Global business leaders are grappling with a variety of changes sweeping over almost every industry. In fact, ADP forecasts, “2025 will be a journey of acclimation, as leaders adapt to one of the most complex business environments in world history.”
Not only that, 60% of employees report either being in the midst of changing jobs, or say they plan to do so within the next year. That’s why getting the employee experience right is vital for businesses that want to hang onto their top talent, while also growing their team.
From AI disrupting roles to constant changes in labor laws, payroll regulations, and talent expectations, businesses managing international teams need all the help they can get.
Investing in the right human resources services is an investment in employee satisfaction and growth — helping businesses and HR professionals improve talent operations, maintain regulatory compliance, and support their teams during a global expansion.
Key takeaways:
- HR teams can accelerate international growth by outsourcing key HR functions like payroll, taxes, and local labor law compliance — saving time and avoiding costly missteps.
- HR solutions can automate time-consuming tasks, like onboarding, payroll, and benefits administration, so companies can better focus on their services and customers.
- From EORs to PEOs to HR platforms, we’ll explore 21 vetted solutions to simplify HR processes, compliance management, payroll services, and workforce management worldwide.
Employer of Record (EOR): Employing Across Borders
Building an international team means navigating complex local labor laws, regulatory requirements, and cultural norms to attract and retain quality talent.
To legally hire employees in another country, companies need to set up a legal entity — an expensive, time-consuming process.
An Employer of Record (EOR) eliminates this obstacle. By partnering with an EOR, you can hire in a new country without setting up a local entity or risking legal responsibility for costly compliance mistakes, like worker misclassification.
Acting as the legal employer on your behalf, EORs handle HR management and logistics, including:
- Employment contracts
- Payroll, tax, and Social Security contributions
- Statutory and supplementary benefits
- Onboarding and offboarding
- Compliance with local labor laws
EOR’s service offering and price points vary. Some of the top EORs to consider include:
RemoFirst
RemoFirst helps companies of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500s, scale internationally by enabling them to employ talent in 185+ countries.
In addition to ensuring compliance with local employment laws, RemoFirst handles global payroll, employee benefits (including private health insurance options), and more.
We can also perform background checks and assist with applying for visas or work permits.
RemoFirst offers premium EOR services without premium fees. Pricing starts at USD 199 per person per month for employees and USD 25 per month for international contractors. We also have a free tier for contractor management.
Remote
Remote’s EOR services enable businesses to hire, manage, and pay global employees compliantly. Its platform also offers broad integration capabilities with various global HR tools, including Gusto, Workday, QuickBooks, Zapier, and Xero. However, their prices are steeper than RemoFirst.
Remote’s EOR services start at USD 599 per employee per month (on an annual plan). They offer two tiers of contractor management: USD 29 per contractor per month and USD 99 per contractor per month for the Contractor Management Plus tier.
Deel
Deel offers the standard suite of EOR services, including global compliance, payroll, and benefits administration. It also integrates with over 20 popular HR tools — including Dropbox, Slack, and QuickBooks.
Their EOR services start at USD 599 per person per month and USD 49 per month for international contractors.
However, businesses should be mindful of additional fees, like offboarding charges, currency exchange markups, and other potential hidden costs.
Oyster
Oyster offers an all-in-one platform for global payroll, HR compliance, and EOR services, helping businesses hire talent quickly, while adhering to local labor laws.
Users generally find the platform intuitive and appreciate its integration with tools like QuickBooks.
Oyster is among the higher-priced EOR options, with EOR services starting at USD 699 per employee per month. Contractor services are USD 29 per person per month.
Professional Employer Organization (PEO): Co-Employment for Local Teams
A professional employer organization (PEO) is a popular option for HR services for businesses with established local entities in the countries where they're hiring.
Unlike an EOR, which serves as the legal employer for your international team members, a PEO enters into a co-employment relationship to provide outsourced HR administrative services to your company.
Both your business and the PEO share responsibilities for employees: the PEO manages HR tasks, while your business manages employees’ day-to-day activities.
Typical PEO responsibilities include:
- Payroll management and benefits administration
- Workers' compensation and risk management
- Employment tax filing
- HR compliance and employee support
Some of the top PEOs to consider include:
Justworks
Justworks offers payroll, benefits, compliance, insurance, and HR support for small-to-mid-sized businesses.
Whether you need HR tools to automate workflows, integrated time tracking to speed up payroll, or access a variety of small business health insurance plans, Justworks helps small teams stay compliant and competitive.
TriNet
Trinet provides the standard payroll, benefits, risk management, and compliance services, while also offering unique benefits, like pet insurance.
TriNet's digital platform is an end-to-end employee lifecycle solution, helping teams automate manual tasks and gain better analytics to inform decision-making.
Insperity
Insperity PEO services include HR administration support, payroll, employee benefits, risk management, compliance, and talent management.
Their Insperity Premier™ is a complete human capital management (HCM) platform, offering 24/7 employee self-service capabilities.
