Employee Benefits in Argentina

Read our comprehensive guide to employee benefits in Argentina to ensure your hiring strategies are effective and aligned with local labor laws.

It’s time to expand your business into new territories, and hiring the right people is central to that goal. A growing number of companies are searching in the Argentinian talent pool. Why? Because Argentina is home to millions of knowledgeable workers and wages are very low.

Some may think that Argentina is a place to easily find talent. And that’s not totally wrong; it isn’t the most difficult country for foreign businesses. But, employers should be prepared to offer certain mandatory benefits to Argentinian workers. So, before starting your candidate search, we urge you to learn about the labor laws in the country, extra benefits to offer candidates to lure them in, and how to build an effective employee benefits plan.

In this employee benefits guide, we will touch on non-negotiable employee benefits in Argentina, supplementary benefits to think about, labor laws in place in the country, and benefit plan creation tips.

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The Labor Laws in Argentina

As with many other countries, Argentina’s labor laws can be found in multiple places, but the main sources of labor law information are the Argentinian Labor Code, the country’s government website, and legal websites. In these sources, you’ll find details on maternity leave, social security, leaves, and more. There are other pieces of legislation governing the employer/employee relationship, and we’ll reference them throughout the article. We’ll also use scholarly legal resources that paraphrase or break down these laws.

REMOTE PEOPLE NOTE

The official law linked above is in Spanish but can be translated through an external translation application or by adjusting the language in your browser’s settings. Just click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner of your Google Chrome browser, click “Translate,” and then select your preferred language. You can do this for any of the links referenced throughout this article.

Mandatory Employee Benefits in Argentina

Sifting through laws can be both time-intensive and frustrating. So, we’ve done the digging for you. Read on to learn about mandatory employee benefits in Argentina.

Working Hours and Overtime

In Argentina, the working hour max is set at 8 hours a day and 48 hours per week. For shifts that occur at night, there’s a limit of 7 hours per day. There is some flexibility when it comes to work hours; employers can request that employees work fewer than 8 hours on some days and more than 8 hours on other days, so long as the limit of 48 hours isn’t surpassed.

There’s one exception to the rule – overtime. Employees are allowed to work up to 200 hours of overtime per year or 30 hours per month, and they should be paid at a rate of 1.5 times the regular wage.

Social Security Contributions

Argentina has a social security system administered through the Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social (ANSES). Some of the main areas covered under social security include unemployment benefits, pensions, and family allowances. Employers are required to contribute about 25% of the employee’s typical pay to ANSES. This is in addition to the worker’s regular pay.

Health Insurance

Employees are entitled to health insurance covering basic medical and dental services, and both employees and employers contribute to it. In addition to the employee’s base salary, you should be prepared to pay around 6% of the employee’s salary towards health insurance.

Paid Annual Leave

Be prepared to offer paid annual leave to your Argentinian employees. The mandated vacation time varies depending on how long the worker has been working for your company. The chart below outlines how much annual leave you should offer to Argentinian employees.

Length of Employment	Length of Leave
5 years or less	14 calendar days
5-10 years	21 calendar days
10-20 years	28 calendar days
20+ years	35 calendar days

Remember that these leave lengths are a minimum – if you want to offer more annual leave in certain cases or across the board, feel free to do so.

Paid Public Holidays

Employees should be allowed to take national holidays off. And if, for some reason, they cannot, they should receive double their normal pay. Here are the national holidays the country recognizes:

January 1 – New Year’s Day
February 8th – Carnival
February 9th – Carnival/Shrove Tuesday
March 24th – Memorial Day
March 25th – Good Friday
April 2nd – Day of the Veterans
May 1st – Labor Day/May Day
May 25th – National Day/May 1810 Revolution
June 20th – Flag Day
July 9th – Independence Day
August 15th – San Martin Day
October 10th – Cultural Diversity Day
December 8th – Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 25th – Christmas Day

Severance Pay

For a long time, the rule for severance pay was that for every year a worker works, they get 1 month’s salary. That’s been phased out, and now employees and employers can come to their own agreements in this area. So long as the terms are voluntarily agreed upon, they are legally binding in Argentine courts.

13th Month Salary (Aguinaldo)

Per the labor laws in the country, workers are entitled to a 13th month salary, also called “aguinaldo.” It’s an extra month’s salary paid in two installments – half of it by the 30th of June and the rest by the 18th of December.

Maternity Leave

Per the Argentinian government website, a female who is expecting a child must be allowed 90 days of maternity leave. The employee can work up to 10 days prior to their expected due date, and the rest of the leave can be taken after the birth. This leave is paid by ANSES.

REMOTE PEOPLE NOTE

For children born diagnosed with Down syndrome, the leave is lengthened by 6 months for a total of 270 days.

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave for employees in Argentina is 2 days long. This leave should be paid.

Workplace Accident Insurance (ART)

When an employee gets hurt or sick on the job, or as a consequence of their work, they receive financial assistance from the Aseguradoras de Riesgos del Trabajo (ART) to recover from the accident. Employers have to buy this coverage for employees and pay regular contributions.

Paid Sick Leave

Sick leave is a right owed to every Argentinian worker, and the length of the leave allotment depends on how long the employee has worked for a given employer. This table outlines sick leave time:

Length of Employment	Length of Sick Leave
Under 5 years	Up to 3 months per year
Over 5 years	Up to 6 months per year

Anytime an employee will be out for sickness, they should inform their employer of the same and provide a medical certificate to their boss. They will receive their normal pay throughout the duration of the leave.

Unemployment Insurance

After an employee is laid off, they may be eligible for unemployment insurance through ANSES, which is funded by the employee and the employer, as mentioned earlier under the Social Security Contributions heading.

Supplemental Employee Benefits in Argentina

Supplemental employee benefits are perks that aren’t mandatory by law but make job opportunities much more inviting for job seekers. They also show hires that they are a valued part of your team, which boosts morale and can bring positive results in various areas. Here are some supplemental employee benefits to offer to your employees in Argentina:

Private health insurance for employees (either fully or partially paid).
Vouchers and allowances for food.
Non-traditional working arrangements for positions that can be worked remotely or on a hybrid working model.
Opportunities for professional development in the form of language classes, skill-building, leadership training, and more.
Monetary assistance with transportation, particularly when the job requires the worker to travel.
Wellness programs to promote longstanding health and vitality.
Discounts for employees that purchase your company’s products or services.

How To Build an Employee Benefits Plan for Employees In Argentina 

When it comes time to put your benefits package together, keep the following tips in mind:

Research the official labor laws with the help of an attorney as needed.
Note of the mandatory employee benefits as mentioned above, ensuring that no benefits are missed.
Choose and note the supplementary benefits you’d like to add to the plan.
Compile all of the benefit details and any information about benefit eligibility, the benefit enrollment process, and any other important information.
Distribute the benefit plan as needed throughout the recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes.

So, there you have it – all the basics of employee benefits in Argentina. We hope you found all the information you were looking for in this employee benefits guide, and we wish you the best as you move ever closer to your international hiring goals.