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.
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 Mauritius can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Mauritius, 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 Mauritius.
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 Mauritius is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Mauritius’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 Mauritius is 45 hours a week and 9 hours a day for five days a week.
In Mauritius, any hour beyond 45 hours per week is counted as overtime
Employer
In Mauritius, employees expect to be paid monthly.
In Mauritius, employers pay a 13th month bonus.
An employer must refund the annual leaves that are not taken by an employee if it has been contractually agreed upon by the employer and employee. Employees may receive 20 days annual leave and additional leave of 2 days.
However, they can impose a rule that half of the total number of annual leaves must be taken by an employee.
There are 13 public holidays.
Employer may send a medical practitioner on their behalf to verify the health status of an employee who is out on sick leave.
The employee may be subjected to disciplinary actions according to the laws. An employee can take up to 15 days of sick leave every year.
These leaves can be accumulated for up to 90 days. If an employee works for an employer consecutively for five years, they can take 30 days of paid vacation leave.
These five years will be counted from the 24th October 2019 which is the date of the commencement of the act.
An employee receives a one-time allowance of MUR 3,000 from her employer if she has been working for at least one year at the same company.
A female employee who has worked continuously for one year is entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, of which up to seven weeks can be taken before birth.
Female employees who miscarry are entitled to two weeks of leave immediately after the event. The two weeks are fully paid.
Male employees in Mauritius are entitled five continuous days of unpaid maternity leave after 12 months of service.
Paternity leave must be taken within two weeks from the date of the birth.
There are no statutory provisions for parental leave.
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In Mauritius, employees may receive 6 days paid leave.
Employees in Mauritius receive 3 days paid leave in the event of the of parents, sibling, spouse, or child.
Termination of the contract has been terminated by the employer when:
Notice period in Mauritius can be made only when the following:
In Mali, employees with less than 12 months of service are not entitled to severance pay, severance allowance is calculated as follows:
Probation period is 1 to 3 months.