Hiring in Uzbekistan: 10 steps for foreign companies

Uzbekistan has become a practical hiring market for foreign companies that need sales, technology, support or operations people in Central Asia. The talent is there. What slows most companies down is not finding candidates but choosing a legal way to employ them, pricing the role correctly and keeping the setup compliant once people start.

Below are the approaches that work best for global companies hiring in Uzbekistan, in the order most teams face them.

1. Choose the hiring model before you write the job ad

A foreign company without a local entity cannot simply sign a local employment contract with someone in Uzbekistan. Before you open a vacancy, decide which of these routes fits the plan:

Employer of Record (EOR). A local employer hires the person under the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. You direct the work. Suitable for a first hire, a pilot team or a market test.
Your own legal entity. A foreign enterprise or local company gives you full control but takes longer to register, needs a bank account, local accounting and ongoing reporting.
Representative office. Useful for liaison and market presence. Its permitted activity is narrower than an operating company, so check the scope before you rely on it for revenue-generating work.
Independent contractors. Fast to start, but only appropriate when the work is genuinely independent. A full-time role with fixed hours and one client usually looks like employment.

If you are still weighing these options, our comparison of EOR vs company setup in Uzbekistan walks through timing, cost and control side by side.

2. Use an Employer of Record to hire before you incorporate

For most first hires, an Employer of Record in Uzbekistan is the fastest compliant route. The EOR is the legal employer: it signs the employment contract, enrolls the person for personal income tax and social tax, runs payroll and handles onboarding and offboarding. Your company keeps day-to-day management, sets goals and reviews performance.

This split lets you start working with people while you decide whether Uzbekistan justifies a permanent entity. It also keeps employment obligations with a party that already operates locally.

3. Budget the full employment cost, not only the gross salary

A common mistake is to approve a role on gross salary alone. In Uzbekistan the employer cost usually stacks in three layers:

Gross salary agreed with the employee, from which personal income tax is withheld: 12% for residents in 2026.
Employer charges, mainly the employer social tax: 12% of payroll, paid on top of gross pay.
The EOR service fee, which should be shown as a separate line rather than blended into the salary. Ours starts from USD 249 per employee a month.

Both rates are set by the Tax Code (Articles 381 and 405). On a gross salary of UZS 10,000,000, the employee receives UZS 8,800,000 and the employer pays UZS 11,200,000 before the EOR fee. To see how the layers add up for other salaries, use the Employment Cost in Uzbekistan guide.

4. Keep contractors only where the work is truly independent

Many companies start in Uzbekistan with freelancers or individual contractors. That can be fine for short, project-based work. It becomes risky when the person works only for you, follows your schedule, uses your tools and reports to your manager. In those cases the relationship can be treated as employment, with back taxes and labor claims as possible consequences.

If a contractor role has turned into a job, moving the person onto a local employment contract is usually the safer path. See how contractor conversion through EOR works.

5. Write the contract around the Labor Code

Employment in Uzbekistan is governed by the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It sets the rules for written employment contracts, probation periods, working time, annual leave and the grounds and procedure for termination. Contract terms cannot be less favorable to the employee than the Code allows.

In practice, this means a contract drafted for another country rarely works as is. Job title, duties, place of work, working hours, pay and leave should be written in a locally compliant form, and the language of the contract should be agreed with the employee. Key rules for 2026: a 40-hour week, at least 15 working days of annual leave, probation of up to three months, and two weeks’ notice when an employee resigns. The Labor Code essentials guide covers the rest.

6. Plan work permits early for foreign nationals

Hiring Uzbek citizens and residents is the simplest case. If you want to relocate a foreign national to Uzbekistan, they will usually need work authorization in addition to the right visa. The application is filed online and decided within 15 working days, and some groups, such as specialists employed by IT Park residents, are exempt. Start this track as soon as the candidate is chosen. An EOR can act as the local employer for the application. Read more about work permits in Uzbekistan.

7. Run payroll locally and on a fixed cycle

Salaries for local employment are generally paid in Uzbek soum through local payroll, with tax and social tax calculated and filed on a monthly cycle. Head office then needs a clear picture of what was paid and why.

Agree in advance how the cost report will look: gross salary, employer charges and the service fee as separate lines, in the currency your finance team uses for budgeting. Our payroll service in Uzbekistan page explains what is included.

8. Look at sector rules before you assume a single setup

Technology teams often look at the IT Park framework, which offers its own regime for resident companies and exempts their foreign specialists from the work-permit confirmation. Gini Talent’s employing entity in Uzbekistan is an IT Park resident. Whether the regime applies to a particular role depends on the work, so raise it early and the hiring model and the tax picture are discussed together.

9. Decide when you would move from EOR to your own entity

EOR is often the first step, not the last. Set a review point, for example after a set headcount or a set period, to check whether a local entity now makes sense. Planning this from the start avoids rushed restructuring later and keeps employee transfers orderly.

10. Prepare a clear brief before you ask for a proposal

A provider can only give a reliable proposal if the inputs are clear. Before you reach out, have answers to these questions:

Which role or roles, and how many people?
Are candidates already selected, or do you still need to find them?
Where will the person work, and is the role fully remote, hybrid or on site?
What is the planned gross salary range and target start date?
Is any employee a foreign national who will need a work permit?

For a structured view of how a local team comes together, see building a local team in Uzbekistan.

Quick checklist for hiring in Uzbekistan

Pick the hiring model: EOR, entity, representative office or contractor.
Price the role with salary, employer charges and fees shown apart.
Check that contractor relationships are genuinely independent.
Use a contract written under the Labor Code.
Start work-permit steps early for foreign nationals.
Agree the payroll cycle and the cost report format.
Set a review point for a possible move to your own entity.

How Gini Talent can help

Gini Talent acts as the Employer of Record in Uzbekistan for foreign companies that want a local team without opening a local company. We review the company, the activity and the payment flow before we send a proposal, because not every case is a fit. Once the person is chosen, we handle the employment contract, tax and social tax enrollment and payroll, while you direct the work. The EOR fee starts from USD 249 per employee a month, and the figures on this site are checked by Görkem Tan, CPA.

Ready to discuss a role? Request an EOR proposal and tell us the role, headcount, target start and whether candidates are ready.