How do you get someone working for you in a country where your company has no entity?

Summary

There are three routes: have an employer of record employ the person, contract with them as an independent business, or outsource the work to a company that manages its own staff. If you will direct the person's work the way you would an employee's, the EOR route is the one that matches reality. Contracting holds up only when the person is genuinely in business for themselves, and in the US both the IRS and the Department of Labor look at how the work is actually done, not what the contract calls it.

Route 1: employment through an EOR

The EOR's local entity signs the employment contract and runs payroll, taxes, statutory benefits, and the exit process, while you manage the day-to-day work. It is the only one of the three routes that makes the person your employee in substance without an entity of your own.

It is also the most expensive of the three. Deel charges $599 per employee per month, and salary and the country's employer contributions come on top of that.

Route 2: an independent contractor

If the person runs their own business, a contract is enough, and the tooling is cheap. Remote's contractor management is $29 per contractor per month; Deel's is $49.

The label on the contract settles nothing, though. IRS Publication 15-A sorts the evidence under three headings: behavioral control, financial control, and type of relationship. The Department of Labor published a proposed rule on February 27, 2026 that treats two factors as core: "the nature and degree of the worker's control over the work" and "the worker's opportunity for profit or loss based on initiative and/or investment." It also says "the parties' actual practices are more relevant than what may be contractually or theoretically possible." Comments closed on April 28, 2026, and no final rule has been issued.

The rule on the books is the 2024 version. In Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-1, dated May 1, 2025, the Wage and Hour Division said it "will no longer apply the 2024 Rule's analysis" in its own investigations, while noting the 2024 rule "remains in effect for purposes of private litigation." Other countries apply their own tests.

Some products sell protection against getting classification wrong. Remote's Contractor of Record starts at $325 per contractor per month with "uncapped indemnity," and its $99 Contractor Management Plus tier offers "coverage up to $100,000 per contractor for penalties." Deel's contractor of record is also $325.

Route 3: outsource the work

When you do not need a named person and only want an output or a process handled, a BPO or managed service can fit. The vendor manages its own workforce, and your control runs through the business contract. How that differs from EOR is covered in a separate comparison.

Sources

• https://remote.com/pricing
• https://www.deel.com/pricing/
• https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a
• https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/misclassification/2026rulemaking
• https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/27/2026-03962/employee-or-independent-contractor-status-under-the-fair-labor-standards-act-family-and-medical
• https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/fab/fab2025-1.pdf

Related on this site

• What does an employer of record actually take off your hands?
• When is an employer of record the right call, and when are you paying for something you don't need?
• When you work with someone abroad through a platform, who signs with them and who carries the risk?
• Is hiring through an EOR a form of outsourcing?
• Contractor or employee: the decision nobody prices correctly