UTC -04:00 (Venezuelan Standard Time)

Undoubtedly, payroll is a critical process for any organization. The pay cycle in Venezuela refers to the period for which an organization pays its employees, and this can vary depending on the pay frequency that the organization chooses to adopt.

In Venezuela, the payroll frequency is bi-weekly or monthly. The employer must make the payment for bi-weekly employees on the 15th and 30th of each month.

In Venezuela, a 13th-month payment is mandatory, and the payment is generally made at the end of the year. This may differ according to stipulations within the collective agreement.

The monthly minimum wage is 1,300,000 VEF.

Overtime work is compensated at one and one-half times the hourly wage agreed to for a normal workday.

An employee who works four or more hours on a weekly rest day or holiday is entitled to compensation for that day plus one and one-half times the wages payable for an additional full day.

Overtime is limited to 10 hours a week and 100 hours per year. 

Employers must keep employment records for a period of 10 years. All documentation must be in Spanish.

There are 14 Official Holidays in 2023

• January 1: New Year's Day
• February 20: Carnival
• February 21: Carnival
• April 6: Maundy Thursday
• April 7: Good Friday
• April 19: Declaration of Independence
• May 1: Labour Day
• June 24: Battle of Carabobo
• July 5: Independence Day
• July 24: Simon Bolivar's Day
• October 12: Indigenous Resistance Day
• December 24: Christmas Eve
• December 25: Christmas Day
• December 31: New Year's Eve

An employee who completes 1 year of continuous service with an employer is entitled to annual leave for a duration of 15 working days. For each year of service, the employee will become entitled to an additional day of annual leave for a maximum of 15 working days.

In case of interruption in the annual leave due to any reason not related to the employee, it can be restarted once the circumstances terminate.

An employee is entitled to take leave for occupational and non-occupational diseases/ injuries for a period not exceeding 12 months. The employee must provide the employer with a medical certificate that validates their sick leave within 48 hours of absence.

The employer must pay the employee’s salary for the first 3 days. From the 4th day onwards, the employee will receive payment from social security.

A pregnant employee is entitled to leave for a period of 6 weeks before delivery and 20 weeks or a longer duration of time due to illness after childbirth. In case the childbirth takes place after the scheduled date of delivery, in such cases, the prenatal leave is extended until the date of the delivery without a reduction in the postnatal leave.

Breastfeeding Break – An employee is entitled to two daily paid breaks of 30 minutes each for the purpose of breastfeeding the child. In case, the workplace does not provide a lactation room, in such cases, the duration of the break will be 1 ½ hours for each of the two breaks.

An employee is entitled to paid leave for a period of 14 continuous days from the date of the childbirth.

A female employee who has adopted a child under the age of 3 is entitled to paid leave for a period of 26 weeks from the date the child is placed into the family. Male employees are entitled to a period of 14 continuous days in case of adoption from the date of placement of the child in the family.

An employee may be granted leave in the following circumstances:

• For providing civil or military service

• For taking care of the spouse or ascendent and descendants up to the first degree of consanguinity, in case of need and for the time period agreed between the parties 

• For carrying out a study or other purposes of interest. 

• In cases of force majeure that have immediate and direct consequences and lead to the temporary suspension of work. 

During the above time period of suspension of work, the employer will be under no obligation to provide salary to the employees. The time period during which the activities are suspended will be calculated towards the calculation of seniority of the employees.

The termination process varies according to the employment agreement or collective agreement in place and is based on the type of contract and reason for termination.

The Bar Against Dismissals means that employers cannot dismiss, impair the labor conditions of, or transfer a worker without obtaining previous authorization from the Office of the Labor Inspector for a term of two years beginning on January 1, 2023.

In the case of an unjustified resignation, the employee must give prior notice.

An employee may resign without justification and without notice by paying the employer an indemnity equal to the wages that the employee would have earned during the notice period. There is no statutory notice period in Venezuela; this is usually agreed upon in the employment contract.

Severance pay is provided for workers who leave following transfer to an inferior position or arbitrary changes to a work schedule, which are considered constructive dismissal.

Workers who leave a job before the expiration of a contract for justified reasons are entitled to severance pay equal to the salary that would have been paid until the end of the contract.

Employees are also entitled to a seniority payment upon termination of employment for any reason. Employers also must give workers an additional month's pay for informing them that they are being dismissed.

Following passage of the 2012 Labor Law, employees may elect to have their payment calculated under a new system based on 30 days' salary (calculated using the employee's final salary) for each year of service since June 19, 1997, or under the old system, in which seniority payments are earned by all employees and begin to accrue as soon as the employee reaches three continuous months of employment.

Under the old system, seniority payments are earned in accordance with the following schedule:

• five days' wages for each month of service and
• after the first six months of service, two additional days' wages for each subsequent year up to a total of 30 days' wages.

The statute of limitations for claiming social benefits is 10 years from the date of termination.

If a worker dies, the social provisions payment is made to the next of kin; if more than one family member claims the payment, it is divided among the claimants.

When a company hires foreign workers, it must give preference to those with Venezuelan children and those who have resided in Venezuela for five years or longer. In cases where special technical knowledge is needed and no Venezuelans can provide it, the labor ministry can issue an exemption to this rule, provided the foreign workers train Venezuelans.

All business, labor, and family visa applicants must supply routine information, including the completed visa application form, passport, copy of passport pages containing personal data, recent photograph, copy of flight itinerary indicating dates of entry into and exit from Venezuela and name of the airline, a money order for $60 payable to the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and a prepaid priority mail envelope for return of documents. Applications should be made three months in advance of travel.

The TR-N Business Visa is granted to executives, company representatives or entrepreneurs who enter Venezuela to carry out business transactions and negotiations. Any U.S. national or resident applying for this visa will be asked to provide a certificate of his or her employer's incorporation in the U.S. or other foreign country; a letter from the company indicating the applicant's position, purpose of the trip, the company's contact information, information on the time to be spent in Venezuela and associated expenditures; a letter of invitation by a company in Venezuela, if applicable and evidence, if applicable, that the applicant is a majority shareholder in the company.

Contractors who apply for a Transient Labor Visa (TR-L) must have their visit authorized by Venezuela's Ministry for Interior, Justice, and Peace, with agreement from the Ministry for Social Work Process.

Artists, professional athletes and correspondents who work for foreign media companies must obtain authorization for exceptions to visa rules from the Ministry for Interior, Justice and Peace. Requirements include:

• authorization from the appropriate Venezuelan ministry;
• a certified copy of the work permit;

• diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qualifications for the work to be done;

• copy of the work offer or contract;

• health certificate;

• criminal record certificate issued by local authorities and

• any other document that the consulate requests.

A TR-L visa is granted for one year and includes multiple entries. It may be extended for a second year. 

The spouse, minor children and parents of a TR-L visa holder must apply for a TR-FV Visa. Required documents include a marriage certificate or birth certificate, as appropriate.

Under the Labor Law, it is unlawful for an employer to inquire about the criminal record of a prospective employee. Criminal records are absolutely confidential and private and the use of criminal records in any employment decision (hiring, promoting, firing) is considered discrimination. 

Under the Venezuelan Constitution, employers are prohibited from asking a prospective employee prior to the offer of a job to take a test for the purpose of determining any drug use or to require a current employee to take such a test as a condition of continued employment. 

Employers are prohibited from requiring female job applicants to undergo medical or laboratory examinations to certify that they are not pregnant. Women may demand a pregnancy test, however, whenever they wish to be protected by the pregnancy provisions of the Labor Law.