations · ISCO 9 | 449 | $449 |
Source: ILOSTAT (EAR_EMTA, employees, both sexes), reference year 2025. Survey earnings differ from statutory minimums above.
The differentiator
What an EOR handles in Panama
An EOR removes the entity and the payroll machinery. It does not remove your obligations as the people manager.
Provider × country
Who can employ in Panama
33 providers operate an EOR in Panama, ranked by Select Score.
Comparing EOR options for Panama?
Run a side-by-side on the providers that actually operate there.