Easily manage employment in Costa Rica

Employees are entitled to two weeks of paid holiday annually once they have worked with an employer for an entire year. Many Costa Rican employers increase the number of allotted days off per year as a benefit for the employee.

Employees can take 9 paid public holidays off and non-Catholics are entitled to paid time off to observe religious holidays such as Yom Kippur, Eid-el-Fitr, etc.Whenever the following holidays fall on any day other than a Monday, employees will take the following Monday off in place of the holiday.- Juan Santamaria,- Annexation of Nicoya,- Mother’s Day, and- The Assumption of MaryAnd should an employee be required to work on a public holiday, the employer will provide a replacement holiday within 15 days.

Employees are entitled to sickness benefits from both the employer and the social security office, provided they’ve made the latter’s required contributions.For the first three days of an illness, employees can draw a sickness benefit equivalent to their full wages, with 50% paid by the employer and 50% paid by the social security office.The employee will draw wages equivalent to 60% of their normal wages from the fourth day, paid by the social security office.

Female employees are entitled to 4 months of maternity leave, starting a month before delivery, and compensated at a 100% rate, paid 50:50 by the employer and the social security office.

A 2022 law now provides paid paternity leave to all biological fathers in Costa Rica. During the first four weeks after the birth of a child, a father may take two days of paid leave each week. The costs are again shared 50:50 between the employer and the CCSS.