{"id":3069,"date":"2026-01-17T15:36:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/?p=3069"},"modified":"2026-01-17T15:36:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:36:43","slug":"new-minimum-wage-in-panama-as-of-january-2026-what-companies-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/new-minimum-wage-in-panama-as-of-january-2026-what-companies-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"New minimum wage in Panama as of January 2026: what companies should know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As of January 16, 2026, the new minimum wage in Panama came into effect, which introduces a new minimum wage.\u00a0<strong>differentiated adjustments according to economic activity<\/strong>, directly impacting the\u00a0<strong>payroll, labor costs and the legal obligations of companies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This adjustment is not uniform: it varies depending on the sector, type of activity and working day, so it is key that each company assesses how it is specifically affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How do the increases vary?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hourly increments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The hourly increases established in the decree range from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>B\/. 0.03 per hour<\/strong>\u00a0in activities such as:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cement manufacturing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Repair and maintenance of machinery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Refrigeration equipment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ice production<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>B\/. 0.07 per hour<\/strong>\u00a0in waste collection activities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>B\/. 0.08 per hour<\/strong>\u00a0in industrial fishing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Estimated monthly impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In monthly terms, the salary increase represents an approximate impact between:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>B\/. 6.24 and B\/. 16.64 per month per worker<\/strong>,<br>depending on the economic activity and the number of hours worked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This adjustment may appear moderate at the individual level, but&nbsp;<strong>represents a significant impact on the total payroll of companies with multiple employees.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Domestic work and small business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The decree also establishes specific measures for other sectors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Domestic workers:<\/strong><br>Increase in\u00a0<strong>B\/. 10.00 per month<\/strong>\u00a0in the minimum wage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Small business:<\/strong><br>The minimum wage\u00a0<strong>remains unchanged<\/strong>, This is intended to alleviate the economic burden on small businesses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is it important to review your particular case?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the decree establishes general amounts per sector,&nbsp;<strong>each company must analyze its individual situation<\/strong>, taking into account:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Registered economic activity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Region of the country<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Type of working day<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Company size<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Structure of the spreadsheet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>An error in the application of the minimum wage can generate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Labor fines<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Retroactive payroll adjustments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Legal risks in case of inspections<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, it is essential to&nbsp;<strong>correctly verify your company's classification and the salaries applicable to each position<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to consult the complete decree?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The official text can be reviewed in the Official Gazette at the following link:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa\/pdfTemp\/30438\/116801.pdf\">https:\/\/www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa\/pdfTemp\/30438\/116801.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final recommendation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The new minimum wage is not only a human resources issue, but also an issue of&nbsp;<strong>legal compliance and financial planning<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend that companies review their salary structure in advance, update contracts if necessary and ensure proper compliance with the new provisions before January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having legal and accounting advice can make the difference between an orderly transition and possible labor contingencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A partir del 16 de enero de 2026 entr\u00f3 en vigencia el nuevo salario m\u00ednimo en Panam\u00e1, el cual introduce\u00a0ajustes diferenciados seg\u00fan la actividad econ\u00f3mica, impactando directamente la\u00a0planilla, los costos laborales y las obligaciones legales de las empresas. Este ajuste no es uniforme: var\u00eda dependiendo del sector, tipo de actividad y jornada laboral, por lo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-derecho-corporativo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/limayasociados.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/what-is-fiat-money.jpeg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3072,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions\/3072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limayasociados.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}