Employer of Record (EOR) Services in Sao Tome and Principe

Employer of Record

From
$249/month

Contractor  Management

$49/month

Talent Sourcing

2% of gross salary / month

Start hiring in Sao Tome and Principe

Simple, compliant hiring with Horizons EOR & PEO

Hire in Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome and Principe (STP) is a small nation in the Gulf of Guinea composed of two main islands about 150 miles off the coast of Gabon. These islands were uninhabited when discovered by Portuguese explorers in the 1400s and were claimed by Portugal which started an agricultural economy there based largely on slave labor. The country became independent in 1975, growing into a stable democracy. The economy, still based on agriculture with some tourism, has grown tenfold since then, with the GDP now worth $750 million. This GDP is set to grow by 2.9% this year. STP has a young population that is increasingly well-educated, and an unemployment rate is expected to reach 15.4% in 2024. If you’re thinking about hiring Sao Tomeans to work for your company, EOR can help you get them on board quickly.

Facts & Stats

hire employees in Sao Tome and Principe

What Is a Sao Tome and Principe EOR?

An EOR or employer of record in Sao Tome and Principe is a service provider that works with other companies to find them local employees. An EOR may also be called a PEO or professional employment organization, and these terms are often used interchangeably. An EOR can enable foreign-based companies to hire workers locally without needing to own entities in STP. It can efficiently and quickly recruit local workers and then take care of their human resources (HR) needs over time, providing payroll, employment tax, benefits administration, leave scheduling, and other services. A client company pays the EOR a fee for each employee that it manages on a regular basis and also pays their salaries and other contributions through the EOR.

Save Money And Time with A Sao Tome and Principe EOR

What Are the Benefits of a Sao Tome and Principe EOR?

If you want to hire local employees in Sao Tome and Principe, partnering with an EOR can be very beneficial. This relationship can produce the following advantages for client companies:

Not needing an entity: You can hire Sao Tomeans on your own, but you’d need to register a business entity there, like a corporation or a limited liability company. As you might expect, this wouldn’t be easy and would require a lot of time and money to be invested in the endeavor. Instead, you could choose to work with EOR; you won’t have to register an entity at all. This is because the EOR can hire employees on your behalf, becoming their sole legal employer in STP while contracting them to work directly for you.
Language skills: As a former Portuguese colony, Sao Tome and Principe’s official language is Portuguese. However, many people also speak Portuguese-based Creoles like Forro, Cape Verdean Creole, Angolar, and Principense. English and French are also commonly used languages in education, and about 5% of the population speaks each of these languages. Together, this linguistic diversity can produce real value for employers.
Fast recruitment and onboarding: EORs can hire workers a lot faster than you could do on your own. If you tried to recruit workers in STP, you’d likely find it very difficult without an in-depth understanding of the local labor market or knowledge of effective strategies. A Sao Tome and Principe EOR, on the other hand, has exactly these things, plus it will normally have a labor pool of its own to dip right into. This means it will be able to find the best-skilled people and recruit them in a matter of days to just a few weeks.
Affordability: STP employees can be highly affordable for foreign-based enterprises. Sao Tome and Principe is a lower-middle-income country where salaries are far below the global average. Social security contributions of just 6% for employers also represent a very small cost.
Constant compliance: No one needs the hassle of penalties, fines, or legal actions due to non-compliance. While it’s normally your job to ensure compliance with all labor and tax laws, when you work with an EOR, it becomes the workers’ sole legal employer in STP. This makes it responsible for compliance, and that means it needs to have the knowledge and experience to make sure your workers are treated fairly and equitably.

Horizons is Best IN Class

Why Choose Horizons?

