Employer of Record Services for Global Hiring Without a Legal Entity
Last Updated at: 07/29/2026You found the right person. They live in another country. You do not have a legal entity there. Without an employer of record, you cannot hire them legally. Setting up a legal entity in a new country takes months and costs tens of thousands of dollars before you have hired a single person.
An employer of record (EOR) solves this immediately. Alliance acts as the legal employer for your workers in countries where you do not have a local entity. We handle the employment contracts, payroll, tax compliance, and benefits. You manage the work.
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Alliance operates as a global employer of record across 36+ countries. We combine over 50 years of recruitment experience with full EOR capabilities to find the right person and employ them on your behalf.
This page is for employers only. If you are looking for a job, visit our Job Seekers page.
- 50+ years of combined recruitment experience
- 550,000+ candidates placed across global markets
- 36+ countries served
- 5,000+ senior positions filled
- First shortlist delivered in 14 to 21 days
- Average full placement in 3 to 4 weeks
- Free replacement if your hire leaves within 3 months
What Is an Employer of Record?
An employer of record is a company that legally employs workers on behalf of another business.
When you use an EOR, the EOR company becomes the legal employer of your workers in a specific country. They handle the employment contracts, run payroll, manage tax withholding, administer benefits, and ensure compliance with local employment law. You direct the day-to-day work. The EOR handles everything else.
This arrangement lets you hire employees in countries where you have no local legal entity, without needing to set one up. It is the fastest and most cost-effective way to employ people internationally.
EOR services are used when:
- You want to hire someone in a country where you do not have a registered company
- You are testing a new market before committing to a local entity
- You are building a remote or distributed team across multiple countries
- You have acquired an employee through a merger or project who is based in another country
- You need to convert a contractor to a full-time employee in a compliant way
What Does an Employer of Record Handle?
When Alliance acts as your employer of record, we manage the full employment lifecycle for your workers. Here is what that covers:
- Employment Contracts: We draft legally compliant employment agreements in line with local labour law in each country. Every contract covers notice periods, termination rights, probation periods, and any mandatory local provisions.
- Payroll Processing: We run payroll in the local currency, apply the correct tax rates, handle income tax withholding, and pay employees on time. Your workers receive accurate payslips in the format required by local law.
- Tax and Social Contributions: Every country has different employer contribution requirements — social security, pension, healthcare, and other statutory levies. We calculate and remit all employer contributions correctly.
- Benefits Administration: We provide statutory benefits required by local law — annual leave, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and any mandatory health or pension contributions. We can also help you offer competitive additional benefits to attract top talent.
- Local Labour Law Compliance: Employment law changes frequently. We monitor and apply updates to ensure every engagement stays compliant with current local regulations.
- Onboarding and Offboarding: We manage the paperwork, documentation, and processes for bringing employees on and, when needed, exiting them in line with local requirements.
How Alliance EOR Services Work
Here is the process from the moment you identify the person you want to hire to the day they are fully employed and working.
Step 1 — Brief Us (Day 1)
You tell us the country, the role, the salary, and the start date. If you have already identified the candidate, we take it from there. If you still need to find the right person, our international recruitment team can run the search first.
Step 2 — Contract Preparation (Days 1 to 3)
We draft a locally compliant employment contract for your new hire. We advise on the correct salary structure, benefits package, and any country-specific provisions you need to include.
Step 3 — Employee Onboarding (Days 3 to 7)
We onboard the employee into our EOR system, collect the required documentation, and complete any local registration requirements. The employee is set up for payroll and benefits from day one.
Step 4 — Ongoing Employment Management
From payroll to leave tracking to compliance updates, we handle the day-to-day employment administration. You receive monthly reporting and have a dedicated account contact for any queries.
Step 5 — Offboarding When Needed
If the employment ends, we manage the process in line with local law, including the correct notice periods, final pay calculations, and any severance requirements.
Alliance as Your EOR Provider — What Makes Us Different
- You get one partner for the full journey: Other EOR companies ask you to find the candidate yourself. Alliance can find the right person through our global recruitment network AND employ them legally as your EOR. You do not need a separate recruitment agency and a separate EOR platform. One relationship covers both.
- We bring 50 years of recruitment experience to every EOR engagement: We know what good looks like. We know the talent markets in 36+ countries. We have placed over 550,000 candidates and filled over 5,000 senior positions. When we act as your EOR provider, that depth of knowledge is behind every engagement.
- 36+ countries, one point of contact: Whether you are hiring in the US, UK, UAE, India, Canada, Singapore, or Australia, you speak to one Alliance account team. We coordinate the local compliance and employment administration in each country.
- No legal entity needed, ever: You can hire in multiple countries without setting up a single local company. Alliance handles the legal employer obligations in every country we cover.
- Compliant from day one: We build compliance into every engagement before employment starts — not as an afterthought. Contracts, payroll, tax, and benefits are all correctly structured for the specific country and role type.
Read what our clients say about working with Alliance
EOR vs PEO vs Staffing Agency vs Contractor — What Is the Difference?
| Employer of Record (EOR) | PEO | Staffing Agency | Independent Contractor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is the legal employer | EOR company | Shared with your company | Agency or you | Not applicable |
| Do you need a local entity | No | Yes | No | No |
| Best for | Hiring internationally without an entity | US-based co-employment (requires your entity) | Short-term or volume hiring | Project-based freelance work |
| Employment contracts | Yes — locally compliant | Yes — shared model | Depends on type | No — commercial contract only |
| Payroll and tax handled | Yes | Yes | Depends | No — contractor invoices you |
| Compliance risk | Low — EOR carries it | Shared | Depends | Higher — contractor misclassification risk |
| Alliance offers this | Yes | No | Yes | Sourcing only |
- EOR vs PEO: A PEO (Professional Employer Organisation) requires you to have a legal entity in the country already. An EOR does not. If you are hiring internationally without a local entity, EOR is the correct model.
