How Justworks EOR Helps You Hire Your First International Employee Without Setting Up a Foreign Entity

Finding the right person for your team is worth celebrating. But when that person lives in another country, the paperwork, compliance requirements, and administrative lift can take the shine off fast. That's where Justworks EOR comes in.

Justworks EOR lets you hire international employees without setting up a foreign legal entity. It handles the local employment setup, payroll, benefits, compliance, and onboarding—so you can move quickly and confidently, no matter where your next great hire lives.

What Does Hiring an International Employee Actually Involve?

When you hire someone in another country, they're subject to that country's employment laws and tax rules, not yours. That means you're responsible for complying with local regulations on contracts, payroll, benefits, and terminations, even if you've never dealt with them before.

Generally speaking, you have three options for bringing on international talent:

• Set up a local entity in the foreign country
• Work with an Employer of Record (EOR) like Justworks
• Hire the person as an independent contractor (typically a short-term fix, not a long-term solution)

Setting up your own entity abroad can take three to six months and cost anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000, before accounting for ongoing accounting fees and annual filings. For a single hire, that's rarely worth it.

Justworks EOR becomes the legal employer on paper and takes on the administrative and compliance responsibilities on your behalf. That includes:

• Local employment setup: Justworks handles the formal paperwork and makes sure the employment relationship is structured correctly for that country
• Payroll: Your employee gets paid in their local currency, with the right tax withholdings handled automatically
• Benefits: Justworks ensures your employee receives everything local law requires, and can help you go beyond the minimum to stay competitive
• Compliance: Contracts, termination rules, regulatory filings, and everything in between

Why Growing Companies Choose Justworks EOR

Speed is usually the deciding factor. With Justworks EOR, you can have someone hired and ready to start in as little as two to three weeks. Compare that to the months it takes to set up a foreign entity on your own, and the advantage is obvious, especially when you're competing for top talent.

Here's a quick look at how the two paths compare:

HR Hurdle	Direct Entity Setup	Justworks EOR
Time to hire	3–6 months	2–3 weeks
Initial costs	$15,000–$50,000	Pay-per-employee model
Ongoing requirements	Accounting fees + annual filings	Bundled compliance services
Local presence needed	Yes	No

Beyond speed and cost savings, there's the compliance piece. Employment laws vary significantly by country, and getting them wrong can mean penalties or lawsuits. In France, terminations follow specific procedures and severance rules. In Latin American countries like Brazil and Mexico, employees have a legal right to 13th-month pay. Justworks EOR brings country-specific expertise to every hire, so you don't have to become an expert in foreign labor law overnight.

How to Hire Your First International Employee with Justworks EOR

Here's what the process typically looks like, step by step.

Step 1: Research the Country and Define the Role

Before anything else, confirm that your target country supports EOR arrangement, some countries, like the Netherlands, have restrictions or time limits. Then get clear on the basics: where the employee will work, whether it's full-time or part-time, and whether it's a permanent or fixed-term role.

From there, research local salary benchmarks and legal minimums for benefits so you know what a competitive offer looks like. Justworks can help guide this research, so you're not starting from scratch.

Step 2: Sort Out the Employment Contract and Local Requirements

Justworks will draft an employment contract that complies with local law, but they'll need your input on the specifics. A few things to think through:

• Intellectual property: Some countries automatically grant employers ownership of work created on the job; others require it to be spelled out explicitly. For technical or creative roles, getting this right matters
• Confidentiality clauses: What's enforceable in the U.S. may not hold up in a European court. Lean on Justworks' expertise here
• Probationary periods: These vary widely. Germany allows up to six months, while Mexico caps them at 30 days for most roles

Justworks handles contract setup with country-specific knowledge built in, so you're not left guessing.

Step 3: Set Up Payroll, Benefits, and Tax

Justworks manages the payroll mechanics, but you'll still need to make a few decisions, ideally in consultation with a tax advisor:

• Pay frequency: Monthly pay is standard in many countries, unlike the U.S. biweekly norm
• Salary structure: Some countries expect a base salary plus additional allowances
• Benefits: Will you offer the legal minimum, or go beyond it to attract stronger candidates?
• Currency: Justworks pays employees in their local currency, removing the exchange-rate headache for your team

Justworks connects payroll directly with benefits and compliance support, so everything runs through one platform rather than across disconnected systems.

Step 4: Onboard Your New Employee

Once the contract is signed and payroll is set up, it's time to bring your new team member on board. Justworks supports the onboarding process, including benefits enrollment, so your new hire has a smooth first-day experience no matter where they're located.

What to Expect on the Timeline

Here's a realistic breakdown of what hiring internationally with Justworks EOR looks like:

Weeks 1–2: Choosing and Onboarding with Justworks EOR

• Get started with Justworks and confirm coverage for your target country
• Review service agreements and pricing
• Complete any required verification steps (KYC, etc.)

How Justworks helps: Justworks covers over 30+ international markets today. Our team guides you through what's needed at each step so nothing falls through the cracks.

Weeks 2–3: Employment Setup

• Share role details and compensation info with Justworks
• Review the draft employment contract
• Coordinate required documents with your candidate
• Kick off background checks if needed

How Justworks helps: Justworks drafts the contract, flags country-specific requirements, and manages the back-and-forth so you can focus on your candidate relationship.

Weeks 3–4: Onboarding and Compliance

• Complete immigration verification (if applicable)
• Set up payroll and benefits in the Justworks platform
• Arrange equipment delivery if needed
• Begin remote onboarding

How Justworks helps: Payroll, benefits, and compliance are all managed through Justworks' unified platform—the same one you use for your U.S. team if you're also usingJustworks PEO or Justworks Payroll.

Pro tip: Build in a little extra buffer time. Some countries require medical exams, police clearances, or certified documents. Justworks will flag anything location-specific so you're not caught off guard.

Hire Globally Without the Complexity

International hiring opens your business up to a much larger pool of talent. But it only works well when you have the right support behind you.

Justworks EOR handles the compliance, payroll, benefits, and HR support that makes international hiring manageable, with more on the way. And because it integrates seamlessly with Justworks PEO and Justworks Payroll, your entire team, both domestic and global, lives in one place.

Ready to make your first international hire? Get started with Justworks EOR.