Country filePKPKRVerified 2026-09-24
PK
Employer of Record in Pakistan: what one employee really costs
Pakistan, Asia. One software engineer at $20,000 gross per year, priced through 12 providers with a published fee, on the European Commission's September 2026 exchange rate. Change the salary and headcount below.
- Employer on-cost
- +1.0%
- statutory charges on top of gross
- All-in per month
- $1,882 – $2,382
- salary + charges + published fee, cheapest to dearest listed provider
Hiring one software engineer in Pakistan at $20,000 gross a year costs about $17 a month in statutory employer charges (+1.0%), plus an EOR fee of $199 to $699 per month depending on the provider: $1,882 to $2,382 all-in, before deposits, FX margins and add-ons. Prices checked 2–24 Sept 2026.
Disclosure Some provider links on this page are affiliate links: if you become a customer after clicking, the provider may pay us a referral fee. It never changes the price you pay, and it never changes the numbers on this page, which come from official sources and are dated. How we are paid
Cost engine · preset to Pakistan
Price your own hire, line by line.
employee inatgross / year
≈ PKR 5,559,031 gross / year · PKR at the European Commission monthly rate for September 2026
| Per employee | Rate | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $1,667 | |
| EOBI old-age benefits contribution, employer share (5% of the notified minimum wage) capped | 5% | $7 |
| Sindh Employees' Social Security (SESSI) contribution, employer only capped | 6% | $9 |
| Employer on-cost | +1.0% | $17 |
| Cost of employment, before EOR fee | $1,683 |
RemoFirstLowest total
$1,882/ month · 1 employee
- Fee / mo
- from $199
- Per year
- $22,587
- Fee share
- 10.6%
Checked 2 Sept 2026
Get a RemoFirst quotePapaya Global
$2,182/ month · 1 employee
- Fee / mo
- from $499
- Per year
- $26,187
- Fee share
- 22.9%
Checked 2 Sept 2026
Get a Papaya quoteDeel
$2,282/ month · 1 employee
- Fee / mo
- from $599
- Per year
- $27,387
- Fee share
- 26.2%
Checked 2 Sept 2026
Get a Deel quoteEmployer charges from official sources; provider fees are list prices on the dates shown; deposits, FX margins and add-ons are not included. Not legal or tax advice. Methodology
14 providers, one scenario, all-in totals.
| Provider | EOR fee / employee / mo | All-in / mo, 1 hire | Deposit | Countries | Checked | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RemoFirst EOR in 185+ countries from $199 per employee per month, no annual contract. | from $199 | $1,882 | Not stated on the pricing page | 185+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from RemoFirst· $1,882/mo |
| Rivermate EOR in 180+ countries from $319 to $639 per employee per month. | from $319 | $2,002 | Not stated on the pricing page | 180+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Rivermate· $2,002/mo |
| Pebl Velocity Global, renamed Pebl in 2026. Prints $399 per employee per month. | from $399 | $2,082 | Not stated on the pricing page | 185+ | 22 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Pebl· $2,082/mo |
| Playroll EOR in 180+ countries from $399 per employee per month; deposit of one month's salary. | from $399 | $2,082 | Fully refundable security deposit equivalent to one month's salary when onboarding an employee (pricing page). | 180+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Playroll· $2,082/mo |
| Multiplier EOR from $459 (annual) or $499 (monthly) per employee, plus mandated add-ons. | from $499 $459 billed annually | $2,182 | Refundable security deposit required per employee by the EOR terms (effective 1 June 2026), sized by Multiplier; not on the pricing page. | 150+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Multiplier· $2,182/mo |
| Papaya Global EOR starting from $499 per employee per month, quote-based, 160+ countries. | from $499 | $2,182 | Not stated for EOR on the pricing page (the contractor block states 'No deposit required'). | 160+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Papaya Global· $2,182/mo |
| Borderless AI EOR at $579 per employee per month, no deposit or pre-funding, 170+ countries. | $579 | $2,262 | No deposit: 'No upfront deposits or pre-funding required' (pricing page). | 170+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Borderless AI· $2,262/mo |
| Atlas HXM EOR from $599 through its own entities, plus an Agent of Record at $199. | from $599 | $2,282 | Not stated on the pricing page | 160+ | 21 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Atlas HXM· $2,282/mo |
| Deel EOR in 130+ countries, starting at $599 per employee per month. | from $599 | $2,282 | Not stated on the pricing page | 130+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Deel· $2,282/mo |
| G-P EOR in 180+ countries from $599, with no minimum contract length. | from $599 | $2,282 | Not stated on the pricing page | 180+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from G-P· $2,282/mo |
| Oyster EOR in 120+ countries at USD 699 per employee per month; refundable deposit. | $699 | $2,382 | Refundable deposit required for EOR team members 'to initiate the engagement and to ensure on-time payments' (pricing FAQ). | 120+ | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Oyster· $2,382/mo |
| Remote EOR in 90+ countries at $699 per employee per month, no deposit. | $699 | $2,382 | No deposit: 'We collect reserve payments in rare, high risk circumstances' (pricing FAQ). | 90+ | 2 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Remote· $2,382/mo |
| Rippling EOR bundled with the Rippling platform; custom quote only. | Quote only | — | Not stated on the pricing page | — | 24 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Rippling |
| Safeguard Global EOR sold alongside entity setup and payroll; no price published. | Quote only | — | Not stated | 187+ | 21 Sept 2026 | Get a quote from Safeguard Global |
Same salary and statutory charges in every row; only the fee segment changes.
