How soon can your first employee abroad start, and when is the first paycheck?

Summary

Often later than the date you agreed with the candidate. An EOR won't let anyone start work until the right-to-work check is done and the employment agreement is signed, and Remote would sooner move a start date than backdate a contract. After that, the payroll cutoff decides whether the first paycheck comes that month or the next.

The days after the candidate says yes

At Remote, nobody gets an employment agreement until the right-to-work check is finished, plus a medical check in some countries. Every country has a minimum onboarding window before the start date, and Remote's help center says it is "not uncommon" to push the start date back to fit it.

Remote publishes average onboarding times, counted from when the employee finishes self-enrollment and assuming they already have the right to work:

• 2 working days in the UK, the US, Canada and Ireland
• 3 working days in most countries, including France, Spain and India
• 5 working days in Germany and Australia

Deel opens with a cost quote. In supported countries it comes back at once; elsewhere it can take anywhere from half an hour to a business day. You sign the EOR contract, then see Deel's standard employee agreement before it goes to your hire. Ask for a clause to be changed and Deel's legal team replies within five business days, which can hold up onboarding. Deel countersigns the agreement once the deposit is paid.

When the hire needs a visa

If the employee's nationality doesn't match the country of employment, Deel lets you request immigration support while you create the contract. Someone who already holds a work permit goes through a mandatory right-to-work check, billed as a one-time charge. Someone who needs sponsorship gets a free eligibility check, then a breakdown of costs and timelines, and onboarding stays blocked until that check is complete.

Remote sponsors visas only in the countries where it is recognized as an eligible employer.

The first paycheck

Remote's payroll cutoff is 11:59 p.m. UTC on the 11th, or the 16th in some countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. "Adding a new team member to payroll" is on the list of requests the cutoff applies to, and anything approved later is paid with the following month's salary. Salaries normally go out by the last business day of the month.

Most of Latin America works the other way round. Local law there usually requires people to be paid in the month they start, so if onboarding isn't finished by that month's cutoff, around the 15th, Remote moves the start date to the first business day of the next month. A hire who clears onboarding on the 18th starts on the first business day of the following month.

Sources

• https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411263188621-Employee-Onboarding-Overview-for-Customers
• https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/11109199121933-Remote-Onboarding-Everything-You-Need-to-Know
• https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/31105154897037-What-is-Sponsorship-Can-Remote-provide-sponsorship
• https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410446893965-What-is-the-payroll-cutoff
• https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/40144591668749-What-is-the-payroll-cut-off-for-onboarding-new-hires-on-LATAM-countries
• https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/13462648680973-When-do-EOR-employees-get-paid
• https://help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4407745374353-How-to-Create-an-Employer-Of-Record-EOR-Contract
• https://help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4407737620113-Onboarding-Guide-For-EOR-Clients
• https://help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/27338703666705-Requesting-Immigration-Support-During-Contract-Creation

Related on this site

• How do you get someone working for you in a country where your company has no entity?
• How long before an EOR hire can actually start work?
• Whose name is on the employment contract when you hire through an EOR?
• When does an EOR need the payroll money, and what happens to a bonus approved after the cutoff?
• Employer cost calculator