Employers in Costa Rica have always been obligated to pay social security for their workers including domestic help, housekeepers or maids; however, in the past “Caja” (Costa Rica Public Health and Social Security Administration, CCSS) didn’t offer a possibility for those maids that only worked part time or by the hour, or had several employers; the only option was to report the worker with a minimum salary of ¢231,135 (around $400) even if the worker made less than that, this caused many employers to opt for not paying Caja since it represented a high monthly payment.

The change that entered into force July 21, now offers the possibility of registering the helper in Caja at a lower cost, reporting the salary actually earned by the worker, as long as it corresponds to the legal minimum amount the worker should be getting paid for the hours reported.

For example in the past, if an employer had a maid working by hours that earned 100 thousand colones, he/she still had to report ¢231,135 as a minimum, meaning the employer had to pay almost ¢58,000.00 to Caja; while now the amount paid is calculated over the 100 thousand colones, and therefore the employer will have to pay close to ¢28,000.00.

House maids include employees that perform domestic work in the house, and includes hourly paid baby sitters and caregivers, (it does not include drivers or security workers).

According to data by CCSS, 70% of the estimated 170,575 domestic workers in the country, work per hour, with a salary three times lower than the minimum estimated in the private sector; only 30% of this workers have insurance or are registered in CCSS (including volunteer insurance).

CCSS is also, for the first time, enabling the option of online registry in order to make the process faster and more accessible and in the hopes of increasing the number of registered workers, however, after the process has been completed online the employer will still have to go to the CCSS offices to sign the official registry.

This option is already available and includes the option for the employer to switch from the former modality to the new option and it allows for several employers to register the same employee. There is a restriction for an employer to register no more than two house helpers using the online system; in this case, the employer would need to go directly to the CCSS office to do the registration in person.