What Pakistan adds on top of the salary, and where each rate comes from.
Rates apply to the base named in each line; capped lines stop growing above the ceiling. Engine assumptions: Sindh minimum wage, the SESSI base in PKR a month (EOBI uses the federal rate of PKR 40,700) = 43000.
| Line | Employer rate | Base & ceiling | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| EOBI old-age benefits contribution, employer share (5% of the notified minimum wage)Federal old-age pension scheme; charged on the federal minimum wage, not on the salary actually paid, so it stops at PKR 40,700 a month of base | 5% | Gross salary , capped at PKR 488,400 / yr secondary source: the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution's circular setting the FY2026-27 contribution base could not be read (every eobi.gov.pk page tried on 2026-09-24 returned an empty document); a payroll practitioner's post reproducing it gives a monthly minimum wage of PKR 40,700 from 1 July 2026, an employer share of PKR 2,035 and an employee share of PKR 407, and the Centre for Labour Research describes the base as the minimum wage notified for the Islamabad Capital Territory, which is PKR 40,700 from the same date. The Institution states the split as employer 5% and employee 1% of the worker's minimum wages, 6% in total. The base is the point most cost models get wrong: the Act defines "wages" for this purpose as the rates declared under the Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers Ordinance, a federal instrument, so the charge is 5% of the federal rate - PKR 2,035 a month - whether the employee earns PKR 40,700 or PKR 460,000, and it does not follow the Sindh minimum wage that drives the SESSI line below. On the wording, note that section 9(1) of the Act fixes at 6% what the employer must remit each month and section 9B makes 1% of wages the insured person's own share, which the employer withholds from pay; the Institution publishes the same arithmetic as 5% plus 1%. This ledger carries the employer's 5%. | Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution2026-09-21 |
| Sindh Employees' Social Security (SESSI) contribution, employer onlyProvincial medical and cash-benefit scheme; charged on the Sindh minimum wage prevailing when the contribution is paid, so it stops at PKR 43,000 a month of base | 6% | Gross salary , capped at PKR 516,000 / yr Section 20(1) of the Act sets the employer contribution at six per cent, and section 20(2) forbids deducting any part of it from the employee. The Sindh Employees' Social Security (Amendment) Act 2018 replaced the proviso to section 20(1) with two: no contribution is payable on so much of an employee's wages as exceeds the upper wage limit determined under section 75, and the contribution is to be calculated on the minimum wage rate prevailing under the Sindh Minimum Wages Act 2015 at the time of payment. The ceiling therefore applies to the base, not to the amount: 6% of PKR 43,000, the Sindh minimum wage from 1 July 2026, or PKR 2,580 a month, the larger of this ledger's two lines. The Sindh High Court read the Act the same way when no separate limit had been notified, holding that contributions are due on the minimum wage notified for the year. An employee does not leave the scheme by earning more than the limit: the proviso to section 2(9), as substituted in 2018, says so expressly. | Sindh Employees' Social Security Act 2016 (Sindh Act No. VI of 2016), sections 20(1)-(2), 21 and 75, with the provisos to section 20(1) and section 2(9)(e) as substituted by the Sindh Employees Social Security (Amendment) Act 2018 (Sindh Act No. XVIII of 2018, sections 4 and 8), both on the Sindh Law Department's Sindh Code; wage base from the Labour and Human Resources Department notification No. SO(L-II)/13-3/2016-II of 17 August 2026 (PKR 43,000 a month from 1 July 2026)2026-09-24 |
| Gratuity on termination (one month's wages per year of service) not in total | — | Carried at zero because it falls due when the job ends rather than every month, but it is the largest employer obligation on this page by some distance — one month's wages for every completed year of service, and for any part of a year beyond six months, payable to a worker who resigns or whose services are terminated for any reason other than misconduct. At one month a year it is worth about 8.3% of salary, roughly eight times the recurring contributions above. The same Standing Order removes it for any period covered by a provident fund to which the employer contributes at least as much as the worker, provided the fund pays out no less than the gratuity would have, which is why some employers run a fund instead. Ask the provider whether it accrues gratuity monthly, funds a provident fund in its place, or invoices the whole amount at the exit. | Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act 2015 (Sindh Act No. XI of 2016), Standing Order 16(6): gratuity equivalent to one month's wages for every completed year of service or any part in excess of six months, on resignation or termination other than for misconduct, unless a qualifying provident fund exists; Sindh Law Department, Sindh Code2026-09-24 |
