How much does an employee cost in Argentina in 2026? Contributions, SAC and worked examples

Two layers. First, two payments raise annual pay above twelve salaries: the 13th salary, called the SAC, which equals one twelfth of the year’s pay, and vacation days paid at the monthly salary divided by 25 instead of 30.[3] For an employee with 14 days of vacation they add 9.1% to annual pay (calculated). Second, the employer’s contributions apply to all of that pay: 20.40% or 18% for social security with no ceiling[1][4] and 6% for the employee’s health fund.[2]

In our calculation the result is 37.9% of salary at the 20.40% rate and 35.3% at 18%, before the occupational-risk insurance premium, which each insurer quotes,[8] and the compulsory life insurance.

The 18% rate requires a valid SME (MiPyME) certificate, so a services company should confirm its status before budgeting it.[9] The employer declares and pays both its own contributions and the employee’s, which it withholds, through ARCA’s single social security system.[12]

From the December 2026 accrual period, employers pay the FAL contribution into their own account and deduct the same amount from their social security contributions, so the total does not change.[13][14] The account can help pay severance only after it has received twelve monthly contributions,[15] and the employer remains liable for the full severance whatever its balance.[5]

Calculated by Nearshorers for a large services company at the 20.40% rate, at the central bank’s reference rate of ARS 1,537.35 per dollar on October 30, 2026:[7]

At the 18% rate the on-cost is 35.2% to 35.3%: ARS 4,057,673, or USD 2,639, a month on a salary of ARS 3,000,000. The percentage barely moves because employer contributions have no ceiling;[4] only the employee’s 17% stops at monthly pay of ARS 4,861,685.38 from November 2026, so it peaks at about ARS 826,487.[16] The examples leave out the ART premium, life insurance, overtime, collective-agreement items and any benefit the company chooses to offer.

Yes, if the worker qualifies. Under the Labor Formalization Incentive Regime (RIFL), employment relationships that start and are registered between May 1, 2026 and April 30, 2027 pay employer contributions of 2% for pensions, the employment fund and family allowances, plus 3% for PAMI, for their first 48 months; the health fund and the ART are not reduced.[5][6] The worker must have had no registered job on December 10, 2025, or have been unemployed for the six months before the hire, or have last worked in the public sector; former monotributo contractors qualify under the same conditions.[6] A company that became an employer on or after December 10, 2025, such as a new subsidiary, can place up to 80% of its staff under the regime.[6]

RIFL hires still pay the FAL contribution, with no deduction.[6] In our calculation, a qualifying employee on ARS 3,000,000 at a large company costs 22.2% on top of salary from December 2026, ARS 3,666,133 or USD 2,385 a month, against 37.9% at the ordinary rate.

• Dismissal without cause: severance of one month’s salary per year of service, on monthly pay only, plus one or two months’ notice and the rest of the month’s salary.[3] After three years on ARS 3,000,000, with no collective-agreement cap applying, that is ARS 12 million, about USD 7,806, before the proportional SAC and vacation (calculated).
• Overtime: 50% extra on ordinary days and 100% on Saturdays after 1 p.m., Sundays and holidays.[3]
• Sick leave: the employer keeps paying full salary for 3 to 12 months, depending on seniority and family dependents.[3]
• Collective agreements: they set wage scales above the minimum wage, and the contributions they impose for unions on all covered workers are capped at 2% of pay, or 0.5% for employer chambers.[5]
• Benefits without contributions: meals, health plans paid in kind, work clothing and documented childcare costs for children up to six carry no social security charges.[3]

The employee contributes 17% of pay: 11% to the pension system, 3% to PAMI and 3% to the health fund,[10] up to the November 2026 ceiling.[16] Income tax is withheld at rates from 5% to 35%,[17] after 2026 deductions that include a non-taxable minimum of ARS 6,019,671.36 and a special deduction for employees of ARS 28,894,422.56 a year,[18] and the deductions and brackets are indexed twice a year.[19] A single employee with no dependents therefore pays no income tax on about the first ARS 34.9 million of annual pay after contributions, so one on ARS 3,000,000 a month takes home about ARS 2,490,000 (calculated by Nearshorers).

US private employers spent $46.89 per hour worked on employee compensation in June 2026: $32.82 in wages and $14.07 in benefits, which were 30.0% of the total.[20] That is about 43% on top of wages, and legally required benefits were 7.0% of compensation for full-time workers.[20] Argentina’s statutory on-cost, 35% to 38% of salary, is close to the US share for all benefits, voluntary ones such as health insurance included, and applies to a much lower base: the minimum wage is ARS 398,800 a month from November 2026, about USD 259,[21][7] and registered private-sector employees earned ARS 2,256,861 a month on average in July 2026, about USD 1,468.[22]

The Argentina hiring guide covers contracts, termination and contractors, the labor reform page explains the 2026 changes, and the cost guides for Brazil, Colombia and Mexico run the same exercise there.