How to hire employees in another country without a local company

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To employ someone in another country you normally need a company there. An employer of record (EOR) lets you skip that: it employs the person on your behalf, runs local payroll and handles benefits and compliance.

How an employer of record works

1. You choose the person and agree the salary and role.
2. The EOR signs a local employment contract with them, compliant with that country's labour law.
3. Every month the EOR pays the salary, withholds taxes and social contributions and provides required benefits.
4. You manage the person's day-to-day work; the EOR invoices you for salary, employer costs and its fee.

What it costs

You pay the salary, the employer's statutory costs (which vary a lot by country) and the EOR's fee, which is usually a flat monthly amount per employee:

Prices from vendor websites, checked 2026-10-12; they update automatically.

Get a total for your team with the EOR cost calculator, and compare providers in Deel vs Remote, Deel vs Oyster and Multiplier vs Remote.

EOR or your own entity?

An EOR makes sense for your first few hires in a country, or to test a market. Once you have many people in one country, opening your own company there and running local payroll is usually cheaper. If the person will work independently on projects, a contractor arrangement may fit better: see EOR vs contractor.

Questions to ask a provider

• Does it have its own entity in the country, or use a partner?
• What is included in the fee, and what costs extra (benefits, equipment, termination)?
• How long does onboarding take?
• What deposit does it require?

Questions