Employer Record in Honduras

Basic information

Capital: Tegucigalpa

Time zone: GMT-6

Languages: Spanish

Currency code: HNL

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 mandatory and will last 60 days.

Regulations and Rules Regarding Working Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, from Monday to Friday, and 4 hours on Saturday, accumulating 44 hours per week.

Overtime is paid according to the following rates

Overtime payment is mandatory and is not included in the salary. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. Employees can work a maximum of 16 hours of overtime a week. For additional hours, employees are paid:

• 125% of the hourly rate for overtime undertaken between 5:00-19:00
• 175% of the hourly rate for overtime undertaken between 19:00-5:00
• 150% of the hourly rate for overtime undertaken mixed between the above hours
• 200% of the hourly rate for overtime undertaken on weekends and public holidays.

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage in Honduras is complex. The minimum wage is dependent on the number of employees at a company and the type of work carried out.The most relevant size and activity will be HNL 10,008.14-13,346.47 per month.

Payroll Cost for Employers

The employer cost is generally estimated at 9.87% of the employee salary.

• Public Health Insurance (Disability, Retirement, Death) – 2%
• Public Health Insurance (Sickness, Maternity) – 5.0%
• Public Health Insurance (Professional Risk) – 0.20%
• Housing Fund – 1.50%
• Severance Provision – 4.0%
• Worker Compensation (Professional Training) – 1.17%

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 Honduras can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Honduras for employers 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

The minimum notice period is 1 day and will be increased according to the length of the employment.

• 1 day if the length of service is less than 3 months
• 1 week if the length of service is less than 6 months
• 2 weeks if the length of service is less than 1 year
• 1 month if the length of service is less than 2 years
• 2 months if the length of service is over 2 years

Severance compensation

In Honduras, all terminated employees for unjust cause are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay varies depending on the length of service as follows:

Length of Service	Severance
Between 3 to 6 months	10 days
Between 7 to 12 months	20 days
More than 12 months	1 month per year up to 15 months(years)

Payment & leave Compensation & Holidays

SalaryPayment

Monthly

Payslip Payroll

No explicit provision.

Annual Leave

Full-time employees are entitled to 10 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO and accrual rate varies depending on the length of services. During the first year of employment, an employee is not allowed to take more than 10 days.

Years of Service	Days Leave (Working Days)	Accrual Rate (Working Days)
qUp to 1 years	10	0.833
1 -2 years	12	1
2-3 years	15	1.25
after 4 years	20	1.666

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 26 weeks. The leave is paid at 66% of an employee’s average salary over the last 3 months. The payment is split between the employee and employer. After an additional 3 day observation period employees can add additional 26 weeks if required.

Period	Pay	Payer
0 – 3 days	0%	N/A
4 – 364 days	100%	Employer 35% Social Security 65%

Maternity & Parental Leave

Employees are entitled to 10 weeks of paid leave. 4 weeks must be taken before the child’s birth. The remaining 6 weeks must be taken after. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period, Social Security will be responsible for 66% and the employer will pay 34%.

In Honduras, no law covers parental leave. However, employees may be entitled to maternity leave and paternity leave.

Tax and Social Security Information

Personal Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 0% to 25%. 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.

Gross Annual Income	Tax Rate (%)
Up to HNL – 172,117.89	0%
Up to HNL – 262,449.27	15%
Up to HNL – 610,347.16	20%
Over HNL – 610,347.16	25%

Social security

• Retirement Pension
• Social Security
• Worker Compensation (Professional Training)
• Private Healthcare – Unisure (optional)
• Private Healthcare – Allianz (optional)

Public Holidays 2024

Holidays	Date
New Year’s Day	1.1
Public Sector Holiday	1.2
Maundy Thursday	3.28
Good Friday	3.29
Holy Saturday	3.30
America Day	4.15
Labour Day	5.1
Independence Day	9.15
Morazan’s Day	10.3
Columbus Day	10.4
Army Day	10.5
Christmas Day	12.25