Decree 325
Cuba's revised implementing regulation for the 2014 Foreign Investment Law, published 4 September 2026, introducing direct hiring and financial autonomy for foreign-capital enterprises.
Last refreshed: 8 September 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Decree 325
Mentioned in: Cuba lets foreign branches hire Cubans
Cuba DispatchIntroduced direct hiring and wider financial autonomy for foreign-capital enterprises
Cuba Dispatch: Cuba lets foreign firms hire directlyMentioned in: OCDH puts Cuban extreme poverty at 94%
Cuba DispatchBackground
Decree 325 is the Cuban Council of Ministers' implementing regulation for the 2014 Foreign Investment Law No. 118, governing how foreign investment proposals are submitted, approved, monitored and wound up. Cuba published a revised version on 4 September 2026, as document GOC-2026-495-ES11 in the Gaceta Oficial.
The revision lets a foreign-invested firm hire Cuban staff directly, without the state employment agency that has intermediated every such hire since the 1990s and kept the spread between the hard currency an employer pays and the pesos a worker receives. It followed Decree-Law 128/2026, approved a day earlier, which introduced the direct-hiring right and wider financial autonomy; Decree 325 governs procedure, Decree-Law 128/2026 sets the underlying right.
Nothing in the gazette confirms direct hiring is happening: no foreign-invested firm has been reported using the new rule, and the ministry has not yet published the model contract that would make it operable rather than theoretical.
What does Cuba's Decree 325 change?
When was Decree 325 published?
What is the difference between Decree 325 and Decree-Law 128/2026?
Has a company used Cuba's new direct-hiring rule under Decree 325?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 8 September 2026. Editorial standards.