Portico platform

An Employer of Record (EOR) is a global employment solution that allows businesses to hire talent in new markets without setting up a foreign subsidiary or entity. The EOR becomes the official employer under local employment laws, managing global payroll, employee benefits, tax withholding, and compliance management.

Companies typically use an EOR when:

Entering new markets quickly without creating a local In-Country partner or subsidiary.

Hiring a distributed company workforce compliantly across multiple countries.

Avoiding compliance risk management issues such as labor law breaches or contractor misclassification.

This makes the EOR model a cost-effective pathway for global expansion and long-term global workforce strategy.

With an EOR, you retain day-to-day control while the provider ensures legal and HR compliance. The process includes:

Issuing a locally compliant employment agreement or contract.

Managing employee onboarding including Form W-4, NI Number (National Insurance Number), and other country-specific registrations.

Handling global payroll, cross-border payments, currency exchange, and cutoff date payroll deadlines.

Providing statutory employee benefits such as auto-enrolment pension scheme, Provident Fund (PF), or Central Provident Fund (CPF) depending on location.

This ensures smooth onboarding, accurate gross to net payroll, and long-term employee retention.

Entity setup can take months and require complex international tax compliance. An EOR eliminates this by:

Hiring in new markets within 2–4 weeks with proper work permits, employment pass, or S Pass visas where required.

Managing expatriate management and visa sponsorship for international hires.

Ensuring compliance risk management with local international labor laws and UAE Labour Law, working time directive, or Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) in different jurisdictions.

This makes the EOR model ideal for testing markets, building FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) teams, and scaling quickly.

An EOR shields companies from tax compliance and labor law risks by:

Drafting compliant employment agreements and handling notice periods, severance pay, redundancy rights, and end of service gratuity.

Ensuring accurate payroll audit and post-tax deductions such as TDS (Tax Deducted at Source), PAYE, or Professional Tax.

Avoiding 1099 employee and Form 1099-NEC misclassification risks by offering proper W-2 Employee or salaried employee status.

Managing Data Processing Agreements (DPA) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance for employee data.

This significantly reduces penalties, disputes, and liabilities during global expansion.

Yes. An EOR can manage both salaried employees and independent contractors. For employees, the EOR issues complaints about employment agreements, manages global payroll, pay stubs, social security wages, and leave management. For contractors, the EOR ensures correct invoicing, Form 1099-MISC/Form 1099-NEC, and cross-border payments via SWIFT or local channels.

This dual approach enables a flexible global talent acquisition and workforce analytics strategy while ensuring international tax compliance.