Hiring the right person for the job has always been one of the most complex challenges for a company. This is especially true now that hiring people from all over the world is possible. Not only should you focus on getting the best-qualified candidate for the position, but you must also be in compliance with the local labor laws and regulations. There is a lot of work to be done, and this could be more than your average human resource or business operations departments can handle. In these situations, you should consider turning to employer of record.
What is an employer of record?
An employer of record or simply EOR is an organization that takes care of the hiring and compensating one or more full-time employees on behalf of another company. This enables companies to legally work with employees from a foreign country, without having to set up a legal entity locally. Basically, relying on the employer of record services allows you to legally and painlessly hire anyone, anywhere in the world.
Keep in mind employer of record services are not needed if you are hiring independent contractors. If your business is looking to hire an independent contractor, take a look at our detailed guide on hiring foreign contractors.
How does an employer of record work?
The employer of record, sometimes called global employer of record, could take responsibility for the following personnel operations:
- Payroll processing
- Filing payroll taxes
- Processing timesheets
- Creating, maintaining, and terminating employment contracts
- Employee onboarding processes for new hires
- Maintaining insurance
- Running various background checks
- Administering benefits and handling worker’s compensation, health insurance, etc.
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Learn moreEmployer of record vs Professional employer organization (PEO)
EOR is similar to a PEO, or professional employer organization, but the two are quite different. PEOs are quite popular in the United States and are providing so-called co-employment services. Co-employment means that both the client company and the PEO are sharing the management of the employees, as well as assuming legal liabilities. They often need to be registered in the country where the employee is located.
When it comes to international hiring, many companies refer to it as "global PEO" or "international PEO". It's important to note that this type of service is not offered by a PEO but by an employer of record.
To sum it up, the employer of record is employing the worker on behalf of the client company, ensuring compliance according to the local laws and labor regulations, as well as punning payroll and other HR and/or administrative tasks. Day-to-day management of the workers is the responsibility of the client company. In this case, opening a subsidiary or a local branch is not necessary.
Employer of record vs staffing agency
A staffing agency acts as a "middleman" between hiring companies and talent. Their responsibility lies in finding the right candidate to match it to the job vacancy.
Depending on the staffing agency, the services can include anything from advertising the job to filing paperwork and running background checks.
On the other side, EOR services do not include the talent search and vetting but come into play only when the right candidate has been selected.
When to use an employer of record?
You should consider using an employer of record when:
- Your company is expanding to a global market and wants to hire people on the ground
- You want to ensure compliance with the labor laws and regulations in a foreign country
- You want to reduce compliance and misclassification risks or hiring independent contractors
- You don't have the capacity to perform the research and operations in-house
- You want to hire full-time employees without opening a subsidiary
Why use employer or record? The benefits of using EOR services
As businesses embrace remote and online working, enticing markets open all over the world. Apart from these new markets, new opportunities for business expansion open up, as well as chances to introduce new members to the team. Unfortunately, this introduces some legal challenges when hiring international employees. This is where the employer of record services come in.
By using an employer of record you will:
- Save substantial resources for your core business
- Reduce compliance risks
- Ensure a good onboarding process for each new employee
Saving substantial resources for your core business
Relying on an employer of record will help you save the time it usually takes to go through the hiring process. EORs have their own team of trained experts that handle the hiring and onboarding process. This will reduce the time and resources you spend on the hiring process so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
Finally, EOR can save your company a lot of money that would usually go into back-office operations, such as training your HR and recruiter team on legal matters, seeking legal counsel, and obtaining various legal permits in the countries you would like to hire in.
Reducing compliance risks
The employer of record ensures compliance with the laws of the country you’re planning to hire in. So, whether you’re planning a global expansion or just looking to hire in a single country, you will need to follow employment laws and regulations. Instead of learning a new set of rules each time you hire people from a new country, you can rely on EOR. By outsourcing hiring new people, you effectively don’t have to worry about local regulatory laws or work permits, as the employer of record will take care of it on your behalf.
Another important aspect of EOR services is that they give you opportunities for international employment while remaining completely compliant with the tax laws of the country they are hiring in. Thus, apart from knowing your employees have all of their rights and employee benefits protected, you can have peace of mind knowing that employment taxes are covered.
Employer of record services help with the onboarding process
Apart from following the right employment laws, and keeping your employees on a local payroll, employers of record can help you with preparing new recruits for the job. As their legal employer, they will take care of the onboarding process for any new employees.
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