Working and earning on Aruba: florin, cessantia and the zero band

Whoever goes to work on Aruba steps into a labour market that runs almost entirely on tourism — hotels, hospitality, retail — with healthcare, education and the public sector around it. Wages are structurally below the Dutch level while the supermarket is actually more expensive; whoever builds their budget on the Dutch payslip comes up short in the first year. This is what really appears on that Aruban payslip.

The pay: an hourly wage since 2026

On 1 January 2026 the minimum wage was converted to an hourly wage system: Afl. 11.58 an hour, which for a full working week comes to around Afl. 2,000 a month (roughly a thousand euros). Overtime pays at least 150%, on rest days and public holidays 200%. Statutory leave is leaner than in the Netherlands — since 2021 3.3 times the number of working days a week, so a good sixteen days for a five-day week. In the negotiation, ask explicitly for leave above the minimum; that is where the real conversation about terms of employment lies.

The deductions: premiums first, then a mild table

From the gross salary the premiums come off first: a 5% employee share for the AOV/AWW (the Aruban state pension — your employer pays 10.5% alongside) and 1.6% for the AZV health insurance, both up to a premium income of Afl. 85,000. After that the wage tax is surprisingly mild at the bottom: a tax-free allowance of Afl. 30,000 and a zero band up to Afl. 34,930, then 21%, 42% and 52%. A modal Aruban income therefore pays hardly any wage tax — the government gets its money from the 7% turnover tax that sits invisibly in every shop price.

Illness, dismissal and the safety net

During illness the employer usually continues to pay for the first weeks; after that the SVb takes over with sickness benefit of 80% from the fourth day of illness, for a maximum of two years. On dismissal through no fault of your own there is the cessantia: a statutory one-off payment of one week's pay per year of service (rising to 1.25 and 2 weeks' pay for long periods of service), paid from a fund to which your employer contributes Afl. 40 per employee a year. There is no unemployment benefit as in the Netherlands — so the conversation about a buffer belongs with the decision to emigrate, not with the first dismissal.

The permit sets the playing field

Finally the framework within which all this plays out: for the first five years you work on a permit tied to one position with one employer — changing jobs means having the permit amended. With a higher professional or university degree that is a formality without a labour-market test; after that, with admission by operation of law, you work without conditions. Whoever knows that five-year path negotiates differently: the employer who applies for your permit also knows what your degree saves them in red tape.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Aruba.