Household Help & Labor Law

Official contacts, rates, and links that go with Chapter 24. Checked October 2026.

In the book: Chapter 24

The chapter covers hiring help at home and treating it as a real job:

• How to find and hire someone you can trust, and how we found our housekeeper
• What the law requires on pay, rest, holidays, vacation, sick days, and pregnancy
• The aguinaldo and paid vacation, and what we paid in our first year
• Whether to enroll your worker in social security (ISSS)
• What you owe when the job ends, whether you let someone go or they quit

Ministry of Labor (MTPS) (as of October 2026)

• Severance and final pay calculator (in Spanish): for a firing, a mutual agreement, or a resignation. Free, online (with a free Ministry account) or at any Ministry office listed below.
• Call Center 130 (in Spanish): dial 130 for workers and employers. Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
• Online complaints (denuncia ciudadana) (in Spanish), including the SOS Trabajadoras channel.
• Conciliation for a dispute with one worker (in Spanish): Tel. 2529-3822 or 2529-3823. Answer within 20 working days.
• Notice of a voluntary resignation (in Spanish): Tel. 2529-3822 or 2529-3823.
• Work permits for foreign workers (in Spanish): for workers from outside Central America.
• Main office: Alameda Juan Pablo II and 17 Avenida Norte, Edificios 2, 3 and 4, Centro de Gobierno, San Salvador. Tel. 2529-3700.

Ministry of Labor offices that do severance calculations (as of October 2026)

Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:10 PM to 3:30 PM.

• San Salvador: Alameda Juan Pablo II and 17 Avenida Norte, Edificio 2, first floor, Unidad de Liquidación Laboral, Centro de Gobierno. Tel. 2529-3818.
• La Libertad: Avenida Manuel Gallardo No. 3-11, Santa Tecla. Tel. 2240-4032 or 2240-4033.
• Santa Ana: 4a Calle Poniente and 4a Avenida Norte #9, Santa Ana. Tel. 2240-4056.
• Ahuachapán: Calle Poniente between 2a and 4a Avenida Sur, Ahuachapán. Tel. 2240-4085.
• Sonsonate: Urbanización Rafael Campo, Pasaje Privado #11, Barrio El Ángel, Sonsonate. Tel. 2240-4002.
• Chalatenango: 3a Calle Oriente and 4a Avenida Norte, Barrio El Calvario, Chalatenango. Tel. 2240-4113.
• La Paz: 3a Avenida Sur, Casa #2, Barrio Candelaria, Zacatecoluca. Tel. 2240-4021.
• Cabañas: 5a Avenida Sur, Centro de Gobierno, Barrio El Calvario, Sensuntepeque. Tel. 2240-4123.
• Cuscatlán: 8a Avenida Sur, Calle Los Copanastes No. 2, Cojutepeque. Tel. 2240-4075.
• San Vicente: 3a Calle Poniente, Casa #24, Barrio El Calvario, San Vicente. Tel. 2240-4045.
• San Miguel: Avenida José Simeón Cañas No. 408, Barrio El Calvario, San Miguel. Tel. 2240-4017.
• Usulután: Final 3a Calle Oriente #30, in the immigration office building, Usulután. Tel. 2240-4102.
• Morazán: 4a Calle Oriente #19, Barrio La Cruz, San Francisco Gotera. Tel. 2240-4091.
• La Unión: 8a Avenida Sur, Final Calle San Carlos, Barrio San Carlos, La Unión. Tel. 2240-4067.

Pay figures (as of October 2026)

• Minimum wage for household work: none set by law.
• Minimum wage for commerce and services: $408.80 a month ($13.44 a day), in force since June 1, 2025. Decreto No. 12 (2025), the minimum wage table (in Spanish).
• Aguinaldo (Christmas bonus): at least 15 days' pay after one year, 19 days after three years, 21 days after ten. Paid in one payment between October 1 and December 20 (Decreto Legislativo 669, published September 24, 2026).
• Paid vacation: 15 days after a full year, plus 30%.
• ISSS household plan: employer 7.5%, worker 3%, on a monthly wage of at least $408.80. Voluntary, by agreement.
• Average household worker pay: $209.91 a month in 2023. Ministry of Labor study on paid household work, November 2024 (in Spanish, PDF).

Social security for household workers: ISSS (as of October 2026)

• Registering a household worker (in Spanish)
• Registering as a household employer (in Spanish)

ISSS offices that handle registration:

• Central office, San Salvador: Alameda Juan Pablo II and 39 Avenida Norte, Condominio El Salvador, south side of Metrocentro. Tel. 2591-3260 or 2591-3261. Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
• Plaza Merliot: Calle Chiltiupán, Centro Comercial Plaza Merliot, 3rd floor, local 394, Ciudad Merliot. Tel. 2591-2178.
• Plaza Mundo Soyapango: Centro Comercial Plaza Mundo, 1st floor, south parking, local #88, Boulevard del Ejército Nacional km 5.5, Soyapango. Tel. 2591-2184.
• Plaza Mundo Apopa: Carretera Troncal del Norte km 12, Centro Comercial Plaza Mundo Apopa, 1st floor, covered parking. Tel. 2591-2978 or 2591-2979.
• Santa Ana: Final 10a Avenida Sur, El Palmar. Tel. 2440-3721, 2440-3908, or 2440-2869.
• Sonsonate: Carretera a Acajutla km 66, next to Metrocentro Sonsonate. Tel. 2451-7236, 2451-1617, or 2451-0331.
• San Miguel: 2a Avenida Norte and 8a Calle Oriente, the former Banco Central de Reserva building. Tel. 2661-6387.
• Usulután: 3a Avenida Norte #9, Barrio La Merced, Usulután. Tel. 2662-1477, 2662-1518, or 2662-1517.

Branch offices are open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The law (as of October 2026)

• Labor Code (Código de Trabajo), consolidated text with the September 2026 aguinaldo reform (in Spanish, PDF), Supreme Court. Household work: Arts. 76 to 83. Aguinaldo: Arts. 196 to 202.
• Police clearance (solvencia policial) (in Spanish), National Civil Police.