Horizons stands out as a Sao Tome and Principe EOR through:

A strong regional presence in Africa, meaning senior management are on the ground to deal with any issues.
Client-focused infrastructure. Horizons won’t oversell you on products and services you don’t need. Horizons offers the easiest platform to compliantly hire and pay people worldwide.
Cost-effective solutions. At $499 per employee, per month, no EOR in Sao Tome and Principe is more affordable. The cost is 100% transparent (onboarding, offboarding, deposit, no extra charges).
A customer-first culture. Horizons is an efficient bootstrapped company. It is not an externally-funded company burning investor cash to aggressively acquire new clients. Horizons is the only EOR that grows with its customer, reflecting the level of care and personal attention provided to each customer. Horizons will carefully advise on the best setup in each country: the type of contract needed, how to structure your benefits, and how to offboard a person while minimizing the risk of conflicts and extra cost
A long-term partnership. Horizons is the only EOR platform with a recruitment arm — a direct response to client demand. If any employee is leaving, or if our clients want to explore a new country, Horizons can recruit new candidates directly for the client. Horizons is:
- The only EOR doing this in-house — no subcontracting
- The only EOR doing this without a retainer — clients are only charged upon success
- The only EOR charging just a 2% fee per month.

Step-by-step Sao Tome and Principe EOR

How Does a Sao Tome and Principe EOR Work?

You can hire an EOR to recruit and manage workers for you in STP. You’ll pay the EOR a fee for each employee, and it, in turn, will typically provide all of the following services:

Hiring your employees: Perhaps the most important service an EOR provides is legally hiring employees on your behalf, so you don’t need your own entity in STP. To do this, it will need to understand your staffing needs – the numbers, positions, and standards you require. With this information, it can begin the recruitment process. The EOR will look at its labor pool and local networks to find appropriate candidates. It may also advertise your job openings publicly if you need specialized employees. It will propose its candidates to you, and if you approve them, the EOR will hire them, becoming their sole legal employer in Sao Tome and Principe.
Managing employment contracts and onboarding: The EOR can help you negotiate terms and compensation with the workers you intend to hire. Once you’ve agreed on these terms, it will include them in employment agreements. The EOR will sign these contracts with the employees, employing them to work directly for your company. Once the workers have been hired, the EOR will onboard them. This involves taking their personal and payment information, adding them to employee databases, and registering them with the tax and social security authorities. It may also provide them with an orientation to prepare them to begin work for your company.
Processing payroll and handling employment taxes: You can also outsource your payroll and employment tax function to the EOR. You’ll collect worked hours data, including overtime and bonuses and send this on to the EOR along with funds for paying their salaries. The EOR will calculate each worker’s gross salary and then figure out their net salary by withholding taxes and social security contributions. It will disperse these net salaries to the employees, remit their taxes, and pay their and your social security contributions every pay period. It will also provide the employees with detailed pay slips and you with all the relevant data from its payroll processing activities.
Administering benefits: You can sweeten the deal for your employees by offering them additional benefits such as private insurance or pension fund contributions. If you do, the EOR can also administer these by signing workers up for appropriate programs. Each pay period it will calculate contributions and pay them to these programs accordingly.
Taking care of exit procedures: There will come a time when you’ll need to terminate employees, either for individual or economic reasons. The EOR will assess your reasons and figure out if you’ll need to give notice and make severance payments. If so, it will take care of these functions as the workers’ legal employer.

stay compliant with Sao Tome and Principe labor laws

Labor Laws

Sao Tome and Principe have a wide body of laws that protect the rights of employers and employees. Most applicable statutes are recorded in Law No. 16/2019 Approving the Labor Code.

Employment contract types

Contracts in STP can be permanent or fixed-term. Fixed-term contracts can last up to two years and include renewals. At the end of two years, if both parties agree, another renewal of between one and three years is possible.

Project-based

Fixed-term

Indefinite

Working hours in Sao Tome and Principe

Workers work eight or nine hours a day for a 45-hour regular work week.

Overtime is limited to 150 hours/year for medium and large enterprises and 175 hours/year for small enterprises. Employees can only work two hours of overtime per day and only the same number of hours as in a normal workday on public holidays and rest days.

Overtime must be compensated in the following way:

Holiday Schedule in Sao Tome and Principe [2025]

STP has nine paid public holidays each year. The public holidays for 2025 include:

Date	Holiday name
1 Jan 2025	New Year’s Day
3 Jan 2025	Day off for Day of King Amador
3 Feb 2025	Commemoration of the Batepá Massacre
1 May 2025	Labour Day
12 Jul 2025	National Day (Independence Day)
6 Sep 2025	Armed Forces Day
30 Sep 2025	Nationalization of Roças Day
21 Dec 2025	Sao Tome Day
25 Dec 2025	Christmas Day

Paid time off

All workers are entitled to at least one day of rest per week.

