Bahamas PEO & EOR
Hire in Bahamas without a local entity today
As a Global PEO & EOR service provider, we pride ourselves on our global reach, in-country knowledge, and ability to swiftly and efficiently mobilize workers around the world. Our robust PEO/EOR covers everything from global HR, payroll, compliance, in-country support, immigration, visas, and more.
Get started and hire in Bahamas today with Gibson Watts Global.
DID YOU KNOW
- The “Bahamas” gets its name from its Spanish roots, from the term “Baja Mar” meaning “shallow Sea” in English.
- Located in the Atlantic Ocean, the Bahamas is made up of 700 tropical islands with only 30 if them inhabited.
- One of the popular tourist attractions is ‘Pig Beach’, formally known as Big Major Cay. The island is populated by swimming pigs and is visited by thousands of tourists every year.
Forget software,
this is expansion
with a human touch
Bahamas PEO Services
A fusion of African and British heritage
Working in Bahamas
Financial Year Dates
Bahamas financial year runs from 1st July till 30th June
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage in the Bahamas is $260 per week in both the public and private sector.
Standard working hours
Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, totaling 40 hours per week. Normal business hours are generally 9am to 5pm.
Overtime
Any hours worked past the standard 40 weekly hours is considered overtime. Employers pay 1.5 times the hourly rate for overtime.
Holiday Allowance
Employees are entitled to 11 days’ public holiday with an additional 1 week paid annual leave if the employee has served 1-6 years of service; or 2 weeks after 7+ years employment.
Sick Leave
Employees who are unable to work due to illness can claim up to 1 week’s paid leave within a 12-month period. Employees must have served a minimum of 6 months’ employment to be eligible.
Maternity & Paternity Leave
Female employees who have worked for the company for at least 12 months are entitled to 12 weeks’ paid maternity leave, with the exception that the same employer can only pay maternity leave once every three years.
Male employees after one year of service are entitled to four weeks’ paid paternity leave.
Public Holiday
There are 11 official public holidays in the Bahamas which are:
- New Years Day
- Majority Rule Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Whit Monday
- Labour Day
- Independance Day
- Emancipation Day
- National Heros Day (formally Discovery Day)
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
Social Contributions
The Bahamas National Insurance Board (NIB) provides income-replacement in respect of sickness, invalidity, maternity, retirement, death, industrial injury/disease, and involuntary loss of income.
Income Tax
The Bahamas does not impose income tax, inheritance tax or a wealth tax. It does however impose a social security tax payable to the National Insurance Board at 4.65% by Employees, 6.65% by employers and 10.3% by the self-employed.
Health Care
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHI) in the Bahamas, is available to all Bahamian citizens and legal residence who have registered with the National Insurance Board and have been given a NIB smart card. Once registered, everyone is eligible for primary health care services. This benefit is provided at no cost — but the care itself can be very limited.
The medical services that aren’t covered by NHI Bahamas include:
- Diagnostic imaging, such as MRIs and CT scans
- Prescription medications
- Emergency room care
- Hospital inpatient care
- Surgical care
- Cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy
- Dental and vision care
- Rehabilitation and physiotherapy
- Childbirth
To access services that NHI Bahamas doesn’t cover, people in the Bahamas have two options: pay for the treatment themselves, or get some kind of private insurance.
Visas
A Bahamas PEO or EOR provider can also provide guidance on this process. A PEO or EOR can provide a payroll solution in the Bahamas, so that workers can easily set up in the Bahamas, and businesses can easily place workers in-country.
Non-Bahamian nationals, working and living for a period greater than 90 days, are required to get a valid work permit issued to the Department of Immigration. For assignments less than 90 days, a short-term work permit is required.
Cultural Information
- Bahamas is a fusion of African heritage and British traditions inherited from its history as a British colony. Many of the country’s laws and traditions stem from Great Britan, such as driving on the left-hand side of the road, drinking tea as a daily routine, and the Warminster parliamentary system.
- The Bahamas has three indigenous forms of music and dance: Goombay, Rake ‘n’ Scrape, and Junkanoo.
- The national dish of the Bahamas is Conch, pronounced “konk”. Conch is a large tropical mollusk (sea snail) and can be served several ways: raw in a salad, fritters, or deep fried.
Impacts from COVID-19
The Bahamas suffered massively from Covid-19 with estimated losses of $9.5billion, with tens of thousands of job losses and long-lasting effects on the country’s tourism sector.