What is an Employer of Record (EOR)?

An employer of record (EOR) is a company like Thirdsail that serves as the legal employer for an employee for tax and compliance purposes on behalf of a client company, like yours. The employee performs work for the client while being legally employed by the EOR.

The employer of record handles all of the employee's administrative work such as payroll and benefits, whereas the client company provides guidance on the scope of work to be performed.

Employers of record like Thirdsail serve as the employer for employees while they perform work for a client company. All employment-related tasks such as payroll, worker's compensation, health benefits, employee expenses, etc. are handled by Thirdsail.

Here are a few things that Thirdsail does:

There are a number of benefits of using an employer of record to hire globally.

Expand globally
Using an EOR lets you quickly expand into new markets. You can instantly hire employees in different countries without setting up subsidiaries and accelerate your business expansion. This is ideal for small companies looking to grow internationally, or large companies looking to quickly establish a presence in a new market.

Peace of mind
One of the biggest benefits of using an EOR is that you don't have to worry about anything. From local employment laws, payroll, tax remittances, and benefits, an EOR takes care of everything. EORs know more about the markets they operate in, so you don't have to worry about compliance.

Cost effective
EORs have legal, compliance, and HR experts on hand at any time and these services are available to you. Combined with the cost savings from not having to set up an entity, using an EOR is an extremely cost-effective way of employing in other countries.

Pricing for EORs varies greatly between providers and countries. Most charge a flat-fee per employee, though some EORs still charge a percentage of payroll.

Thirdsail pricing starts at $350 per employee per month.

The primary difference between a professional employer organization (PEO) and an employer of record (EOR) is that PEOs are co-employers, meaning both the PEO and client company share employment and employment liability for the employee. EORs serve as the full and sole legal employer and oversee payroll, taxes, and compliance for employees.