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Employ Candidates Compliantly in Guatemala

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  1. Overview: Guatemala
  2. Work permit for hiring expats via PEO
  3. Global PEO and payroll
  4. Global HR Compliance
  5. Expand without a company set up
  6. Contractor vs. employee: which is better?
  7. Global Payroll Calculator
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Global PEO and Payroll in Guatemala

If you’re considering expanding your business into new markets, it’s essential to understand that every expansion is different. Various factors can impact your compliance obligations, risks, and budget, including home- and host-country laws, the nature of your activities, and your goals and risk tolerances. By learning about these factors, you can set your business up for success in its new venture.

Global Employment Challenges and Pitfalls to Avoid 

When you’re hiring a staff to work overseas, some challenges come with that far beyond the nuts and bolts of finding and vetting candidates. These challenges are often overlooked by companies when they think only of locally-hired employees, but can have extreme consequences for businesses who employ people internationally.

Why is this? Because if you’re not careful, you might find yourself unwittingly breaking one employment law regulation or another in your new country. This could lead to fines, other legal issues, and negative public exposure for your brand. It’s not just about being bad for your business, though; it’s also about being bad for the people who work in your company.

Employment Taxes

There are many different types of taxes that businesses have to pay, but employment taxes are one of the most important. These taxes can vary significantly from country to country and can be a large portion of a monthly salary.

In-country Employee Registration

It is essential to ensure that employees are properly registered with the local authorities before they start work. Failing to do so can result in penalties for both the employee and the employer.

Payroll Calculations: Country-specific Requirements

In many countries, payroll calculations vary significantly. For example, employees in some countries may receive a 13th and 14th-month salary halfway through the year or at Christmas as standard. Thus, it’s important to be aware of the payroll practices in your country of employment.

Some countries have different rules when it comes to employment contracts. To avoid any surprises, it is crucial to understand how payroll calculations work in your new country. In some cases, you may be responsible for paying your employees for the entire duration of their contract even if they are not performing as expected or you want to end their employment early. This can be a financial shock to foreign employers who are not used to this practice.

For this reason, it is essential to ensure that you review and understand the terms of the employee’s contract before hiring them, so you know what to expect.

End of Financial Year Reporting

The financial year for many countries ends in March and companies that have a presence in more than one country need to produce financial reports for each country and send them to the relevant government bodies. With the end of the financial year approaching, accountants are busy at work preparing reports, some of which can be complex and difficult to navigate through as they may be on foreign websites with little or no English language support. It is important that you get these reports lodged on time as it could result in late payment penalties.

A lot of these reports need to be completed in the local language, so it is recommended that you use an accountant specializing in the country you are based in to ensure compliance before lodgement deadlines.

This is the reason why many companies outsource payroll management to a global Professional Employer Organization (PEO) as they have experts with deep knowledge of local labor laws and tax regulations in each jurisdiction. In such cases, a Global PEO will ensure compliance with local employment and tax requirements.

Local Employment Contracts Compliance

As an employer, it is crucial to have local employment contracts that are compliant with the law of the jurisdiction in which your employees work. These contracts should be provided in both English and the local language. Do not simply copy and paste your existing contract template from your home country – this could result in non-compliance and serious legal consequences.

When recruiting employees for your business, it is critical to ensure that their employment contract is appropriate for the country where they will be working. A Spanish employment contract may not be valid in Latin America, simply because they are both Spanish-speaking countries. 

The language of the employment contract is a crucial detail to keep in mind during the recruitment process, as non-compliance to target country employment laws or any mistakes with the paperwork could cost you money, time, and potentially your business’s reputation.

Employment Contract Termination

The employment termination process can be just as important as the hiring process. This part of employment should not be taken lightly as it can have many implications and consequences, both for the employer and the employee. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider all aspects of the situation before making a decision.

The start of the termination process begins when the employee signs the employment contract. If the termination guidelines are clear and precise from the terminating an employee will be much smoother.

When setting out the terms of employment, it is important to be clear about the notice period (making sure it’s aligned with the country-specific regulations), and what is expected in terms of returning company equipment and a credit card or cash float balance. Non-compete clauses protecting your intellectual property are also important considerations. Doing so will help avoid misunderstandings and potential legal problems down the road.

If an employer does not have clear procedures for the termination in their employment contract, they may face litigation. If an employee feels they have been mistreated, they may become disgruntled and contest the termination legally. This can be costly and difficult, especially if the dispute is in another country with a different time zone and language.

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Simplifying Global Employment with a Professional Employment Organization

There are many things that can go wrong when you try to find employment overseas. Acumen International can help you navigate these challenges, but it is important to be aware of the potential obstacles you may face.

