Global hiring made simple

An Employer of Record (EOR) is a company that helps companies to legally hire and employ workers residing in countries other than where the company is based by acting as the local legal employer. Because employment laws, taxation, benefit requirements and employee rights vary widely from country to country, it’s paramount to have an expert local legal employer, such as an EOR, to manage a company’s cross-border employment. This includes everything from local employment agreements to statutory rights and benefits, as well as updates on local legislation.

At their core, EORs help organisations looking to hire abroad delegate the responsibility of navigating unfamiliar legal systems and ensuring they remain fully compliant with local employment and tax laws. They also help preserve and manage employees’ benefits, rights and feelings of equality with the HQ team members. This partnership allows a business to minimise its responsibility of employing workers from a legal perspective and instead shifts that responsibility to the EOR.

This means the EOR manages everything from paying international employees to administering and tracking statutory benefits. The EOR manages and files local employee taxes and offers guidance on many legally related employment issues.

There is no fixed time limit for using an EOR, because permanent establishment risk depends on activities, not duration. EOR use is usually low risk for non-commercial roles, but risk increases when employees generate revenue, sign contracts, or represent the company. Companies should assess role activities, and strong EOR providers guide PE considerations.

An EOR provides a faster, lower-risk alternative to establishing your own legal entity. Because the EOR already maintains local entities, payroll systems, and compliance processes, you can hire in days instead of months. The EOR becomes the legal employer and manages contracts, taxes, benefits, and reporting, eliminating ongoing entity setup and maintenance costs.

EOR platforms ensure HR compliance by acting as the legal employer and applying each country’s labour laws, tax rules, payroll regulations, and statutory benefits to every hire. They maintain local entities, use in-country specialists, and update contracts and payroll as rules change, creating a unified compliance framework across global operations.

With an EOR, companies can hire internationally within a few days because the provider already has local entities, payroll systems, and compliant employment frameworks. You share candidate details, and the EOR prepares contracts, sets up payroll, manages statutory benefits, and ensures onboarding meets local laws, making it one of the fastest global hiring methods.

An EOR becomes the legal employer on your behalf, managing contracts, payroll, taxes, and benefits without requiring a local entity. A PEO uses co-employment, meaning you must already have an entity and retain legal responsibility. For startups expanding globally, an EOR is typically better because it streamlines hiring and reduces compliance risk.