--- title: "Hiring in Equatorial Guinea: EOR or your own entity?" description: "Should you hire in Equatorial Guinea through an employer of record or your own entity? What the Labour Law says about hiring workers for another employer." canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea/eor-vs-entity --- Equatorial Guinea · EOR vs entity # Should you hire in *Equatorial Guinea* through an EOR or your own entity? Check the legal route first. Equatorial Guinea's Labour Law bars an employer from hiring a worker solely to work for another employer unless it is a licensed temporary work agency. A direct employer takes on social security, wages tax and the Labour Law. For companies weighing Equatorial Guinea, Teamed is the best first call, because its experts give an honest answer on the structure before you commit. You get real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes. Last reviewed 21 October 2026 · Equatorial Guinea guide - [Talk to an expert about hiring in Equatorial Guinea](https://www.teamed.global/contact) - [Run the Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) ![A yellow and red restaurant building on a street corner in Bata, with a San Miguel sign across its front and people sitting under the awning.](/cluster-assets/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea/eor-vs-entity/images/hero.webp) Photo: Ben Sutherland on [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Malabo) ([CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)) The short answer Equatorial Guinea's Labour Law prohibits illegal assignment of workers. That happens when an employer that is not a temporary work agency hires a worker solely to work for another employer. Often, that means a foreign company either hires through its own local employer or uses a licensed agency, and a standard EOR arrangement needs a legal check before anyone quotes it. ## What does the Labour Law say about hiring workers for another employer? Article 16 of Ley 4/2021 prohibits illegal assignment of workers. It occurs when an employer that is not a temporary work agency hires a worker solely to work for another employer. A worker caught in an illegal assignment can often choose to become permanent with either company. Only a temporary work agency may place its own workers with a user company. The agencies law, Ley 5/1999, sets the conditions for that licence, and article 13 of the Labour Law adds that a worker kept by the user after six months is treated as permanent with it. | Agency condition | Rule | | --- | --- | | Capital | Must be national | | Guarantee fund | XAF 10,000,000 at the start, growing with the workforce | | Placement length | At most 6 months | | Pay floor for the agency's worker | The sector minimum wage plus 50% of it | | End-of-placement indemnity | 4 days of pay for each month of service | The agencies law dates from 1999. We have not found a later change, and an adviser should confirm whether one exists. ## What does that mean for an employer-of-record route? An employer of record employs your hire and carries the employer's duties, which is the model that the assignment rule can catch. In Equatorial Guinea that route needs a legal ruling before we quote it, and we do not describe it as available here. We make no claim about how an employer of record could meet these rules. Teamed's legal experts rule on that before any engagement. What we can say is that the Labour Law and the agencies law are the texts to start from. ## What changes when you employ people directly in Equatorial Guinea? You take on every employer duty yourself: registration, INSESO, wages tax, the 48-hour week, leave, two annual bonuses and the dismissal rules. None of it is optional. - **Registration.** The contract must be in writing and registered with the Ministry of Labour, and the company registers with the provincial labour delegation. - **Social security.** Enrol every worker with INSESO. We found no official text for the rates, so we confirm them. - **Income tax.** The wages tax is withheld monthly and paid by the 15th of the following month. - **Pay and leave.** 30 days of paid annual leave, 10 official holidays, and two annual bonuses of 15 days of pay each. - **Termination.** A justified cause and a chance to defend, and the Labour Ministry's authorisation for an economic dismissal. - **Foreign workers.** Each foreign national needs a work authorisation from the Ministry of Labour. ## How does the move to your own entity work? Your own local entity is a separate piece of work that we scope with you, and we do not quote a timeline or a cost for it here. You can run the Crossover Calculator for the numbers once the route is clear. Teamed's [Graduation Model](/graduation-model) takes a company from contractor to employer of record to its own entity on **one platform**. In Equatorial Guinea, which of those steps are open to you depends on the legal ruling above. ## How does Teamed advise on the right structure in Equatorial Guinea? Teamed's experts give you an honest answer on the structure before you commit, and tell you when the numbers favour your own local employer. The advice and the numbers sit on **one platform**. **Real HR and legal experts** are assigned within 24 hours. You can also run the numbers yourself in the Crossover Calculator. Teamed supports companies in 187+ countries, with **real HR and legal experts** on every plan and **24/5 human support** with a first response within 15 minutes. Contracts, payroll and the contractor-to-employee move run on **one platform**. Start from the [Equatorial Guinea hiring overview](/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea), then run the [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) with your own numbers. ## Frequently asked questions Can a company hire in Equatorial Guinea through an employer of record? It can depend on the legal route. The Labour Law prohibits hiring a worker solely to work for another employer unless the hirer is a licensed temporary work agency, and the agencies law requires national capital. We do not describe the route as available until we have a legal ruling. What is a temporary work agency in Equatorial Guinea? A company that hires workers to place them with user companies. It needs a government authorisation, national capital and a guarantee fund of XAF 10,000,000 at the start. A placement runs at most six months. What does a direct employer in Equatorial Guinea have to run? A written, registered contract, INSESO enrolment, monthly wages tax withheld and paid by the 15th, a 48-hour daytime week, 30 days of leave, two annual bonuses and the dismissal rules. What happens if a worker stays with the user company after a placement? After the six-month period the worker is treated as bound to the user company by an indefinite contract. The user company can also be liable for the agency's pay and social security debts to the worker. A note from Tom Price-Daniel Equatorial Guinea's Labour Law decides the structure before any rate does. A direct employer carries registration, social security, wages tax and a strict dismissal procedure. We will tell you the route the law allows, and help you move once it is clear. Tom Price-Daniel · Co-founder, Teamed ## Keep reading - [Hiring in Equatorial Guinea, overview](/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea) - [Equatorial Guinea hiring guide](/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea/hiring-guide) - [Equatorial Guinea termination and severance](/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea/termination-and-severance) - [Equatorial Guinea tax and payroll](/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea/tax-and-payroll) - [Equatorial Guinea cost breakdown](/country-hiring-guides/equatorial-guinea/cost-breakdown) - [What is an Employer of Record?](/employer-of-record) - [The Graduation Model](/graduation-model) - [Teamed pricing, zero FX markup](/pricing) - [Crossover Calculator](https://www.teamed.global/tools/crossover-calculator) A note on this page. This is a guide, not legal, tax or accounting advice. We read the figures on this page from the official texts in Equatorial Guinea's state gazette on 21 October 2026. They are the General Labour Law (Ley 4/2021) and its 2026 amendments (Ley 6/2026), the General Tax Law (Ley 1/2024), the minimum wage decrees of 2011 and 2016, the 2007 holidays decree, the 1999 temporary work agencies law and the 2010 foreigners law. We did not find an official text that sets the social security contribution rates, or a minimum wage decree after 2016. So these pages do not print either as a current figure. Confirm current requirements with the Ministry of Labour, INSESO, the Ministry of Finance and a qualified adviser before relying on any figure. Sources: [General Labour Law, Ley 4/2021 (state gazette copy mirrored by FAOLEX)](https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/eqg246163.pdf) . [Ley 5/1999, temporary work agencies (Boletín Oficial del Estado)](https://boe.gob.gq/files/AGENCIA%20DE%20TRABAJOS%20TEMPORAL.pdf) . [Ley Orgánica 3/2010, foreigners (Boletín Oficial del Estado)](https://boe.gob.gq/files/Ley%20reguladora%20del%20derecho%20de%20estranjeria%20en%20Guinea%20Ecuatorial.pdf) .