How do I set up HR for a 5-person company in Myanmar?

What this looks like in practice

A 5-person Myanmar company sits exactly on the binding floor of the Social Security Law 2012 — the moment headcount reaches 5 employees, registration with the township SSB office is mandatory within 30 days. The ESDL 2013 separately requires a signed appointment letter for every employee within 30 days of joining, and the Income Tax Law requires monthly PAYE withholding from Month 1. At this size HR is a founder or office-manager job, not a department.

Step-by-step setup

1. Confirm DICA company registration is current — the Myanmar Companies Online (MyCO) record is the prerequisite for every other filing.
2. Register with the township SSB office within 30 days of crossing 5 employees. Form: SSB-1-1. Bring the company stamp, DICA extract, and employee list.
3. Issue ESDL-compliant appointment letters on Day 1 — job title, salary, probation (max 3 months), notice period, and severance schedule per Notification 84/2015.
4. Open a township labour register recording each employee's name, start date, role, and wage.
5. Set up monthly payroll with PIT withholding from Month 1. Pay wages by the 7th of the following month; remit PIT by the 15th; remit SSB by the 15th.
6. Issue payslips every month — gross, itemised deductions (PIT, SSB), net. Digital is acceptable.
7. Maintain a leave register — annual (10 days post-12 months), casual (6 days), sick (30 days post-6 months).

Tools, templates and costs

• Templates needed: offer letter, ESDL appointment letter, payslip, leave register, attendance register.
• Payroll: Excel works at 5 employees but generates audit risk by year 2 — budget MMK 50,000–150,000/month for a cloud HRMS like QHRM with PIT/SSB built in.
• Salary cost (Yangon, 5 office staff at MMK 600,000 average): roughly MMK 3M/month gross, plus MMK 45,000 employer SSB.
• Outsource: payroll bureau if no Burmese-language bookkeeper (MMK 30,000–60,000/employee/month).
• In-house: contract issuance, leave tracking, attendance register.

Region notes — Yangon vs Mandalay

Yangon SSB offices process registrations faster (5–10 working days) but office-staff salaries run 25–40% higher than Mandalay. Mandalay 5-person office costs roughly MMK 2M/month in gross salary versus MMK 3M in Yangon. Naypyidaw filings often require physical presence at the head SSB office and benefit from a local agent.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Skipping SSB "until we're 10" — the threshold is 5, and retroactive contributions plus penalty interest apply.
• Calling staff "consultants" to dodge ESDL — contractor misclassification is a separate violation that can stack with SSB non-registration.
• Running payroll on Excel past Month 6 — IRD form generation and SSB returns become error-prone at 5+.
• Forgetting the township labour register — inspectors check this before the payroll file.
• Probation longer than 3 months — ESDL caps probation at 3 months, extendable once with written agreement.

Related reading: SSB employee registration walkthrough, running payroll for a small business, and mandatory HR policies for Myanmar companies.