| Statutory profit bonus not in total | — | Carried at zero because it is owed only in a profitable year and its size follows the profit, not the salary. Standing Order 13 requires an employer that made a profit in a year to pay, within three months of the year closing, a bonus to every worker with at least ninety days of continuous service in that year. Where the profit is at least the workers' combined monthly wages, the bonus pool is at least one month's wages, subject to a maximum of 30% of the profit; where the profit is smaller, the pool is at least 15% of it, shared in proportion to monthly wages. It is not a thirteenth month and it has no fixed rate, but it is a statutory entitlement rather than a discretionary gesture, so it belongs in a budget for a profitable local entity. | Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act 2015 (Sindh Act No. XI of 2016), Standing Order 13(1)-(3): profit bonus for workers with not less than ninety days of continuous service in the year, at least one month's aggregate wages up to 30% of profit, or at least 15% of a smaller profit; Sindh Law Department, Sindh Code2026-09-24 |
| Compulsory group insurance for permanent workers not in total | — | Carried at zero because the cost is an insurance premium rather than a percentage of one salary. In an industrial or commercial establishment with twenty or more workers, the employer must insure every permanent worker against natural death and disability and against death or injury not already covered by the Workmen's Compensation Act or provincial social security, for at least the compensation set in Schedule IV of that Act, pays the whole premium, and is liable for the payout itself if the worker was not insured. An EOR's fee normally covers this because the provider is the employer of record; a company opening its own entity has to buy the policy. | Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act 2015 (Sindh Act No. XI of 2016), Standing Order 12(1)-(4): compulsory group insurance for permanent workers where twenty or more workers are employed, premium on the employer, cover not below Schedule IV of the Workmen's Compensation Act 1923, employer liable for what the insurer would have paid; Sindh Law Department, Sindh Code2026-09-24 |
| Statutory annual leave (14 days) not in total | — | Paid time inside the salary rather than an extra contribution. An office hire works in a commercial establishment, where the Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment Act 2015 grants fourteen days of leave on full wages after twelve months of continuous employment; untaken leave carries forward until the balance reaches thirty days, or can be paid out at the employee's request. The same Act adds ten days of casual leave a year and eight days of sick leave, which can accumulate to sixteen. A factory worker has the same fourteen days under the Sindh Factories Act 2015, with sick leave of sixteen days a year. Both are generous by the standards of the contracts EOR providers draft, so check what the offer actually promises. Public holidays are separate. The Cabinet Division's circular of 19 January 2026 lists the 2026 holidays, and the Muslim festivals are fixed later by moon-sighting notifications. As notified, 2026 has 14 public holiday dates for all employees: two days of Eid-ul-Fitr, three of Eid-ul-Azha (the third coinciding with Youm-e-Takbeer on 28 May), two of Ashura, and seven single days, with 26 December added for Christian employees only. Standing Order 9(2) gives every worker covered by the Standing Orders Act paid holidays on all days the provincial or federal government declares festival holidays; the Shops Act's own floor is ten festival holidays a year, dated by the employer at the start of the year. | Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment Act 2015 (Sindh Act No. XII of 2016), sections 14 (annual leave), 15 (casual and sick leave) and 16 (festival holidays), on the Sindh Law Department's Sindh Code; Sindh Factories Act 2015, sections 73 and 79; Standing Order 9 of the Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act 2015; Cabinet Division circular F.No. 10-1/2025-Min-II of 19 January 2026 and its Eid-ul-Fitr (15 March), Eid-ul-Azha (20 May), Ashura (22 June) and Eid Milad-un-Nabi (21 August 2026) notifications2026-09-24 |
| Employer on-cost at $20,000 | +1.0% | $199 a year, $17 a month |
EOR or your own entity
Fees scale with headcount. An entity does not.
