Venezuela is located in the north-east of South America. The country comprises of a mainlad with the the nation's capital Caracas and numerous islands in the Caribbean. The official langauge is Spanish. Venezuela is known widely for its petroleum industry and due to it being highly subsidized, petrol is incredibly cheap in this country. It is home to a wide variety of wildlife and is considered to be one of the 17 most megadiverse countries in the world. Venezuela is also home to the highest waterfall in the world – Angel Falls with a height of 979m. It is however also currently (2020) known for hyperinflation, a sharp rise in violence as well as crippling production shortages.
When doing business in Venezuela, be aware that Venezuelans do business with a person, not a company. First meetings will be all about building up a good relationship. Take advantage of social invitations as this is part of the business process. Venezuelans dress well and appearances are important.
Venezuelan Bolívar
The cost for an employer to hire someone in Venezuela is a plus of 11.00% to the gross salary.
Regular employees are paid twice a month or monthly.
There is a mandatory 13th month salaray in Venezuela that is paid at the end of the year.
Commissions, incentives, and bonuses are variable and will be agreed upon directly with the employer.
January 1st – New Year’s Day
January 6th/7th - Epiphany
moveable (Monday before Ash Wednesday) – Carnival
moveable (March or April) – Easter
30 days after Easter – Feast of the Ascension
March 19th – Saint Joseph's Day
April 19th – A niversary of the Beginning of the Independence movement
May 1st – Labour Day
60 days after Easter – Corpus Christi
June 24th – Feast of Saint John the Baptist
June 29th – Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
July 5th – Independance day
July 24th – Birth of Simon Bolivar
August 15th – Assumption Day
Second Monday of September – Feast of our Lady of Coromoto
October 12th – Day of Indigenous Resistance
November 1st – All Saint's Day
December 8th – Immaculate conception
December 24th – Christmas Eve
December 25th – Christmas Day
December 31st – New Years Eve
Office hours are from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday. Some businesses take a longer lunch break between 12:00 and 15:00 to avoid the heat.
A regular work week is 40 hours.
A regular workday cannot last more than 11 hours. Overtime is paid at a rate of 150% of the normal hourly wage.
After one year of employment, employees are entitled to 15 days of annual leave. For every further year of employment, one day gets added until the amount is capped at 30 days.
When an employee falls ill in Venezuela, the employer must pay the first 3 days of sick pay. An employee must provide a medical certificate within 48 hours. After the first 3 days, the social security takes over and pays the employee a salary. An employee can take sick leave up to 1 year.
In Venezuela, employees are covered by a stability procedure. When terminating an employee in Venezuela, the employer must file a “Participation of dismissal” within 5 days of the dismissal before a labour judge, explaining the legal causes and facts that led to the dismissal. Legal causes are for example misconduct, unjustified absence during 3 working days in a month, disclosure of trade secrets, sexual or workplace harassment etc.
There is no statutory notice period in Venezuela, this is agreed upon in the original employment contract.
Severance pay is only paid out if an employee is terminated without cause. Employees are entitled to what is called 'seniority benefit'.There are 2 ways of calculating it and the employee receives whichever one is higher.
At the beginning of the employment, the employer must deposit an equivalent of 15 days salary per quarter into a fund. After the first year of service, the employer adds an extra 2 days per year, up to 30 days of salary.
After termination, an employee is entitled to 30 days salary for each year of service of the total amount put aside by the employer since the start of employment, whichever is greater.
Venezuela has a public healthcare system. It used to be renowned for being one of the advanced in all of South America. With the current crisis, the system is in very bad shape. Expats who can afford to should be privately insured since the standards are much higher and hospitals as well as doctors are much more accessible.
Public medical facilities are under stress due to the current political and economic crisis and there is a severe medical shortage across Venezuela. If one falls seriously ill or there is a medical emergency, medical evacuation out of the country is the best option.