G-P provides employer of record services for customers that want to hire employees and run payroll without first establishing a branch office or subsidiary in Sri Lanka. Your candidate is hired via G-P’s Sri Lanka EOR in accordance with local labor laws and can be onboarded in days instead of the months it typically takes. The individual is assigned to work on your team, working on your company’s behalf exactly as if they were your employee to fulfil your in-country requirements.
Thus, our Global Employer of Record solution enables customers to run payroll in Sri Lanka while HR services, tax, and compliance management matters are lifted from their shoulders onto ours. As a global EOR expert, we manage employment contract best practices, statutory and market norm benefits, and employee expenses, as well as severance and termination if required. We also keep you apprised of changes to local employment laws in Sri Lanka.
Your new employee is productive sooner, has a better hiring experience and is 100% dedicated to your team. You’ll have peace of mind knowing you have a team of dedicated employment experts assisting with every hire. G-P allows you to harness dedicated talent in more than 180 countries around the world, quickly and easily.
Hiring in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is located in South Asia and has a population of 21.5 million. The capital city of Sri Lanka is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (or simply: Kotte) which has a population of about 120,000.
Having been ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British, there are a number of languages spoken in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese and Tamil are the two official languages of Sri Lanka while the Constitution defines English as the link language. English is widely used for education, scientific and commercial purposes. Members of the Burgher community speak variant forms of Portuguese Creole and Dutch with varying proficiency, while members of the Malay community speak a form of Creole Malay that is unique to the island.
When negotiating terms of an employment contract and offer letter with an employee in Sri Lanka, it may be useful to keep the following in mind:
Employment Contracts in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, employment contracts can be oral or written, but it best practice to put a strong, written contract in place, in English, Sinhala or Tamil, which spells out the terms of the employee’s compensation, benefits, and termination requirements. An offer letter and employment contract in Sri Lanka should always state the salary and any compensation amounts in Sri Lankan rupees rather than another currency. The employment contract template is part of the service with G-P; no need to draft a separate template if you use our employer of record service in Sri Lanka.
Working Hours in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has a 45-hour week with Sunday off.
Holidays in Sri Lanka
Employees are generally entitled to 9 days of festival holidays with pay. The holidays are determined by the employer. Every person employed in a business that is a shop or office shall be allowed a holiday with full remuneration on each of such days, being public holidays.
Sri Lanka celebrates the following holidays:
- Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day
- Navam Full Moon Poya Day
- Mahasivarathri Day
- Bak Full Moon Poya Day
- Good Friday
- Labor Day
- Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
- Poson Full Moon Poya Day
- Eid-alFitr
- Nikini Full Moon Poya Day
- Eid-al-Adha
- Binara Full Moon Poya Day
- Vap Full Moon Poya Day
- Il Full Moon Poya Day
- Milad-Un-Nabi
- Christmas Day
Vacation Days in Sri Lanka
Casual Leave
Shop and office employees are also entitled to 7 days of casual leave. An employee is entitled to take casual leave on account of private business, ill health, or other reasonable cause with full remuneration.
Annual Leave
Employees are entitled to 14 days of annual leave.
Maternity Leave
Maternity benefits for pregnant workers are covered under the maternity benefits Amendment Act where pregnant employees are entitled to 84 days for any number of children and 2 weeks before childbirth and 10 weeks after a live childbirth.
In the event of still birth, the pregnant employee is entitled to 42 working days of leave with full pay.
Not statutorily guaranteed, but employers have now started to extend paternity/parental leaves and bereavement leaves.
Health Insurance in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has a public/private health care system which provides health insurance benefits to employees.
Sri Lanka Supplementary Benefits
Some companies provide housing assistance, transportation allowance, education subsidy, and/or private insurance.
Bonuses
Some companies provide sign on bonus and other bonus or commissions depending upon the employee’s performance.
Termination/Severance in Sri Lanka
The probationary period is optional, but highly recommended for permanent contracts.
Probationary period of 90 or 180 days is permitted, while 90 days is common in the country. Local laws permit one extension of the probation for a maximum of 60 days.
Termination by either the employer or employee must be given in writing as per the employment contract. It is important to note that disciplinary terminations or terminations with immediate effect (i.e., without notice) are very rare in Sri Lanka and applicable only to violent breaches.
Why G-P
Establishing a branch office or subsidiary in Sri Lanka to engage a small team is time-consuming, expensive and complex. Sri Lankan labor law has strong worker protections, requiring great attention to detail and an understanding of local best practices. G-P makes it quick and easy to expand into Sri Lanka. We can help you hire your candidate of choice, handle HR matters and payroll, and ensure that you’re in compliance with local laws, without the burden of setting up an international branch office or subsidiary. Our Sri Lanka Global Employer of Record solution provides you peace of mind so that you can focus on running your company.
If you would like to discuss how G-P can provide a seamless EOR solution for hiring employees in Sri Lanka, please contact us.
THIS CONTENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE. You should always consult with and rely on your own legal and/or tax advisor(s). G-P does not provide legal or tax advice. The information is general and not tailored to a specific company or workforce and does not reflect G-P’s product delivery in any given jurisdiction. G-P makes no representations or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of this information and shall have no liability arising out of or in connection with it, including any loss caused by use of, or reliance on, the information.
