- The Dominican Republic keeps the same clock as US Eastern time for most of the year.
- An employer of record lets you hire there without opening a local company.
- Total cost has three main parts. Salary, statutory employer costs, and the employer of record fee. Get all three in writing.
Why US companies look at the Dominican Republic
Nearshore staffing means hiring in a nearby country with overlapping working hours. For US companies, the Dominican Republic is one of the closest options.
Three things make it a strong fit for support and back office roles. The working day lines up with the US East Coast. There is a deep pool of bilingual English and Spanish speakers. And the country has an established customer service and outsourcing industry, so many candidates already have experience supporting US customers.
Time zones
The Dominican Republic runs on Atlantic Standard Time all year and does not observe daylight saving time. Here is how that lines up with your team.
| Your team | Mid-March to early November | Early November to mid-March |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern | Same time | Dominican Republic is 1 hour ahead |
| Central | 1 hour ahead | 2 hours ahead |
| Pacific | 3 hours ahead | 4 hours ahead |
East Coast teams share the full working day. Central teams share most of it. Pacific teams usually agree a later shift so the overlap works.
How employer of record works
An employer of record, often called an EOR, is a company already set up in the Dominican Republic. It becomes the legal employer of the person you hire.
- It issues a local employment contract that follows Dominican labour law.
- It runs payroll and pays taxes and social security contributions.
- It manages statutory benefits and leave.
You still choose the person, direct their work every day, and manage their performance. They work only for you.
This matters because many companies start by hiring people abroad as independent contractors. When a person works like an employee, with set hours and your direction, that can create misclassification risk. An employer of record keeps the arrangement clean.
What drives the cost
We do not publish salary ranges, because figures online are often out of date or leave out statutory costs. Here is what a full monthly cost should include.
- Base salary. Depends on the role, experience, and level of English.
- Statutory employer costs. Social security contributions, plus mandatory items such as the thirteenth-month Christmas salary required under Dominican law.
- Employer of record fee. Usually a fixed monthly fee per employee.
- Equipment and software. A laptop, a headset, and the licences the role needs.
- Recruitment. The cost to find, screen, and test the right person.
Before you commit, ask for one number. The fully loaded monthly cost per person, in US dollars. Then compare it with the fully loaded cost of the same role at home, including benefits and overhead.
Roles that work well
- Customer support and customer success
- Administrative and executive assistants
- Billing and accounts receivable
- Scheduling and dispatch
- Data entry and CRM upkeep
- Recruiting coordination
Roles that need regular in-person work, or that handle regulated data your compliance team wants kept in-country, are usually better kept local.
How to start
- Pick one role with clear, repeatable work.
- Write down what the role does each day and which systems it needs.
- Agree the full monthly cost in writing.
- Interview a shortlist and choose your hire.
- Check in at 30 days, then decide whether to add more roles.
Starting with one person shows you quickly whether the model fits your team.
Thinking about a nearshore hire?
We scope the role, recruit the person, and set up the employer of record for you.