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Boundless makes it easy for companies to grow their internationally remote team. We do this by employing your team on your behalf, being the local “employer of record” for the individual.
It means that Boundless is the legal employer of the individual, as far as their government, tax, and employment authorities are concerned. We are responsible for:
Our customers are responsible for:
Boundless is a legal employer of record for growing companies with international workers, in a number of countries.
Boundless charges 8% of total monthly processed payroll. That is:
Yes, even if you have set up your own entities, you still have to process payroll, and ensure compliance with employment law, for each country you have remote workers in. Many companies will outsource these processes/responsibilities to third parties. Boundless offers you the chance to combine these fragmented systems, relationships and workflows into a single experience.
If an individual is giving their full and undivided attention to your company, and they are treated as an independent contractor, you are likely in breach of employment laws both in your country, and theirs.
Your company could be liable for fines or other legal measures. The individuals you are working with do not receive the benefit of local employment laws and protections that are often afforded to people working full time hours.
We have written about this in the past:
Boundless owns and manages its infrastructure everywhere it is possible to do so. It aims to assume the legal burden of risk for its customers, or if this is prohibited within a particular territory, to adopt a closely managed partnership model based upon transparency and accountability.
Each pay period, after you make any necessary adjustments and processing is completed, we issue you with an invoice bill, for one amount, in your home currency. A full breakdown of the payroll cost is available, including our fee of 8% of total monthly processed payroll. You pay us, and we pay your team in their currency. We also file and pay their taxes compliantly in their home country.
A full list of the countries that we support can be found at:
boundlesshq.com/how-it-works/countries/
A list of countries that we are working on supporting can be found here: boundlesshq.com/how-it-works/countries/
Being able to support employment of people in these countries requires us to establish corporate infrastructure and develop systems compatible with local laws, which can take time.
We'll share with you a detailed salary and tax breakdown of each employee in each country, and make you aware of any specific requirments relating to compliant employment, employment agreements, handling disuptes, and terminating agreements in each country.
There’s no real downside. Boundless is absorbing the risk of having employees in another country. You won’t be the only party mentioned on your worker’s employment agreement - Boundless will be a party to that agreement.
No. Boundless takes care of all of this.
Not yet, but it is something we’ll explore in the future.
Boundless files all pertinent taxes as they relate to the compliant employment of an individual in their home country.
The employee is paid directly by Boundless. As a customer, you will receive a predictable payroll bill each cycle, which will include the total gross payroll cost, plus any employer related taxes or contributions, plus our fee of 8%.
Boundless currently supports monthly payroll cycles. In the future, we will support alternative cycles.
Boundless is intuitive, and easy to use. Making adjustments to an employee’s monthly payroll is as easy as logging in to our secure interface, making the necessary adjustments, and saving them. Each cycle has a cutoff point, beyond which it’s no longer possible to make adjustments.
We don’t currently offer access to any specific medical insurance policies, but we are working on putting this in place.
A simple & effective way of handling this is to offer any employee with their own health insurance policy an additional gross payment on top of their salary.
For example: you could say that, for any employee that provides you with evidence of their own policy, you’ll pay them an extra gross amount each year. This will be treated as an additional gross payment on their payslip, and they’ll be taxed on this, resulting in an increase of the employee’s net salary that covers the cost of the insurance minus the taxes on this monetary benefit.
We can support pension payments / contributions in the countries where this is a mandatory benefit. If workplace pension is not a mandatory benefit in a certain country, we can discuss alternative options to provide this to your employees.
Each cycle you will receive a payroll bill. To make things easy, it will be a single amount, accompanied with a breakdown of each employee’s salary, tax and contributions.
Employees are paid in the local currency of their employment country. It is not a problem if this is different to yours as you will be invoiced in your local currency.
HR compliance is about making sure your policies and procedures respect all the applicable laws and regulations when it comes to employment and work practices. Complying with local employment law is fundamental for the correct running of your business - not only because these laws are in place to protect employees and guarantee their rights are safeguarded, but to minimise your risk of liabilities as an employer.
In each of the countries we operate in, we carefully choose employment lawyers or advisories to partner with. They make sure all our employment agreements are completely compliant with the local jurisdiction, and we have thorough discussions on specific norms such as data protection or work from home regulations. Whenever a potentially sensitive issue arises in one of the countries, our internal team contacts the relevant firm to make sure all steps are taken to resolve it compliantly.
The company remains responsible for the day-to-day management of the people and teams that are employed through Boundless, including any disciplinary or performance issues.
Boundless ensures compliance with local specific procedures, practices and laws, while employing people and teams on behalf of the company.
You get in touch with us. Once you explain to us the problem thoroughly, we will be able to support you, and whenever situations arise that need a sensitive approach, we will consult our legal teams in the local jurisdiction on your behalf, to make sure you get the best possible advice.
In most countries there are quite strict regulations to prevent unlawful terminations. Depending on the location of your employee, and the specifics of the situation, we will offer you tailored advice on all aspects you need to consider. We'll also provide you with the support needed to ensure the situation is handled as positively as possible.
Boundless has an established procedure for compliantly terminating employment agreements in each country that we support. We require customers to alert us an agreement that may need to be ended, at the earliest possibly opportunity, so we can ensure procedure is followed, and is in compliance with local employment law and best practices.
You will be employed in full compliance with the legislation of your country, and your employer will be paying all the relevant taxes and contributions. It means more security for you, a full employee status, regular payslips and all of the benefits of being an actual employee.
Your employer remains responsible for supporting you and your development, but we’re happy to help too. We’re setting up a direct link for employee support and will be available to answer your questions, particularly those specific to local employment in your country.
You should follow the normal process of the company you work with. They’ll be informing Boundless at the end of the month, for tracking purposes only.
That depends on the specifics of your country and personal circumstances. We have a range of country calculators available that could give you a good estimate - get in touch if you’d like more information.
By being an employee, you get access to benefits and statutory employment guarantees that apply in your country. You don’t have to deal with invoicing, find an accountant or risk paying additional taxes that would apply in case of misclassification as an independent contractor.
While the take home pay will likely be lower depending on your country, in most cases you’ll see a saving in the additional costs and an easier, more streamlined handling of your benefits.
It depends on what benefits your employer is offering. But a minimum, you will receive all statutory benefits that apply to your country. In many places this means social security, paid vacation, pension contributions, paid maternity/paternity leave, job protection and more.
For example, here is a guide to benefits in Ireland, and the United Kingdom.