Providing overtime work or working on a rest day or public holiday gives the worker the right to compensatory rest time corresponding to 25% of the hours of work performed.

Sick leave in Sao Tome and Principe

While sick leave is a justifiable absence, the labor code does not mandate a period of it.

Less than 6 months of sick leave:

(percentage of regular wages owed to the employee)

Over 6 months of sick leave

In order for employees to receive the full wages due to them, workers must present a valid medical certificate from a certified doctor to their employer.

Maternity leave in Sao Tome and Principe

Expecting mothers are entitled to 60 days of paid maternity leave. Fathers are not entitled to paternity leave.

Annual leave in Sao Tome and Principe

Workers are entitled to 20 working days of leave per year after their first full year of work. This leave can be rolled over but cannot exceed 30 working days.

Termination & severance in Sao Tome and Principe

Employers may terminate workers for gross misconduct. Otherwise, employers and employees should provide each other with one month’s notice for service under three years and two months’ notice for service over three years. Severance is paid at one month’s wages for each year of service.

Sao Tome and Principe's compulsory social security contributions

Compulsory social security contributions are required from both employers and employees to fund social security benefits such as pensions, healthcare, and other social welfare programs.

Sao Tome and Principe social security for foreigners

Social security contributions generally apply to all employees, including foreigners, who are working within the country. This is to ensure that all workers, regardless of nationality, have access to the social security benefits provided by the system.

There may be specific exemptions or bilateral agreements between São Tomé and Príncipe and other countries that could affect the requirement for social security contributions.

Individual income tax

The individual income tax rates in São Tomé and Príncipe are usually progressive, meaning that the rate increases as the income increases. The specific rates and brackets can vary, but they are generally structured to ensure higher earners pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes.

Income tax is levied on the income earned by individuals, including salaries, wages, and other forms of compensation.

Health insurance

In São Tomé and Príncipe, health insurance and healthcare services are primarily provided by the government, supplemented by some private healthcare options.

Public healthcare services include primary care, emergency services, maternity care, and vaccinations. Private health insurance options are limited but available.

The social security system in São Tomé and Príncipe may cover certain healthcare benefits for employees who contribute to it. This includes basic medical services, hospital care, and some outpatient services.

hassle-free Sao Tomean compensation & benefits

Compensation & Benefits

Sao Tome and Principe compensation laws

As of 2022, the minimum monthly salary for STP workers in both the public and private sectors is 2,500 STN (Sao Tomean Dobra), which is approximately 110 USD. Skilled workers can average closer to 10,000 STN or about 440 USD/month.

A worker’s first overtime hour of the day is paid at 125% of normal wages, and subsequent hours are paid at 150%. Hours on weekly rest days are paid at 175% of normal wages and at 200% for public holidays.

13 month salary in Sao Tome and Principe

A 13th-month annual bonus is not mandatory in STP. However, the employer may use this bonus to enhance employee compensation packages at its discretion.

Social security for Sao Tomean nationals

Employers in STP pay contributions equal to 6% of a worker’s salary to social security for old age, disability, and survivors’ benefits. Employees are also deducted 4% of their salaries for these same benefits for a total of 10%.

Hire borderless talent with Horizons

Hire in Sao Tome and Principe without your own local entity.

With Horizons, you get quick service, transparent pricing, and expert support.

Frequently asked questions

How does an EOR in Sao Tome and Principe manage employee benefits?

Workers in STP have many entitlements by law, and the EOR you partner with will ensure these are enshrined in their contracts. It will keep track of these for you so that workers receive the leave, rest, pay, and other benefits the law requires. If you decide to provide extra benefits like insurance or pensions, the EOR can also manage these for you by calculating the contributions you and the employees must make to these programs and paying them regularly.

What are the compliance challenges of using an EOR in Sao Tome and Principe?

The labor laws in STP, while similar, are inherently different from those of the country in which the company is based. This means you need expert assistance to ensure that all the relevant laws are continuously followed, even if statutes change over time. An EOR will need to monitor your employees’ working conditions, keep them appraised of any new legislation, and inform you if anything needs to be changed.

Employer of Record (EOR) Services in Sao Tome and Principe