As a Global PEO (Professional Employment Organization), our role is to enable organizations to quickly and easily hire employees in any country. We take care of all the employment-related details so that our clients can focus on their business goals. However, if candidates are unhappy at any stage, the whole arrangement can fail.

When making the decision to move abroad for work, your selected candidates consider  a number of factors. The visa and work permit process complexities, currency fluctuations, lifestyle choices and family considerations can all impact their final decision.

As a PEO, we understand that when expanding your business globally, it’s vital to put your employees’ needs first. Considering the impact that this move will have on their lives, it’s important to think outside the box and make sure they are comfortable and supported every step of the way.

“It has become critical for organizations to have an understanding of applicable laws and regulations concerning issues such as minimum wages and benefits, employment standards, immigration and labor relations in each location. A Global PEO can play an important role in helping organizations navigate this complex global employment landscape through offering reliable and country-specific solutions and expert advice on matters related to compliance,” says Nick Ganzha, CEO and founder at Acumen International.

Acumen Global PEO and Payroll solution can help you solve the hard puzzle of global employment. As a Global PEO partner, we help businesses meet all of their HR needs while also handling compliance issues that are specific to the international arena. By offering comprehensive global employment solutions and reality checks about the compliance aspects of employing staff across the globe, we can be an important resource for your in-house HR and Management teams.

What is a Global PEO?

A global PEO is an excellent way for a business to shield itself from the administrative burden of HR. The most common global PEO services include payroll, tax filing, benefits administration, and workers’ compensation coverage; however, other crucial functions include compliance monitoring, policy development, employment contracts, onboarding, and offboarding handling. A global PEO provides its clients with invaluable flexibility and costs savings, helping make your accounts payable much easier while saving you valuable time!!

15 Burdens a Global PEO Can Relieve for Your In-House HR Department

  1. Global expansion complexity 
  2. Global payroll administration
  3. Employee benefits administration
  4. Drafting compliant employment contracts to adhere to local labor and tax regulations in 190 countries
  5. Lengthy onboarding 
  6. Complex and risky offboarding
  7. Background checks
  8. Guidance on best practices of voluntary benefits provisioning
  9. Immigration and relocation support for your ex-pat workforce, such as visa sponsorship and securing work permits
  10. Lack of institutional knowledge.
  11. IP right protection
  12. Lack of local and international legal support
  13. Convert local contractors into full-time employees
  14. Business transitions: acquisitions, mergers, close downs
  15. Need to deal with multiple global employment service providers.

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How to Choose a Global PEO (Professional Employer Organization) in Guatemala 

The number of business people thinking globally is on the rise.  With the help of a global professional employer organization (PEO), it’s easier to expand your reach and your client base by hiring employees overseas. To streamline your global HR operations, a global PEO can help you navigate local employment laws, find qualified candidates, and handle payroll and benefits administration.

A global PEO can support your workforce in many ways. They can employ talent, manage compliance issues, provide strategic advice about international expansion, and help you design a plan for growth in other countries.

As you consider partnering with a global PEO, remember that the needs of each business are unique. Just as you would carefully select international employees, you need to find a PEO that can address your industry’s specific challenges. Look for a global PEO and Payroll solution with a strong track record and fiscal stability that can provide comprehensive support and labor and compliance expertise. Make sure they offer services and coverage in all your business areas. Get references from other clients in your industry to ensure you make the best choice for your business.

Acumen International – Your Single Point of Truth and Global Employment PEO Solutions Provider in Guatemala

  1. 100 % compliant, quick, easy market entry. Acumen Global PEO is your local legal entity, helping you reduce the cost and time associated with incorporating
  2. Immediate global employment service coverage in 190 countries
  3. Both a single point of contact and a dedicated account manager for your project for all target countries
  4. Compliant and secure global employment operations. We help you adhere to all local laws and regulations in 190 countries
  5. A single contract for all in-country services (employment, immigration, legal, etc.)
  6. A single PEO provider assumes full responsibility for your international employees in multiple countries
  7. Payments are made within the UK or to the UK bank company account
  8. Fully compliant with standardized procedures and reporting systems
  9. You can delegate to Acumen Global PEO and Payroll solution all HR responsibilities Payroll & benefits administration, background checks, and HR helpdesk
  10. Standard payroll breakdowns for all target countries
  11. As soon as we receive your request for a project in any country, we will send you a payroll breakdown and offer within 2 working hours
  12. Full 100% fee money-back guarantee for the employee or contractor payment delays.
  13. Tailored and 100% compliant employment contract drafts
  14. With Acumen in your corner, you can quickly and easily onboard and compensate your employees without risk of legal repercussions
  15. Acumen Global PEO protects your company’s Intellectual Property rights

Acumen International is here to help, from payroll and tax management to social security disbursements and immigration services. We’ll give you the peace of mind you need and reduce your company’s legal costs by 50% or more.

