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 Gambia can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Gambia, 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 Gambia.
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 Gambia is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Gambia’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 Gambia are 38 hours per week.
The labor law in the Gambia does not specify the rest time, overtime eligibility, or work schedule in general.
Employees are not permitted to work overtime. While the law requires that overtime be compensated, it does not specify the rate of pay.
Overtime, on the other hand, is typically compensated at a rate of 150 percent of regular pay.
Overtime pay is 200 percent of regular pay on weekends and holidays.
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In Gambia, employees expect to be paid monthly.
In Ethiopia, annual bonuses are common but not required.
In Gambia, annual leave is paid at 100% of the employee’s normal wages.
If a public holiday lands during a time when an employee is taking annual leave, the employee is entitled to an additional days’ pay to compensate.
An employee’s annual leave is determined by what the employee and employer agree to in their employment contract.
An employee gets a paid leave for every public holiday. If the public holiday falls during a weekend or annual leaves, the company pays extra as compensation.
There are 14 public holidays.
Sick leave is determined by an employee’s employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement. The rate at which sick leave is paid is also determined by the employment contract.
The only criterion for maternity leave is that the employee must have worked under the same employer for two years.
A female employee is eligible for paid maternity leave for 12 weeks. Six weeks can be taken before the birth of the child and the remaining can be utilized after the birth.
The employer pays 100% of the employee’s salary during maternity leave.
There are no provisions in the Gambian law regarding paternity leave.
Other than the already mentioned terms regarding maternity and paternity leaves, there are no other provisions in the law in Gambia regarding parental leave.
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Termination of the employment contract is possible ;
Notice period in Gambia for a fixed-term contract, the notice period is 14 days. For an indefinite period contract, it’s dependent on the length of service and the salary payment interval.
In Gambia, the penalty for wrongful termination of contract may be as high as 36 months pay.
The probationary period in the Gambia cannot be more than 12 months for skilled workers.
