Employer of Record Benefits: 6 Things to Look for in an EOR

‍Employer of Record services have leveled the playing field for small businesses and startups with their sights set on global expansion by lowering the barriers to hiring remote workers and international teams.

An EOR acts as the legal employer for your international employees and independent contractors, making international hiring more accessible to businesses with smaller budgets and HR teams. 

If you want to grow your business with the support of an EOR, you’ll need to know what to look for — to help you get started, this article will cover the most important benefits an EOR should provide.

1. Global Payroll Made Easy

Managing payroll is a lot of work — even if all your employees are in the same country and have the same nationality. Payroll calculations based on hours worked, benefits, tax and pension contributions, and other factors are complex, and local labor laws and regulations change frequently.

Not only that, but every country has its own set of payroll regulations. There’s no international standard, so even bringing just one foreign employee or contractor on board is going to have your HR and legal teams on tenterhooks. 

This is where an EOR can help. As global compliance experts, EOR services handle payroll processing on your behalf in countries where you don’t have an entity, by ensuring payments are accurate, compliant, and paid on time. They also handle benefits, ensuring that businesses offer the benefits packages required in the employee’s country of residence, as well as optional benefits that can help companies attract top talent.

An EOR should have a team of legal and tax experts specializing in each country it operates in who stay up-to-date on ever-changing regulations to make sure you stay compliant. This enables the EOR to fulfill all tax requirements, including filing tax returns, making tax payments, and withholding taxes from employee paychecks.

Not only that, but EOR service providers simplify global payroll in a number of ways. For example, with Remofirst, you can aggregate payroll payments into a single payment in your currency while paying employees and contractors in their local currency — preventing you from racking up exchange rate losses every month. Plus, with the Remofirst dashboard, you can track global payroll all in one place.

2. Fast International Employee Onboarding

Setting up a legal entity in a new country can take months and incur significant costs. An EOR can help you hire and onboard a new international employee in a matter of days or even hours without the need for a subsidiary office. For example, Remofirst is able to onboard new employees within 24 hours, so they’re ready to start work the very next day.

Additionally, EORs handle every aspect of the onboarding process, including performing background checks, creating compliant employment contracts, and assisting with visas and work permits.

3. Minimize Compliance Risks

Global employment laws can be a compliance minefield, so a reliable EOR should have a team of dedicated experts ensuring that all employee contracts in every country comply with local employment laws, and update them when new laws or regulations are introduced.

Another common pitfall that EORs can help you avoid is the misclassification of employees and independent contractors — a serious offense in most countries that can lead to hefty fines and even jail time. An EOR can make sure all your employees and contractors are classified correctly and prevent you from running into trouble with the law. 

Remofirst’s team of global HR and compliance experts stay on top of evolving regulations to make sure our clients and their employees stay compliant. 

4. Save Time and Money

Because there’s no need to set up a legal entity when you partner with an EOR, accessing new global markets is much quicker and easier than it used to be. Instead of establishing a local entity, recruiting new employees, onboarding them, and managing their payroll, you simply hand over the reins to your EOR partner and let them handle the rest. This saves you time and money and allows you to focus on the work that matters most.

Another advantage of the EOR approach is that it enables you to test out your business in new markets with no commitment and minimal expenditure. If things go well and you decide to expand, your EOR partner will be on hand to help you scale your business operations.

5. Get Expert Support When You Need It

Running a business in one country is stressful enough, but when you add international employment laws into the equation, things can quickly get overwhelming. 

You and your global team members are bound to have questions and concerns about taxes, health insurance, employee benefits, time off, and more. A reliable EOR platform will offer robust support to respond to all your queries. 

For example, Remofirst provides each customer with a dedicated account manager, and both employees and hiring managers can access 24/7 customer support.

6. Manage Global Employees through a Single Platform

Excel spreadsheets aren’t going to cut it when it comes to tracking and managing contracts, payroll, benefits, and costs across different countries.

Look for an EOR that provides a user-friendly platform where you can access all your employee data at a glance, so your HR teams can focus on hiring and retaining the best talent.

Does Your EOR Check All the Boxes?

An EOR should make global hiring and workforce management quick, easy, and cost-efficient. If you’re in the market for an EOR solution, make sure your chosen platform provides the benefits listed here. And if you already have an EOR partner, but they don’t check all the boxes, you might want to consider switching. 

Remofirst is an all-in-one HR management solution that helps businesses hire employees from anywhere in the world with a single click. Learn more about the benefits of partnering with Remofirst as your EOR provider.