Independent contractors or freelancers are self-employed individuals who provide services to companies as a non-employee. This is one of the most common ways companies tend to hire non-local designers, engineers, support reps, etc.
For legal and tax purposes, independent contractors are not classified as employees. They may work for multiple clients, set their own work hours, negotiate their pay rate, and decide how a job gets done.
For example, the IRS says that if an independent contractor or freelancer does work that can be controlled (what will be done and how it will be done) by an employer then they are, in fact, classified as an employee.
As you can imagine, hiring someone as an independent contractor versus an employee is a fine line to tread.
While there are benefits when you choose the contractor route, there are quite a few drawbacks to consider and you’ll need to weigh them carefully to determine the best fit for your company.
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A foreign subsidiary is a company that operates overseas as part of a larger company who’s HQ is in another country.
Establishing a foreign entity is great for having an international presence and accessing new markets. Though, setting up a subsidiary in Cameroon can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Cameroon, you have to:
If you're lucky, this process can take months. If you're not so lucky, it can take up to a year. And on average, it costs about $50k-$80k, all-in-all, to get setup. And that's just for Cameroon.
An employer-of-record (EOR) is a company that hires and pays an employee on behalf of another company.
An EOR is typically used to overcome the financial and regulatory hurdles that often come with employing remote workers.
Each country has its own payroll, employment, and work permit requirements for non-resident companies doing business in their jurisdiction. Meeting those demands can be a huge obstacle when it comes to hiring remotely.
At Panther, we help companies employ and pay people in over 160 countries, without having to set up a foreign subsidiary. Payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and more are all handled by us, at a fraction of the cost.
Outside of saving you months and tens of thousands of dollars, other advantages of using Panther are:
Because you no longer have to set up your own subsidiary, you’ll save a ton of time and tens of thousands of dollars using Panther.
Paying employees in Cameroon is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Cameroon’s employment and payroll standards.
This means that you have to know, understand, and keep up with 1) fluctuating currency changes, and 2) local payroll and tax laws in the countries you’re looking to hire in.
Outside of the laws and regulations around payroll, there may be different conditions surrounding leave, overtime, termination, and more. As you can imagine, maintaining this kind of regulatory knowledge can be challenging. But it is crucial and necessary to follow local legislation.
After, you’ll have to determine the best way to pay your international employees. This can be done in a number of ways, including but not limited to:
One of the most challenging (and expensive) parts of paying international employees is setting up the infrastructure to do so.
Before you start to run payroll, you have to register your company as the local employer in the country the worker resides in. As you can see in the “Set up a subsidiary” section, this is a multi-step process that can take up to a year and put you on your way to bankruptcy.
Outside of EORs acting as the full admin employer, many also provide remote payroll.
For example, at Panther, in just 1-click, you’re able to pay your entire global team, anywhere in the world. We send you an invoice each month, charge you in US Dollars, and pay your employees the same amount in their local currency.
We factor in currency fluctuations and use the mid-market rate plus any applicable fee passed on by our provider at cost at the time of billing.
The standard working hours in Cameroon is 40 hours.
In Cameroon ,overtime pay should not be less than 125% of the regular rate of pay. Employees are permitted to work up to 20 hours of overtime per week.
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In Cameroon the employees receive their salary in weekly/monthly basis.
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Employees are therefore entitled to ten days of paid time off during family activities. For any child under the age of six, female employers are entitled to two days of paid leave.
Employees accrue 1.5 days of paid vacation leave for each month worked and after five years of service, employees receive a further two days a month.
There are 11 public holidays.
Employees receive five days of paid sick leave each year and employers are responsible for medical treatment if the employee was injured during work.
The expectant mother's regular rate of pay is compensated after maternity leave by social security. Female workers are entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave, beginning four weeks before the due date, covered by the CNPS.
Maternity leave starts four weeks prior to the due date of the baby's arrival. If the time of confinement occurs after the due date, the maternity leave will resume in full once the period of confinement starts.
Paternity leave will be taken from the 10 days of voluntary paid parental leave available to fathers.
Other than the already mentioned terms for maternity and paternity leaves, there are no provisions in the Cameroon law regarding parental leave.
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Fixed-term contracts are capped at 24 months and can be extended once and can only be terminated for gross misconduct and mutual consent.
Employers can dismiss employees when a fixed-term contract ends, when the specific work ends, for misconduct, for economic reasons or for just cause.
During the notice period, the employee is permitted to take one day off every week to look for work. The notice period is determined by the Minister of Labor.
In Cameroon, employees qualify for severance pay after two years of service.
Probation period is 6 months.