- EOR vs staffing agency: A staffing agency finds and places candidates. An EOR employs them legally. Alliance offers both — we can find your candidate and act as their legal employer.
- EOR vs contractor: Employing someone as a contractor when they should be a full-time employee creates misclassification risk in most countries. An EOR lets you employ people correctly from the start.
- EOR vs RPO: Recruitment process outsourcing manages your hiring process end to end. EOR handles the legal employment after the hire is made. Many companies use both.
Who Needs Employer of Record Services?
EOR services are used by businesses of all sizes. Here are the most common situations:
- Startups and scale-ups hiring their first international employees: You have a great candidate in Germany, Brazil, or Singapore. You are not ready to set up a local entity. EOR lets you hire them today without the months-long entity setup process.
- Enterprises expanding into new markets: Testing a new market? Hire a local sales team or operations lead through an EOR before committing to a full legal entity. Validate the market first. Set up the entity later if it makes sense.
- Companies building remote and distributed teams: If your team is spread across 5 to 15 countries, maintaining legal entities in each country is not practical. An international employer of record covers all countries through a single engagement.
- Businesses converting contractors to employees: Contractor misclassification is a growing compliance risk. If you have long-term contractors in other countries who should legally be employees, EOR provides a compliant conversion path.
- Companies after an acquisition or merger: You have acquired a company with employees in countries where you have no entity. EOR bridges the gap while the legal structure catches up.
- Businesses hiring for offshore roles: If you are building an offshore team to reduce costs, see our offshore manpower and international staffing services alongside our EOR offering.
Countries We Cover as an Employer of Record
Alliance provides EOR services across 36+ countries. Our coverage includes:
- North America: United States, Canada
- Europe: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Poland, and more
- Middle East: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait
- Asia Pacific: India, Singapore, Australia, Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong
- Africa and Others: South Africa, Nigeria, and select markets across East and West Africa
Need a country not listed? Contact us. We expand coverage regularly and can advise on the best employment model for countries where we are building presence.
How Much Do Employer of Record Services Cost?
EOR pricing varies by country, salary level, and the complexity of benefits and compliance requirements.
Common EOR pricing models include:
- Per-employee monthly fee: A fixed monthly fee per employee under EOR management. This is the most common model for ongoing EOR engagements. It covers payroll processing, compliance, benefits administration, and account management.
- Percentage of salary: Some EOR providers charge a percentage of the employee’s gross salary. This model scales with seniority.
- Bundled EOR and recruitment: When Alliance both recruits and employs the candidate, we offer combined pricing that covers the full journey — from search through to ongoing employment management.
EOR is almost always cheaper than setting up a local entity when you are hiring 1 to 10 people in a country. The cost of entity registration, local legal counsel, accountants, and ongoing compliance infrastructure typically exceeds the cost of EOR for several years.
Contact us for an EOR cost proposal based on the country, role, and salary for your specific hire.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an employer of record (EOR)?
Ans. An employer of record is a company that legally employs workers on behalf of another business in countries where that business does not have a local entity. The EOR handles employment contracts, payroll, tax, and compliance. The client company directs the day-to-day work.
How does an employer of record work?
Ans. You identify the employee you want to hire and the country they are based in. The EOR drafts a locally compliant employment contract, onboards the employee, runs payroll, handles tax and social contributions, and manages compliance with local employment law. You manage the work. The EOR manages the employment.
Can I hire internationally without a legal entity?
Ans. Yes. That is exactly what an employer of record enables. Alliance acts as the legal employer in countries where you have no entity, so you can hire employees internationally without setting up a local company.
What is the difference between an EOR and a PEO?
Ans. A PEO requires you to already have a legal entity in the country. An EOR does not. EOR is the correct model for international hiring without a local entity. PEO is a co-employment model used primarily in the US when you already have a registered business.
What is the difference between an EOR and a contractor?
Ans. A contractor is self-employed and invoices you for services. An EOR employs the worker as a full-time employee with a proper employment contract, statutory benefits, and full tax compliance. Using a contractor when local law requires an employee creates misclassification risk. EOR removes that risk.
How quickly can Alliance onboard an employee through EOR?
Ans. Onboarding timelines vary by country. In most major markets, we can complete the contract, onboarding documentation, and payroll setup within 5 to 7 business days of receiving the employee details.
Does Alliance help find the candidate before employing them through EOR?
Ans. Yes. Alliance offers combined recruitment and EOR services. We can run the candidate search through our international recruitment team and then employ the placed candidate as their EOR. One partner for the full journey.
What does an employer of record handle for compliance?
Ans. An EOR handles employment contracts (locally compliant), payroll tax withholding, employer social contributions, statutory benefits (leave, healthcare, pension where required), and ongoing monitoring of local labour law changes. If the law changes, the EOR updates the employment terms to stay compliant.
Is using an employer of record legal?
Ans. Yes. EOR is a well-established and legally recognised employment model used by thousands of companies worldwide. The EOR is the legal employer and carries full responsibility for employment compliance in the country of hire.
What happens if I want to terminate an employee hired through an EOR?
Ans. The EOR manages the offboarding process in line with local employment law. This includes serving the correct notice period, calculating final pay, handling any statutory severance, and completing the required documentation. You are not exposed to legal risk if the process is handled correctly.
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