  Our Global PEO&Payroll Client
Employment risks mitigation
Tax compliance & payroll processing
Incorporation costs no need for own
entities
Effort 90% 10%
Coverage 190 countries 190 countries

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Global Payroll Services. 100% Compliance. Speed of Light

Global payroll management is a critical function for any business. This can be a complex and time-consuming task, but it is important to keep your employees paid on time to maintain the efficiency of your international venture. 

When it comes to payroll, there are many different regulations that you must follow to avoid penalties or litigation. Each country has its laws and regulations, but some standards apply internationally. You must know and adhere to tax deadlines, withholding and reporting laws, and regulations requiring employee tax slip signatures. If you fail to adhere to these payroll compliance rules, you could face severe penalties that could negatively impact your business.

Global payroll management is a complex process that requires careful consideration of various factors. Payroll specialists must consider local regulations and taxation requirements, which can be time-consuming and difficult to navigate. However, by addressing some key challenges and partnering with a Global PEO, organizations can ensure compliant, accurate, and timely payments.

  • keeping track of ever-changing exchange rates
  • understanding the distinction between the home country and host country payouts
  • developing clarity about how taxes are calculated in different countries.

Global Payroll Calculator: Accurate Global Employment Cost Estimation

When hiring employees and contractors across the globe, you may not be choosing the most cost-effective and business-friendly country.

  • Do you know which country is the most cost-effective place to hire employees? 
  • What are the costs of entity establishment and legal representation?
  • What are the payroll costs and management fees?
  • What are your ongoing annual tax compliance costs?
  • Are you fully aware of banking implications?
  • Did you know that labour laws and hidden costs could make your company less efficient when choosing a country to run your business? 
  • Did you know that there could be a more cost-effective country to hire employees in and save up to 50%?
  • How to hire international teams without setting up a local entity?

This is because countries have different labor laws, compliance, and tax regulations. What if, instead of limiting your company’s international expansion by cutting through the jungle of local regulatory compliance, tax, labor, and immigration requirements, you could have all the information of 190 countries at your fingertips?

The Global Payroll Calculator is built by Acumen International to help businesses understand the compliance requirements for conducting business in a new country. Acumen’s research team tracks developments in 190 countries around the globe. It provides up-to-date data on local regulations related to tax, payroll regulations, benefits, hiring practices, compliance requirements, and other labor-related factors that impact an employer’s bottom line. This valuable information makes the Global Payroll Calculator an invaluable tool for businesses looking to expand internationally.

Global Payroll Calculator helps companies reduce labor costs by providing up-to-date information on hiring, compensation, and tax requirements. It is also an ideal tool for quickly locating employees in any country.

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How Much Does a Global PEO Charge?

Payroll taxes and service fees can be a big burden for employers. Many companies choose to use a Global PEO (Professional Employer Organization) to help with these costs. PEOs typically charge a percentage of the total payroll, including employee insurance fees. It can be difficult to determine the actual costs for these services, especially when some employer taxes are only paid on wages up to a certain threshold.

Single Global Service Agreement

A global PEO can cover all your international projects within a single contract and add new employees and services as you expand your global workforce in the new countries.

No Required Minimums

We accept projects of any length, with any number of employees.

Flexible Pricing

Whether you need to scale up or down, we adjust your pricing based on the project employee number.

End-to-end Global Employment Solution

We manage all your global services, including employment, recruitment, immigration, legal and global HR consulting, saving you valuable time. And Acumen International covers the cost and saves you the effort of finding and selecting local employment-related service providers.

20 Benefits of Partnering with a Global PEO and EOR

The best global PEO is worth its weight in gold because of the services it provides. Without this kind of global employment support and talent engagement model in today’s fast-paced workplace environment, you will most likely not be able to compete on a global scene with other companies that have one.

PEOs are an exciting new trend in the business world. Initially created to help small businesses manage their employee benefits, PEOs are now being utilized by big corporations and start-ups alike. They offer many benefits that can help companies save money, including the ability to bundle services from multiple providers, lower prices for employee benefits, coordinated global administration payroll and benefits administration, and streamlined global employment compliance.

The greatest benefit of these organizations is the ability to outsource the time-consuming tasks associated with running a company while focusing on your organization’s core business. PEO’s also work well for companies with multiple locations or remote workers because they provide uniformity regarding worker experience. They can integrate any new hires into the overall culture of your organization.

Some of the benefits global PEOs offer to help companies save money.

