The Central Bank confirmed how dollar salary accounts will work: what changes for workers

The Central Bank officially incorporated the US dollar into dollar salary accounts and authorized banks to credit remuneration in that currency. The measure formalizes an initiative that had already been anticipated and establishes new rules for the operation of these accounts.

The decision was communicated through Communication "A" 8460/2026, published this Monday in the Official Gazette. It stipulated "incorporating the US dollar as an admitted currency for the collection of deposits in the 'Salary Account'" provided for in current regulations.

In addition to enabling the crediting of wages in dollars, the Central Bank defined how financial institutions must handle deposits and cash withdrawals.

In this regard, it clarified that "the handling of cash deposit and withdrawal operations from US dollar accounts (...) is mandatory at the branch where the account is held."

The communication adds that these operations may also be carried out "at other branches, ATMs and self-service terminals," though conditional on "institutions having operational availability of cash."

Another point advanced by the monetary authority concerns the account's fee-free status. The regulation confirms that this condition "applies up to the amount of credits derived from the employment relationship."

It also incorporates a specific clarification for workers who choose to keep their dollars deposited. According to the official text, the fee-free status will remain in effect "accumulating uncollected amounts without time limit."

The measure does not modify existing labor regulations nor establish obligations for companies to pay wages in dollars. What it incorporates is the possibility of using the salary account framework to receive credits in US currency within the financial system regulated by the Central Bank.

In the same text, the institution reported that it will subsequently send financial entities the corresponding amendments to incorporate them into the consolidated text on "Savings Deposits, Salary Accounts and Special Accounts."

The substantive change was introduced by the Labor Modernization Law. The amendment replaced Article 105 of the Employment Contract Law to expressly establish that "wages must be paid in money, whether in national or foreign currency." Previously it only mentioned "in money." The new wording cleared up doubts among legal scholars about the scope of that expression.