Frequently asked questions about hiring in Bangladesh

Yes. A foreign company can employ staff in Bangladesh without incorporating by using an Employer of Record. Nexus Payroll's Bangladesh entity signs the employment contract and carries the statutory obligations while the foreign company manages the work. No RJSC registration, BIDA approval or local bank account is needed on the client's side.

An EOR reduces but does not eliminate permanent-establishment risk, which depends on what the employees do, not on who employs them. Staff performing back-office, engineering or support work for the foreign parent rarely create a PE; staff concluding contracts with Bangladeshi customers may. We flag PE-sensitive roles and recommend your tax adviser reviews them under the relevant double-tax treaty.

There is no legal cap. Commercially, the EOR model is most efficient below roughly 40 employees; above that an entity's fixed costs are spread thinly enough that incorporation usually wins. We tell clients when they reach that point and help them transition.

Yes. Employees may live and work anywhere in Bangladesh, including Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna, or fully remotely. Payroll, bank disbursement, insurance and equipment delivery work nationwide, and the same employment contract applies. In-person HR support is provided from our Dhaka office and by video call for staff elsewhere.

Nexus Payroll's EOR fee is USD 299 per employee per month, or USD 249 for ten or more, plus salary and statutory employer costs at cost. There is no set-up fee, a refundable deposit of one month's total employment cost, and 30 days notice to end the agreement. Global platforms typically charge around USD 599 for Bangladesh.

Employer Provident Fund matching of 7–8% of basic wages where a fund exists, gratuity accrual of 30 days' wages per year, and two festival bonuses of up to one month's basic wage each. There is no general social-security tax. In practice, statutory and benefit costs add roughly 20% to gross salary for a professional employee.

You pay one invoice in USD, EUR, GBP or AUD; employees are paid in Bangladeshi taka into a local bank account. Conversion is at the interbank rate shown on the invoice with no FX margin. Salaries cannot lawfully be paid to resident employees in foreign currency from abroad.

Cash bonuses are straightforward and run through payroll with tax withheld. Equity awards in the foreign parent are possible but require Bangladesh Bank permission for the employee to hold foreign shares; many clients use phantom equity or cash-settled awards instead. We coordinate with your equity adviser.

Where a Provident Fund is constituted, the worker contributes 7–8% of basic wages and the employer matches it equally (Labour Act 2006, s.264); since the 2025 amendment a fund is mandatory for establishments with 100 or more permanent workers. Gratuity is a minimum of 30 days' wages per completed year of service, rising to 45 days per year after ten years (s.2(10)), payable on separation.

Ten days' casual leave, 14 days' sick leave, 13 days' festival holidays and earned annual leave of one day per 18 days worked (one per 14 in factories), plus 120 days' paid maternity leave. Sources: Labour Act 2006 ss.46 and 115–118 as amended in 2025. There is no statutory paternity leave; Nexus contracts grant seven days.

Eight hours a day and 48 a week, extendable with overtime to 10 and 60, with overtime paid at twice the basic rate (Labour Act 2006 ss.100–108). Office staff in foreign-owned companies typically work Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–18:00, with Friday and Saturday off; many client teams shift hours to overlap with London or New York.

Not as such; the equivalent is two festival bonuses a year, each up to one month's basic wage, paid before the two Eid festivals to workers with at least one year's service (Labour Rules 2015, r.111(5)). Because basic wage is typically 50–60% of gross, the combined cost is roughly one month's gross salary per year.

No statutory health-insurance contribution exists, but group hospitalisation and life cover are the market norm for professional roles and we recommend them. Nexus arranges group life and hospitalisation cover through a Bangladesh-licensed insurer, billed at cost, and administers claims for employees.

Onboarding through Nexus Payroll typically completes in 5–7 business days once the role, compensation and the employee's identity documents are confirmed. We issue the contract, register the employee on payroll and set up statutory deductions; you supply the job description and start date. Incorporating a local entity, by comparison, usually takes 3–6 months.

Six months for clerical roles and three months for other workers, extendable once by up to three months where performance cannot yet be assessed (Labour Act 2006, s.4(8)). A worker who completes probation is deemed permanent. Nexus contracts specify the probation term and the confirmation process.

Termination without cause requires 120 days' written notice for permanent monthly-rated workers (or pay in lieu) plus compensation of 30 days' wages per completed year of service (Labour Act 2006, s.26); dismissal for misconduct requires a charge sheet, hearing and enquiry under ss.23–24. Nexus runs the process and calculates the settlement; you approve the decision.

Sixty days for monthly-rated permanent workers and 30 days for others (Labour Act 2006, s.27), or forfeiture of wages in lieu. Many professional contracts set 30 days by agreement. Employees resigning after five years' service are entitled to compensation of 14 days' wages per year, rising to 30 days per year after ten years.

Yes, for a defined project or period. Repeated renewals for ongoing work risk the contract being treated as permanent, and early termination follows the s.26 notice rules. We recommend permanent contracts with probation for core roles and fixed-term only for genuinely time-limited work.

Yes. Every Nexus employment contract assigns work product and inventions to the client and imposes confidentiality obligations that survive termination, so ownership does not depend on the default rules of the Copyright Act 2023. Client and employee data is processed under a written data-processing agreement with defined storage, access and breach-notification terms.

Employees, unless the work is genuinely project-based and the person has other clients. The 2025 amendment expressly brought gig and platform workers within the Labour Act, so a full-time "contractor" working under your direction can claim notice, compensation and gratuity as a worker. Our contractor service screens each engagement and recommends conversion when the risk profile changes.

Yes, within BIDA's ratio of one foreign employee per five local staff for commercial establishments. We handle the E-visa recommendation, BIDA work permit, online security clearance and renewals. Where the client has its own entity, that entity is normally the sponsor and we manage the process on its behalf.