An entity in Pakistan means registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, a national tax number, and then registrations that are split between two levels of government: EOBI is federal, while social security, standing orders, factories and shops legislation are provincial, so a company hiring in both Karachi and Lahore deals with two social-security institutions under two provincial Acts. The recurring charges are small and fixed — 5% of the federal minimum wage of PKR 40,700 and 6% of Sindh's PKR 43,000, PKR 4,615 a month per employee no matter what the salary is. The obligations that scale with salary are the ones that fall due later: gratuity at one month's wages per year of service, the profit bonus in a profitable year, and group insurance for permanent staff once twenty workers are on the books.
Fees grow with every hire; the charges line is owed under an entity too.
| Headcount | RemoFirst fees / yr | Borderless AI fees / yr | Statutory charges / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,388 | $6,948 | $199 |
| 3 | $7,164 | $20,844 | $598 |
| 5 | $11,940 | $34,740 | $996 |
| 10 | $23,880 | $69,480 | $1,992 |
| 20 | $47,760 | $138,960 | $3,985 |
Statutory charges are owed either way; the provider fee is the only line an entity removes, against the cost of incorporating and running local payroll.
Employment terms that move the cost
- Paid leave
- 14 days
- Public holidays
- 14
- 13th month
- Not mandatory
- Probation
- up to 3 months
- Notice
- One month's notice, or one month's wages in lieu, is the standing-order default for ending the employment of a permanent worker, and the employer must give the reason in writing. Probation for a permanent post runs three months. The money at the exit is not the notice but the gratuity: one month's wages for every completed year of service, and for any part of a year beyond six months, owed whenever employment ends for any reason other than misconduct.
- Reviewed
- 2026-09-24
Get a quote for Pakistan.
The lowest published total here, next to the two providers searched for most often (the rule). Totals for 1 hire at $20,000. Ask each provider about deposits, FX margins and mandatory add-ons for Pakistan: those are the lines that move.
Get a RemoFirst quote· $1,882/mo Get a Papaya quote· $2,182/mo Get a Deel quote· $2,282/mo
Disclosure Some provider links are affiliate links; they never change the numbers on this page. Details
Questions people ask before booking a demo
- How much do employer contributions add to a salary in Pakistan?
- Very little on a professional salary, because both contributions are charged on the minimum wage rather than on pay. At this page's example of US$20,000 — about PKR 463,000 a month — the employer pays PKR 2,035 a month to EOBI and PKR 2,580 a month to Sindh social security: roughly US$17 a month, or about 1.0% of salary. The same two lines cost the same PKR 4,615 on a salary three times as large, so the percentage keeps falling as pay rises.
- Why are Pakistani employer contributions so low as a percentage?
- Because of the base, not the rate. The rates themselves are ordinary — 5% for EOBI and 6% for provincial social security — but neither is applied to the salary. EOBI is charged on the federal minimum wage for unskilled workers, PKR 40,700 a month from 1 July 2026, and since 2018 the Sindh social security Act has charged its contribution on the Sindh minimum wage, PKR 43,000 from the same date. Both therefore behave like fixed amounts per employee. Any quote that applies 11% to a full engineer's salary is describing a bill that nobody sends.
- What is the real employer cost in Pakistan then?
- Gratuity. A worker who resigns, or whose services are terminated for any reason other than misconduct, is owed one month's wages for every completed year of service, and a full month for any part of a year beyond six months — about 8.3% of salary a year, roughly eight times the two monthly contributions combined. It is not in the monthly on-cost above because it falls due at the exit, but it should be in the budget from the first month. An employer running a provident fund with at least a matching contribution is relieved of gratuity for the period the fund covers, provided the fund pays out no less than the gratuity would have.
- Does the province matter when hiring in Pakistan?
- Yes, on both lines. Social security is provincial: a Karachi hire is covered by the Sindh institution under the Sindh Employees' Social Security Act 2016, a Lahore hire by the Punjab institution, each at 6% under its own law. The minimum wage that drives the base is also provincial — from 1 July 2026, PKR 43,000 in Sindh and PKR 40,700 in the Islamabad Capital Territory, against PKR 37,000 on Balochistan's last notification read here. Standing orders, factories and shops rules are provincial too, so a two-city payroll is two compliance regimes, which is a large part of what an EOR fee buys here.
- What does an employer of record in Pakistan charge on top?
- Its own fee, and it dwarfs the statutory charges. Employer contributions come to about US$17 a month at US$20,000 of salary, while published EOR fees start around US$599 a month — about 35 times the contributions. The all-in monthly cost is roughly US$1,667 of salary plus US$17 of contributions plus the fee. That makes the fee, the deposit and the FX margin the numbers to negotiate here, along with how the provider treats gratuity accrual.