How to ramp up your hiring with global employer of record

Introduction

With the ever-increasing pace of globalization, outsourcing, going global, and expanding businesses into different geographies have become a lot easier. For growing companies and emerging businesses, going global is a significant commitment to disrupt existing business activities. Hence, it is imperative to weigh all the possibilities and the stakes while setting up a legal entity in a different territory.

However, one of the most common ways adopted by businesses that do not have enough resources and time to invest in a subsidiary in an international market is hiring a remote employee or building a remote team in that market.

Enterprises that want to alleviate any loss due to physical expansion in a foreign market can work with a global Employer of Record (EOR). An EOR helps you build a compliant workforce with the country you are hiring in with the local payroll regulations and tax laws. It eases your efforts on all the legal and administrative activities that go into managing the offshore team.

What is an Employer of Record?

Simply put, an Employer of Record (EOR), is a talent partner for rapidly expanding into new worldwide markets without incurring the expense and stress of creating an overseas business entity. On behalf of a client organization, an EOR vendor handles all employment-related needs.

A global employer of record will assume accountability for the often-expensive and laborious process of establishing entities around the world, ensuring that all banking, insurance, tax, human resources, facilities, and contract requirements are met.

What can an EOR do for you?

Hiring a global Employer of Record ensures that all your banking, insurance, taxation, HR, facilities, and contractual needs are fulfilled. It has the proper infrastructure in place to employ and pay local workers. Further, the EOR can help you:

• Onboard employees and manage all necessary legal compliance.
• Manage salaries, taxation, and benefits and also handle disputes related to it
• Offer support to local employees for any HR-related concerns and activities, etc.

Under the right circumstances, working with a global Employer of Record could be the best option for any company, even if it has the resources to open an entity. However, what should one look for in a global EOR company before entrusting them with your business expansion plans?

Do You Need An EOR?

Before diving into hiring a global Employer of Record for your expansion needs, assess the situation and understand whether you require an EOR or not. Some of the reasons when it makes sense to hire an EOR when hiring in a foreign market are:

• You are new to the overseas market and do not have much knowledge about the region.
• You are not ready to commit, but expansion is necessary for your business.
• You are unfamiliar with the labor laws of the country.
• You want to build a global team without having a physical workplace or office in the region.
• You want to build an offshore team in a foreign land but cannot invest your internal resources and workforce in managing their HR activities, payroll, and taxation.

Now when you have decided that EOR is the best option for you, here’s a five-point checklist for selecting the perfect EOR for your organization.

1. Do they have a global presence?

Check if the EOR covers the countries you are looking to hire as not all EORs offer operations globally. Without a local presence in the geographies of your interests, there is a possibility that the EOR may not be updated with changes in workplace legislation or human resources policies. An inexperienced EOR in the region where they aren’t active may lead to grievances while handling disputes, salary, leaves, other compliance-related issues, etc.

To have a global team, it is necessary that you first assess if they are functional and operational in international markets. Additionally, make sure they have staff or employees working in those physical locations or have subsidiaries in those regions, so your employees have a point of contact in case of any concerns without worrying about different time zones.

2. Is your data secure with the EOR of your choice?

Data privacy and data compliance are sensitive issues, and with the introduction of GDPR regulations, it has become a crucial aspect. As a responsible organization, you should partner with an EOR that follows data privacy and security protocols securely. Make sure you have a non-competition clause to protect against data loss.

Assess information from the EOR on whether web transfers are done through HTTPS protocol. Make sure sensitive information is not shared on the standard. Before getting into a partnership, you can also ask the company how many people in the EOR will have access to your employees’ data and the consequences of mishandling data by the EOR.

3. For how long has the EOR been in the business?

Experience matters a lot when hiring an EOR partner for your business. Since you will be dealing directly with compliance-related activities, it is essential the EOR you select has intensive experience in the region, has earlier worked with other clients, and has an experienced team working for your business. It is also essential to know who will be handling your account and whether the account manager has experience working in an EOR and the country of your interest. The details to look into while selecting an EOR for your business are:

4. Do the pricing and plans suit you?

There are two ways the EOR charges a service fee. It can either offer you a flat fee for each employee or charge a percentage of the employee’s salary. The fixed model is easier to manage since employee salaries vary and fluctuate across employees, countries, job roles, job hierarchy. Further, you should clarify if there is a cost over and above the service fee. You should also ensure if the EOR raises an invoice before month-end or before the fixed payment date. This will ensure good time management, avoiding any delays and other technical issues.

5. What services are you looking out for?

Some EOR companies offer complete employee lifecycle services. Whether you need only EOR service or want them to handle all HR and administrative tasks for your remorse hires, it is up to you. It is always good to opt for full lifecycle services if you do not have an HR team or your in-house team is too resource-constrained to manage your remote team in other geographies.

Expanding business overseas can be daunting, and having the right talent and talent management services in unexplored geographies will make or break your expansion goals. But it is not that difficult, thanks to the Employer of record (EOR). Carefully assessing the right EOR partner for you will:

Conclusion

If you are still unsure how to implement the EOR service and build a remote team, reach out to us at Skuad. Skuad platform helps businesses to create exceptional global teams from anywhere in the world effortlessly. Trusted by several clients, our competency lies in building technology teams. Our team provides end-to-end talent solutions for your workforce needs– whether it is hiring employees for your on-site locations or building a distributed workforce across the world.