  1. A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is a third-party staffing firm that provides its clients with administrative, HR, and insurance services. It takes over all the time-consuming, tedious, and risky tasks your HR, Finance, and Operations Team would have to do, allowing them to focus on what they do best.
  2. By paying a flat rate to a global PEO (Professional Employer Organization) partner like Acumen International, you hand off almost all the heavy burdens of HR management so that you can focus on what matters.
  3. A PEO handles payroll and benefits administration for your employees. It also takes care of tax withholding and filing, workers compensation insurance, unemployment insurance administration, regulatory compliance, employee handbooks, HR compliance, training and development programs, employee relations issues management, and more. 
  4. PEOs can provide a range of benefits to employees that other companies may not be able to offer. A PEO will also help with keeping track of your employee’s benefits and insurance across multiple jurisdictions, as well as making sure they stay up-to-date while they’re working for you. You might be surprised at how much time it takes to manage health insurance or pension plans, but PEOs deal with this daily. They make it their business to know what the most up-to-date employee benefits there are
  5. Reduced liability. Often, employers are unaware of potential liability issues regarding their employee’s insurance and benefits until it is too late. Using a global PEO to handle these matters instead of handling them on your behalf across foreign jurisdictions.
  6. A global PEO can help your company save on internal costs by acting as the single contact for insurance and benefits coverage. Global PEOs can also help improve the quality of your benefits coverage by providing access to a wider range of options.
  7. Your business faces many potential threats, from compliance issues to insurance costs and beyond. A global PEO can help you mitigate these risks by providing expert guidance and support. 
  8. A global PEO can help with immigration challenges and other concerns that may impact your business.
  9. By partnering with a global PEO, clients can often secure more favorable terms on employee benefit plans.
  10. Streamlined payroll and tax filings: The PEO and Payroll solution processes payroll and does all the necessary tax filings for the company, significantly reducing administrative overhead for employers.

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Difference between a Global EOR and a PEO. Employment Risk Mitigation Strategy

When expanding your business into new countries, there are many benefits to using a global PEO (Professional Employment Organization) or EOR (Employer of Record). A global PEO or an EOR is an alternative to hiring your employees via an in-country legal entity. Instead of hiring your employees, you contract with a global employment solutions provider to hire and manage them for you.

A Global PEO and EOR Partners can handle all the immigration, hiring, payroll, tax, and HR compliance for you, freeing up your time to focus on other aspects of running your business. And if you ever need to leave the country, you can do so without being tied down by any long-term commitments. 

However, both global PEOs and EORs work differently. So, it’s important to understand the differences between the two, so you can find the right one for your needs.

The main difference between a global EOR and a PEO is how they hire the workers. A global PEO assigns employees to the client company for employment so that it can replace the clients in their duties of hiring and managing the employees. The PEO is not a direct employer on paper. An EOR, on the other hand, is an employer of record in the country of business. They hire and terminate employees on behalf of the client company.

  PEO EOR
Employment Model Co-employer Sole Employer
Key Services Global employment, payroll, benefits, immigration (visa, work permits), mobility Global employment, payroll, benefits, immigration (visa, work permits), mobility
Local Entity Establishment Required Optional
Liability Shares responsibilities and liabilities Assumes all responsibilities and liabilities
Legal Advice Optional Required
Global Labour & HR Compliance Optional Required

Global Employment Services: How a Global PEO can Help You in Business Transition

Acumen International PEO offers a unique blend of experience and service suite, providing global employment opportunities that are genuinely global-ready. If your company is working in transition, such as going through an acquisition or merger, or if you are experiencing a company liquidation, Acumen International can find a legal and compliant solution to hire your employees—anywhere in the world! Many companies struggle with handling the employees being left behind during these times of transition. It’s common for employees to feel insecure about their future employment prospects, particularly when they have been forced out of their positions.

This can also be problematic for companies, who will likely have open positions that need filling but still have lingering contracts to fulfill. In both cases, having a resource like Acumen International PEO and Payroll solution can ensure that the company’s business continues without being negatively affected by the change. When you’re working with Acumen International, we take care of all the paperwork and legal obligations so that you can focus on completing your transition plans. We also handle everything from payroll, benefits, and even full payroll tax administration for all our employees worldwide. This gives employers peace of mind that all of their global obligations are fulfilled while allowing them to focus on their transition plans. 

A reduction in the workplace can be a scary time for employees. Global PEO can provide outplacement services to help reduce the risk and ensure downsized employees have some assistance while searching for a new employer. 

Disclaimer: Any above information is subject to changes imposed by Guatemala’s laws. To get the latest updates on taxation in Guatemala and 190 countries worldwide, contact Acumen’s team of global employment experts.

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