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For employees and candidates

For employees: how to get properly employed by a company abroad

Your employer cannot put you on payroll in a country where they have no company. That is not the end of it. A licensed local employer can employ you on their behalf, and the numbers are usually smaller than they fear. This page explains what a proper contract gives you, and sends your employer a one-page briefing with the figures for your country.

Send my employer the briefing

Three situations, one problem

You have an offer from a company abroad

They want you. They have no entity in your country. Someone in finance has said "let us pay you as a contractor". That is the moment this page is for.

You are moving and want to keep your job

Same employer, new country. Once you work from there for more than a few months, that country’s payroll and employment rules apply, whether or not anyone has noticed yet.

You work full-time on invoices

One client, set hours, a manager, their tools. Most countries call that employment. You are carrying the risk and getting none of the protection.

In each case the company would like to keep you and cannot legally employ you where you are. The usual answer, a contractor invoice, moves the risk onto you and leaves the company exposed anyway. The answer that works is an employer of record: a licensed local employer that signs your contract, runs your payroll and carries the employer obligations, while your company keeps managing the work.

What a proper local contract gives you

  • 1.Employment under your own country’s law: statutory paid leave, public holidays, sick leave, parental leave.
  • 2.Social contributions paid by an employer, so pension, healthcare and unemployment cover accrue the way they do for everyone else where you live.
  • 3.Notice and severance protection if the role ends, instead of an invoice that simply stops.
  • 4.A payslip and an employment history that a landlord, a bank or a visa office recognises.

The briefing we send your employer includes the current figures for your country from the statutory data behind our country guides.

Why employers hesitate, and what changes their mind

Three things stop a yes: they do not know the option exists, they assume it is expensive, and nobody has put a number in front of them. The employer briefing answers all three on one page: what an employer of record is in three sentences, the all-in monthly cost with your country’s employer contributions and the published provider fee range, what the contractor route exposes them to, and one next step.

It is written to the person who can say yes, it names no provider, and you are copied on it. If they want a shortlist, they reply and we answer within a working day.

Send your employer the briefing

Takes two minutes. Adding the salary turns the briefing’s rates into amounts, which is what gets it forwarded to finance.

What your employer receives

  • What an employer of record is, in three sentences
  • All-in monthly cost for your country, with the published fee range
  • What the contractor route, or doing nothing, exposes them to
  • What you get under a local contract
  • How long it takes, and one next step
  • Your note to them, if you add one
Your situation

The briefing goes to the person who can say yes: the hiring manager, the founder, or whoever made the offer. Use their work email.

You are copied on everything we send. We never contact your employer again without you asking. No provider is named in the briefing.

Questions people ask before they press send

Does this cost me anything?
No. Employ Borderless earns a referral fee from some providers when an employer signs with them. You never pay us, and the briefing does not change what you are paid.
What does my employer actually have to do?
Choose a provider, sign a service agreement, and approve your contract. The provider registers as your employer in your country and runs payroll. Your manager, your work and your reporting line stay the same.
Will my salary go down to pay for it?
It should not. The fee is an employer cost, like their social contributions. Some employers do ask to net it off; the briefing shows the all-in numbers so that conversation happens with the figures on the table.
Is this the same as a work visa?
No. Employment status and the right to live in a country are separate questions. The provider can only employ you where you already have the right to work. We do not advise on immigration.
What if my employer says no?
Tell us. In several countries you can be employed by a licensed employer yourself and invoice your client, which gives you employee status without your employer changing anything. We will send you the options for your country.

Employment rules by country

Leave, notice, severance and employer costs, from the statutory data behind the briefing.

Employ Borderless is an independent advisory platform for global hiring. We earn a referral fee from some providers when an employer signs with them; it does not change what we recommend. How we make money.