An employer of record in Argentina is a local entity that legally employs your hire under the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, Argentina's employment contract law in force since 1974, when you have no Argentine entity. The provider runs payroll in pesos, pays the statutory thirteenth salary, remits employer social contributions and carries the dismissal liabilities the law attaches to every employer, while you direct the work. Argentina combines strong statutory protections with a volatile currency, which makes local execution matter more than in most markets. Nothing here is legal advice; the statute and the employment contract control.
The statutory frame: the LCT and the aguinaldo
The Ley de Contrato de Trabajo (Law 20.744) is the framework governing Argentine employment contracts, and its floor of rights applies regardless of what an individual agreement says. The most visible recurring cost is the aguinaldo, the sueldo anual complementario or SAC: a statutory thirteenth salary paid in two semi-annual instalments due by 30 June and 18 December, each equal to half of the highest monthly salary accrued in the corresponding semester. Because each instalment keys off the highest month, salary rises and bonuses lift the aguinaldo with them, and an EOR quote should show the accrual explicitly rather than folding it into a rounded percentage.
Dismissal costs and working time
Dismissal without cause is lawful but priced: the standard severance is one month of salary per year of service or qualifying fraction, on top of accrued entitlements, and advance notice scales with seniority under the LCT. That per-year accrual means exit cost grows with every anniversary, so treat it as a building liability rather than a contingency. Standard working time runs to 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week, with overtime capped by statute at 3 hours a day, 30 a month and 200 a year. An EOR that cannot walk you through the severance arithmetic for your specific hire at one, three and five years of service has not priced the risk it is selling to carry.
Employer contributions and the currency question
Employer social security contributions sit on top of gross salary at roughly 24% for most companies, rising to around 26.4% for larger service and trade companies above the statutory revenue thresholds, before mandatory employer life insurance and any collective agreement obligations are added. Just as important is execution: salaries are set and paid in pesos in an economy with a long inflation history, so review cycles are frequent, collective bargaining adjustments are common in covered sectors, and the exchange rate applied when your foreign-currency invoice is converted is a real component of cost. Ask any provider which rate source and margin it uses.
What to check in an Argentine EOR provider
Confirm the provider employs through its own Argentine entity and ask whether your role falls under a collective bargaining agreement, since coverage brings sector pay scales and additional contributions that a generic quote misses. Ask for a full-cost illustration showing gross salary, employer contributions at the correct rate for the provider's classification, the aguinaldo accrual and the severance liability by year of service. Probe the dismissal process: severance and notice are owed in statutory amounts and labour litigation is common, so the provider's documentation practice is part of the product. Finally, get the currency conversion mechanics in writing.
Questions people ask about employer of record argentina
What is the aguinaldo?
Argentina's statutory thirteenth salary, the sueldo anual complementario. It is paid in two instalments due by 30 June and 18 December, each equal to half of the highest monthly salary accrued in that semester.
What does dismissal without cause cost in Argentina?
The core severance is one month of salary per year of service or qualifying fraction, plus notice that scales with seniority and any accrued entitlements. The liability grows with every year served.
How high are employer social contributions?
In the region of 24% of salary for most employers and around 26.4% for larger service and trade companies over the statutory thresholds, before mandatory life insurance and any collective agreement add-ons.
Does an EOR protect against Argentina's labour litigation risk?
It carries the employer-side risk and the process burden, which is much of its value. It does not change the law: statutory severance, the aguinaldo and contribution obligations apply to the EOR exactly as they would to your own entity.