Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Outsourcing and intermediaries in the Dominican Republic: when the client answers for the contractor's staff

Outsourcing and intermediaries in the Dominican Republic: when the client answers for the contractor's staff

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

A genuine contractor with its own means is the employer of its staff. A party with no means of its own is an intermediary and shares liability with the principal. Related companies answer jointly only where fraud is shown, and placement agencies need Ministry authorization.

Key facts

Liability of the principal for an intermediary's workers	Joint where the contractor lacks its own means textLey 16-92 art. 12, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Placement agency authorization needed	Yes textResolución 41-2004 art. 8, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. An intermediary is anyone who, without being a known representative, arranges services of workers on behalf of the employer. Anyone hiring workers to be used in another company's work also counts.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 7, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Those who contract works for another on their own account and without being subject to that party are employers. Those with no means of their own to meet obligations to their workers are intermediaries and jointly liable with the contractor or main employer.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 12, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Companies under common direction, or forming an economic group, are jointly liable for labor duties when fraudulent maneuvers have occurred.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 13, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Workers of a contractor can ask the client to hold back from the contractor the pay owed to them if the contractor misses a pay date, and they step into the contractor's rights against the client.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 14, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Sums owed to contractors cannot be assigned or seized to the detriment of workers. Assignments and seizures bite only on balances after the work is delivered and wages are covered.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 210, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Where a contract is mixed with another contract, the one closest to the essence of the service prevails.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 15, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. The owner of the work is subsidiarily liable for contractors' affiliation and contribution duties for occupational risk, and the contractor likewise for subcontractors.Ley 87-01 as amended, art. 203, 2001-05-09 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. Private placement agencies need Dirección General de Empleo authorization. Their pay is limited to the costs of the service, they must guarantee equal access and they cannot subcontract the service or place Dominican workers in jobs abroad.Resolución 41-2004, art. 8, 2004-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. Independent liberal professionals, commission agents, brokers and trade agents fall outside the code unless a provision says otherwise.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 5, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Setup	Who is employer	Client exposure
Contractor with own staff, tools and capital	Contractor	Art. 14 hold back and art. 203 of Ley 87-01
Contractor with no means	Intermediary and principal	Joint liability under art. 12
Group company used to shift staff	Each group company if fraud is shown	Art. 13 and art. 96
Independent professional	Outside the code if truly independent	Reclassified if subordination is proved under art. 15

How the code treats common arrangements

Worked example

A call center hires a cleaning firm with no capital or tools of its own. If the firm stops paying, the workers can pursue the call center as jointly liable under art. 12, so it should ask for payroll proof.

Step by step

Check the contractor's capital, tools and own staff.
Ask for TSS and DGII compliance certificates.
Require monthly evidence of payroll and contributions.
Include a right to withhold and an indemnity in the contract.
Avoid giving direct orders to contractor staff.

Common traps

Calling someone a contractor does not rebut the art. 15 presumption if work is personal and under direction.
Payroll agencies with no real substance fall under art. 12.
A 2004 agency rule bars agencies from placing Dominicans abroad, which limits cross border recruitment models.
Foreign outsourcing staff working on site raise the 80% rule too.

Sources

← Unions, collective bargaining and strikes in the Dominican RepublicBusiness transfers and employer groups in the Dominican Republic: what a buyer inherits →

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