Global HR Platforms: Centralize and Streamline People Operations
If you’re not looking for a full-service solution, HR software platforms can help you manage core HR functions like payroll, onboarding, time-off tracking, performance reviews, workflow automation, and more — all in one place.
As your team grows and scales across countries, HR software reduces the complexity of managing remote employees and contractors across time zones.
Some top HR platforms to consider include:
- BambooHR: A user-friendly platform offering tools for global hiring, onboarding, performance management, time tracking, and compensation.
- HiBob: All-in-one HR, payroll, and finance platform to manage employment tasks from hire to retire, used by 4,500+ companies.
- Gusto: More than 400,000+ small to medium-sized companies use Gusto for payroll, HR, taxes, time tracking, and benefits.
- Workday: The enterprise AI platform for human capital management, payroll, and employee experience.
HR & Compensation Consultancies: Tailored Advice and Compliance Help
When you’re hiring in a new country, an expert advisor can walk you through local expectations and pay norms.
Whether you need support with local compliance or pay benchmarking, HR and compensation consultancies ensure you create salary and benefits packages that will attract top regional talent, without legal risk or financial penalties.
Popular HR & compensation consultancies include:
- Mercer: A global leader in employee compensation, Mercer helps clients shape the future of work, enhance health and retirement outcomes, and offers other corporate solutions. Mercer’s Total Remuneration Survey (TRS) is the world's largest and most comprehensive employee total compensation resource.
- Radford (Aon): Aon offers a variety of human capital capabilities, and their Radford McLagan Compensation Database has served as a premier source of benchmark compensation data, designed to drive smarter workforce decisions.
- WTW: Helping businesses manage people, risk, and capital with consultative solutions, WTW assists with global benefits management, pay equity, employee experience, and executive compensation.
Global Payroll Solutions: Handle Payments Across Borders
Managing payroll for international teams is far more complex than simply transferring money across borders.
Businesses must comply with local currencies, banking systems, tax laws, social security contributions, and payroll schedules, which vary from country to country.
Global payroll providers specialize in handling these complexities. They enable employees and contractors to be paid accurately, on time, and in their local currency, while staying compliant with relevant tax and labor regulations.
In addition, global payroll providers frequently offer competitive and reliable currency exchange rates, so companies aren’t surprised by rate fluctuations.
Top global payroll providers include:
- CloudPay: It offers a unified platform to optimize global payroll and salary payments, and includes pay-on-demand services.
- ADP GlobalView® Payroll: This cloud-based platform helps companies compliantly pay workers across the globe, unifying payroll data and accommodating local payroll rules.
- Atlas: This provider streamlines the global payroll process, managing everything from salaries to contractor invoices, benefits, expenses, and reporting.
- RemoFirst: The company manages international payroll, taxes, and benefits for employees in 185+ countries while ensuring local compliance.
Visa and Work Permit Services
When hiring or relocating international talent, navigating the process of obtaining proper work visas and permits is overwhelming. Immigration laws are constantly changing and differ in each country.
Visa and work permit service providers are experts in managing the legal, administrative, and logistical process of obtaining the proper work authorization for international employees.
Top immigration and visa services to consider include:
- Envoy Global: The company offers comprehensive immigration services to help organizations attract, hire, manage, and retain a global workforce.
- Fragomen: A global leader in immigration services for startups to the world’s largest companies, Fragomen has more than 60+ offices worldwide.
- RemoFirst: In addition to EOR services, RemoFirst can help businesses with the application process for visas and work permits in 85+ countries.
International Background Check Services
International background check services help employers evaluate candidates and verify their previous work experience, while ensuring all checks are conducted in line with local regulations and country-specific privacy laws.
Each country follows different legal frameworks and background checks are heavily restricted in some countries, so leaning on professionals is crucial before extending offers for international roles.
Top background check providers include:
- RemoFirst: Offering a comprehensive range of background checks across countries, RemoFirst can run checks on national ID, global sanctions, reference, criminal, academic, and financial history.
- Sterling, a First Advantage company: With customized background screening support and specialization in 16+ industries, Sterling performs more than 190M background checks annually.
- Checkr: This innovative technology and data platform helps businesses run background checks to make safe and fair hiring decisions.
Employ and Manage Your Global Team With RemoFirst
RemoFirst is a one-stop shop for companies seeking HR management solutions for international staff.
We help companies compliantly hire and manage employees in 185+ countries, and contractors in 150+ countries, without the need to establish local entities.
With RemoFirst, businesses can:
- Securely pay employees in their local currency, and manage bonuses and equity
- Deliver competitive, localized benefits
- Offer private health insurance (through RemoHealth and RemoHealth Local)
- Run international background checks, tailored to each country’s legal requirements.
- Provide visa and work permit assistance for relocating or sponsoring global talent
We can also ship equipment, and handle the onboarding process for new hires.
Schedule a demo to see how RemoFirst helps you build and manage a global team.
