How Does Employer of Record Outsource Work?

Key takeaways

• Companies that use employer of record (EOR) providers for global employment and international payroll are able to hire, onboard, and pay workers in full compliance more quickly than they can with other options.
• EORs offer global employment services throughout the employee life cycle, and can work in tandem with other employment solutions like legal entity setup.
• Safeguard Global has experience helping top companies achieve their expansion goals through EOR, such as increasing speed to -market by 1,400% for a well-known rideshare company.

EORs for global employment outsourcing

More than ever before, employers are turning to employer of record (EOR) providers to handle their global employment outsourcing needs. While some need to quickly convert current employees to an employer of record model to ensure compliance with local laws, others have a new hire or group of new hires they’d like to employ in a country where they don’t have an entity. EORs are often the first choice for rapidly expanding companies in need of global employment outsourcing services.

EOR providers like Safeguard Global help companies manage their workers through the entire employment life cycle. What does that mean for you and your employees? Here’s a closer look at how an employer of record outsource works.

Finding workers

Safeguard Global is different from its competitors because we offer recruitment solutions in addition to being your EOR partner. So while most EORs expect you to find the new employees you need, Safeguard Global’s extensive network of recruiters, finds local talent around the world on your behalf.

Hiring

Hiring is one of the most important services EOR providers offer when it comes to global employment outsourcing services. An EOR legally hires the workers you need, working as your employment partner in that country. Because the EOR already has a legal entity in that market, it takes on the legal risk and ensures compliance with local laws. EORs make sure that employment contracts are legally sound and that requirements and expectations, for insurance, leave, and other benefits are met.

Onboarding

Onboarding is one of the biggest benefits offered by EORs. At Safeguard Global, our onboarding platform makes it easy for employees to upload documents, sign paperwork, and stay on top of onboarding tasks. With features like easy approval of global hires and streamlined, country-specific onboarding forms, you can have new employees onboarded in as little as two days.

Payroll

Because of remote work, international payroll outsourcing has become more important than ever. Many companies now have employees scattered across the globe, and paying them in full compliance with local laws can be complicated at best and nearly impossible at worst, especially for organizations that are busy focusing on global growth. EORs make it simple by handling payroll for you. Interested in international payroll outsourcing but don’t need an EOR? We also have a Global Pay solution.

Benefits administration

No matter what country you’re employing workers in, chances are it has some unique employment laws regarding what kinds of benefits must be offered, from health insurance to paid holidays to bonus pay. When you choose Safeguard Global as your partner, you get an EOR provider that can ensure local benefits requirements are met in nearly 190 countries. Not only that — our local HR professionals ensure your team members have a point of contact in their time zone that speaks their language.

Employee conversion

Sometimes, being employed by an EOR is just one step in an employee's journey, which might start with them being a contractor and end with conversion to full employee once their company establishes a local legal entity of their own. Safeguard Global is different from other EOR providers in that we can help you manage your workers no matter where they are in their journey — including advising and assisting on employee conversion. We can even help you set up a legal entity in a new country.

Termination/offboarding

Global employment outsourcing services shouldn’t stop on a worker’s hire date. At Safeguard Global, we handle the entire life cycle of your workers’ employment, including termination and offboarding if needed.

Case study: Helping a rideshare innovator achieve hyper growth

At Safeguard Global, we’ve seen firsthand the powerful results of partnering with an EOR for global employment and international payroll outsourcing. Here’s a case study that shows how EOR can lead to quicker, more streamlined growth.

Our client, a well-known rideshare innovator, had received new capital and wanted to having workers in place in more than 30 countries within a few months. At first, they looked to create their own entities in these countries but were met with unexpected setbacks and major delays. Making their task even more difficult was the fact that each country had its own labor regulations and restrictions to navigate and lots of unknowns. 

Luckily, they learned that EOR was the solution to their challenges, and they partnered with Safeguard Global. While the rideshare company continued to work toward setting up its own entities, we were able hire 189 workers across 34 countries on their behalf. We met weekly to build an HR knowledge base for each country and align on a strategic approach for deploying local talent, then provided standardized HR processes and procedures that could scale with the changing needs of the rideshare company’s business. Working as their international payroll provider, we helped ensure every employee was paid on time and in full compliance with local laws. Safeguard Global supported HR administration during each employment life cycle, helping the company manage potential risks — like employee terminations — and proactively resolve issues that could impact growth.

Ultimately, outsourcing their global employment with Safeguard Global as their EOR partner allowed the company to enter new international markets in as little as two weeks — increasing speedto-market by 1,400% — while still ensuring compliance as new employment contracts and relationships were established. While the rideshare company completed the laborious process of creating their own entities, they were able to still achieve $8 billion in revenue growth over a two-year period, thanks to quick and compliant global employment outsourcing with EOR.

Getting started with an employer of record

Interested in partnering with an EOR for global employment outsourcing? A pioneer in the industry, Safeguard Global has 400+ experts to help you hire, onboard, pay, and support your workers in nearly 190 countries worldwide. Get in touch today to get a personalized demonstration and see we can help your business expand without the risk.