If your overseas employee is paid in local currency, who absorbs the exchange-rate swings?
Summary
You do. The employment contract usually fixes the salary in the employee's local currency, so the payslip stays the same and your bill in dollars or euros moves with the rate. The provider picks the rate: Remote uses a monthly fixed rate of its own, Deel a forward rate from its banking partners at the moment you pay, and Atlas HXM the OANDA spot rate plus a markup by currency, and none of them puts a markup figure on its public pages.
A worked example
Say a US company employs someone in Japan at ¥600,000 a month. At ¥150 to the dollar, the salary costs $4,000. If the yen strengthens to ¥140, the same salary costs about $4,286, an extra $286 a month before any provider fee or FX markup, and the employee's pay has not changed by a single yen. Employer contributions set in yen move by the same proportion. That is why SeatBill's employer cost calculator shows statutory costs in local currency and the provider fee as a separate layer.
What each provider publishes
Remote. At onboarding you choose one of 12 billing currencies, among them USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD, AUD, and CHF, and every invoice arrives in that currency. "The billing currency you choose does not affect employees in any way as we pay them in their local currency." Payslip items in another currency are converted at the "Remote FX rate," fixed for each month and applied to all invoices for that month. Remote says the rate varies "with transaction volume, the volatility of the currency pair," and the cost and risk of holding foreign currency. Its help articles do not name a source rate.
Deel. The payroll invoice comes in the employee's local currency, and Deel's fees stay in US dollars until you choose a payment currency. Conversion uses a forward rate "sourced from our institutional banking and FX liquidity partners," which depends on invoice size and the expected timing of your payment and locks in when you pay. Pay in the currency the invoice was issued in and no FX charge applies. Payment processing fees are separate: 2.9% plus $0.30 on US and EU cards, and $5 for ACH, SEPA, BACS, or a bank transfer.
Atlas HXM. "FX rates are based on the OANDA spot rate with a clearly disclosed markup based on currency type." Wire and transfer fees are included in the FX fee.
Oyster. Payments are accepted in USD, EUR, GBP, or CAD, and a conversion fee applies "only if you pay us in a currency different from the contract currency."
Paying the salary in dollars
In 17 countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Poland, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, Remote can set an EOR salary in a non-local currency such as USD or EUR and pay it in that currency. The employer's cost then stays fixed in that currency, and the local-currency value of the paycheck moves for the employee. The option costs $50 per employee per month and is itemized on the reconciliation invoice. Intermediary banks may deduct fees along the way, and Remote "is not responsible for any difference between the transferred and received amounts."
Sources
- https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407227647117-What-currency-will-I-be-billed-in
- https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406803432845-What-billing-currencies-do-you-support
- https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/33271144977421-Remote-FX-rate
- https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/4549153424781-How-non-local-currency-salaries-work-for-EOR-team-members
- https://support.remote.com/hc/en-us/articles/35869010005261-Are-there-any-fees-for-non-local-currency-payments-or-salary-linking
- https://help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4407745380241-About-Exchange-Rates-and-Fees
- https://help.letsdeel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/17671152016017-Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-EOR-Invoices
- https://www.atlashxm.com/pricing
- https://www.oysterhr.com/pricing
Related on this site
- Employer cost calculator
- When does an EOR need the payroll money, and what happens to a bonus approved after the cutoff?
- Why can't one payroll calendar cover employees in three countries?
- What does an EOR charge you on top of the monthly fee?
Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the providers named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.
Page last updated 2026-09-28. Sources are listed per figure and labeled statutory or payroll reference. Rates last verified 2026-08-21. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice and we do not file anyone's payroll.
Every formula on this site is written out in full on Method. Ordering is by computed cost, never by what a provider pays us.
Corrections: contact form.