Overview
Laos, a landlocked country in the peninsula of Mainland Southeast Asia, is one of the fastest growing and resilient economies in the world. Its impressive annual growth of 8% during the last decade is expected to continue in the future. Foreign trade is critical to the economy of Laos, as the combined value of imports and exports equals 76% of GDP. The process of economic liberalization of Laos that began in 1986 has enabled the country to bring in transparency to its trade regime, and integrate the economy with global trade and investment.
Currency: Laotian Cedi
Principal Languages: Lao, Hmong, Khmu
Government: One-party Communist Republic
Capital City: Vientiane
Major Cities: Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi
Employment Contracts
An employment contract in Laos between the employer and employee needs to be in writing. The contract can be for a fixed or unspecified (indefinite) period. A fixed-term contract and its extensions longer than 3 years turn it into an indefinite employment contract.
If the parties need to prolong the term of a fixed term contract, they need to notify the other party 15 days before the contract’s expiry. In this case, the extension must commence within 60 days of the contract’s expiry. The employer may define a period of probation for employees. For manual labor, the maximum period of probation is 30 days, whereas for workers with specialized skills, the maximum period is 60 days. These durations for probation cannot be extended.
During probation, a notice of 3 days is needed for termination of manual labor; 5 days for workers in specialized fields. An employer must inform the concerned employee, whether confirmed or not 7 days before the expiry of the probationary period.
Work/Time Regulations
Regular work schedule in Laos comprises 6 days a week, 8 hours per day, and its equivalent 48 hours in a week. Workers get a day’s rest within a week or 4 days in a month. The weekly day off maybe Sunday or any other day decided mutually by employees and the employer.
Overtime
An employer may request employees to do overtime. When overtime is needed in excess of 45 hours a month or 3
hours per day, the employer needs authorization from the Labor Administration Agency as well as a trade union,
a majority of employees in the Labor unit, or worker’s representative. Employees cannot be made to do overtime
for more than 4 successive days (except when there is a natural disaster).
- On a usual work day: 150% of the regular rate;
- Overtime during night on a usual work day: 200% of the normal hourly rate;
- Overtime during a weekly off or holiday: 250% to 300% of the usual hourly rate;
- Overtime during the night (10:00 pm to 6:00 am) on a weekly day off or holiday: 350% of regular rate.
Leave
Holidays
Employees in Laos are entitled to the following public holidays as stipulated by the Labor Law. Foreigners working in Laos are
entitled to leave on the national day of their home country.
- National Day: December 2 (1 day)
- International New Year: January 1 (1 day)
- International Women's Day: March 8 (1 day) for females
- The Lao New Year festival (3 days)
- International Labor Day: May 1 (1 day)
- National Teacher's Day: October 1 (1 day, only for teachers and people in education management)
- The national day of employees (foreigners) who are not Lao citizens (1 day on the national day of the applicable nation).
In cases where official holidays fall on weekly rest days in any given week, a rest day is given as a replacement. Other holidays are available if mutually agreed by the employer and the employees.
Annual Leave
Workers with a definite or indefinite period employment contract of one or more years are entitled to 15 days
of annual leave after completing a year at work. If employees are not able to take their annual leave due to
their employer’s fault, the employees are entitled to full pay for those days.
Sick Leave
Workers are entitled to fully paid sick leave for 30 days in a year.
Maternity Leave
Women employees can take at least 105 calendar days of fully paid maternity leave, at least 45 days of which
must be after the birth. In the year after childbirth, a new mother is entitled to take rest for an hour for
nursing her child.
If a woman employee undergoes a miscarriage, she is entitled to fully paid leave for the period advised by her doctor. Women workers are also entitled to a special allowance on childbirth as stipulated in the Social Security Law.
Paternity Leave
Employees can request a paid personal leave of 3 days or more in the event:
- A member of an employee’s family is injured and hospitalized and there is no one else to care for them
- Death of an employee’s family member
- An employee is getting married
- Childbirth or miscarriage of an employee’s wife
- On account of a natural disaster.
Benefits
Social Security
Organizations are obligated to contribute to the National Social Security System for their employees according
to the new Social Security Law that regulates social security payments.
The system provides coverage to the private sector and state-owned companies with 10 or more employees, as well as pensioners. Funds that employees and employers need to pay are in the following proportions:
- Insured Employee: 4.5% of gross monthly earnings; and
- Employer: 5% of monthly payroll. The minimum monthly earnings for which contributions become mandatory are 348,000 kip, and the maximum monthly earnings up to which mandatory contributions apply are 1,500,000 kip.
Old-age Pension
The entitlement of old-age pension benefit at age 60 applies if the insured person has a minimum 5 years of
coverage. Early pension at age 55 is also available if the person has a minimum 5 years of coverage. The pension
can also be delayed until age 65.
An old-age lump-sum benefit payment is made if the insured is already at the pensionable age but with less than 5 years of coverage. The old-age pension is calculated by taking into account pension points, and average covered earnings during the 12 months prior to retirement. A beneficiary may earn, receive a credit and in some circumstances, buy pension points. Pension benefits are adjusted at least once every year based on the changes in the average insured earnings of all the insured persons.
Pension Plan Employees are eligible to receive the LAO pension plan benefits after being employed continuously for 12 months. LAO contributes 9.0% of all the employees’ salary to the pension fund. Employees are currently required to contribute 6.0% to 9.0% of their salary to their pensions.
Retirement Insurance
When employees who have not made contributions to the national social security fund or despite contributions
are yet to qualify to receive benefits, employers are held responsible based on the relevant law and regulations.
Retirement age and qualification for retirement benefits of employees are based on the following:
- Male employees must be 60 years old, and female employees must be 55 years old with a minimum of 15 working years;
- For employees who have been employed continuously for 5 years, or are working in unsafe and hazardous conditions, the qualifying condition is 55 years for male employees and 50 years for female employees with a minimum of 15 working years.
After making social security contributions in full for a period of 15 years or more, if an employee misses 3 years to reach his or her retirement age, will be eligible for the old-age pension.
How GPS can Help
With our Global PEO/Employer of Record services, companies can expand into Laos and hire their employees without having to establish a branch office or subsidiary in Laos.
- Your candidate is hired via our Laos PEO. If needed, we can also help you find the right talent in any country with our comprehensive global staffing services.
- Your new employee begins work quickly as we take care of employment contracts, statutory and non-statutory benefits, and running their payroll - all in full compliance with Laos laws.
- Global PEO Services experts manage all day-to-day operational issues such as employee expenses, and severance/termination if required.
- With no contractor risks, pass on the compliance burden to Global PEO Services.
Spin Off/M&A Support
- Ensure continuity of payroll, benefits and HR support when acquiring or spinning off a business with employees overseas.
24/7 Support in 150+ Countries
- Empower your teams with 24/7 support and a single point-of-contact model in which experienced client services directors are in continuous communication with information and advice.
- We are backed by a mix of 300+ multidisciplinary experts from HR, Payroll, Finance, Tax, and Legal domains who are ready to respond to the expected and unexpected needs of your business on the shortest notice.
Easy Visibility into Your Employee Time & Attendance and Benefits Data
With our Global PEO, you get access to
Mihi, our proprietary SaaS solution for time and attendance, vacation, leave management and benefits enrollment
and management.
Mihi enables clients to have easy access to employee data in real time. It is designed specifically for companies
with a global workforce, especially when working in multiple countries with low headcount.
Ready for Growth When You Are
When ready, we can seamlessly transition you from the PEO/EOR model to your own legal entity and provide ongoing
international HR, finance, legal, compliance and staffing support. Learn more about our
end-to-end international expansion services.