How to hire remote employees in

São Tomé & Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe is gorgeous, Portuguese-speaking, a home to some great remote talent. Want to hire someone there, but not sure how to do it—maybe because your company’s HQ is located somewhere else? Then, welcome: You’re in the right place. In the next few minutes, you’ll learn how to hire remote talent in São Tomé and Príncipe, quickly, without wading into months and thousands of dollars of legal red tape.

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Employment requirements

Country snapshot

CURRENCY

Dobra (Db )

EMPLOYER TAXES

PAYROLL FREQUENCY

Monthly

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

Portuguese

Why hire independent contractors in São Tomé & Príncipe

Hiring contractors is normally the easier, faster, more flexible choice—but don’t just take it from us. Below are the specific benefits and drawbacks to hiring contractors in São Tomé & Príncipe.

It’s the fastest way to hire globally

Hiring employees takes months, at the minimum. When you hire with Thera's locally-generated contracts, it’s a matter of days or weeks. This means you can hire the best talent, fast, without losing them to a hellish procession of paperwork.

It’s a lot cheaper

It costs just $0 to sign up for Thera, then $25 per month to hire your contractors with Thera. If you hired employees manually (or did contracting on your own), you’d likely be on the hook for thousands of dollars each month. Setting up an entity alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

It’s more flexible for you & your team

HHiring contractors in São Tomé & Príncipe means you’re generally not on the hook for things like health insurance and paid time off. This makes hiring flexible for you, and it gives your talent more options.

Can be less risky than hiring employees

Hiring employees is a bigger commitment, and can open you up to increased liabilities and regulations. When you hire contractors overseas, your biggest risk is misclassification—but laws surrounding contractor classification are often significantly more straightforward.

Some people want to be employees

The contractor life isn’t for everyone—some people want the security that being an employee often appears to provide. Though it’s rare, this does happen, and it’s one disadvantage of manage an all-contractor team.

You might not have as much control over your talent

Most countries’ contractor-employer relationship laws stipulate that the employer can’t set fixed working hours, among other things. These laws give contractors more freedom over how and when they do their work than an employee would have. In reality, however, most contractors are willing & able to work on the company’s schedule—it’s a matter of setting expectations beforehand.

What to know before you hire in São Tomé & Príncipe

Hiring abroad is difficult: New labor laws, entities, a lot of words you’d rather not hear again. But we’ve got good news. It doesn’t need to be that way. Below, we’ll break down your two main options for hiring in São Tomé and Príncipe (and the one we prefer).

If you want to successfully hire in São Tomé & Príncipe, you have two options:

Hire talent as contractors

Laws about hiring contractors are significantly more simple in São Tomé & Príncipe. Onboarding talent takes days, not weeks or months. Both you, the company, and your talent have more flexibility. And in many cases, since you’re remote, the talent you’re hiring is better classified as a contractor, anyway. Of course, it’s not possible in every case, but it’s what we built Thera for.

Hire talent as employees

This is the long route. You can either establish a physical presence with an entity and register as an employer, or you can use an Employer-of-Record (EOR) solution. Odds are, you’ll find using an EOR to be the easier route. Still, using an EOR in São Tomé & Príncipe is expensive—it can often be $500 per month per employee—and sometimes prone to lengthy onboarding times.

Hire contractors in a couple clicks with Thera

How can I pay people in São Tomé & Príncipe

If you’re hiring contractors in São Tomé & Príncipe, you can pay them with Thera in a single click. You won’t need to worry about complicated wire transfers, fees, or currency conversions. We’ll take care of it all. Just make a click and your contractor will get paid in their currency of choice. This is a valuable bonus for talent in countries where the local currency is particularly weak—most people appreciate the ability to receive their payment in stronger currencies.

If you want to hire employees in São Tomé & Príncipe

If you’ve read up until this point, you’ll know that it’s easier, cheaper, and more flexible to hire contractors in São Tomé and Príncipe than employees. Still, there are valid reasons why you might want to hire employees instead. The content below is for you—we’ll cover employer taxes and obligations in São Tomé and Príncipe.

Taxes in São Tomé & Príncipe

Employer tax

Social security contributions

Pensions

Leave

Paid Time Off (PTO)

In São Tomé & Príncipe, employees receive 14 days of paid annual leave.

Public Holidays

There are 10 public holidays.

Sick Days

Employees receive 26 days of casual and sick leave.

Maternity Leave

Female employees receive 60 days of maternity leave. The maternity benefits are paid for the 60 days of the maternity leave, half of each can be taken before the birth.

Paternity Leave

There is no statutory paternity leave.

Parental Leave

Apart from maternity leave, there is no other parental leave.

Other Leave

No Info.

Marriage Leave

No Info.

Bereavement Leave

No Info.

Termination

Termination Process

Employers must provide a written explanation and at least eight days' notice if the termination is for cause.

The explanation must include the cause for dismissal, supporting documentation, and a chance for the employee to react.

Failure to follow the procedure may result in the dismissal being declared invalid by a court.

Notice Period

The notice period in São Tomé & Príncipe is:

Employers need to provide at least 8 days notice.
Employees who want to terminate their employment must give 15 days notice.
Layoffs: 30 days

Severance Pay

The Severance Pay in São Tomé & Príncipe depends on the Duration of Employment:

at least 1/3 of regular salary for each year worked is required in the event of layoffs.

Probation Period

Probation period is 3-6 months.

Employee requirements in São Tomé & Príncipe

Working Hours

The standard work week in São Tomé & Príncipe is 48 hours across 5-6 days.

Overtime

In São Tomé & Príncipe, employees overtime is double regular wage, depending on industry.

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