We are making our first hire in the US. What do we need, and when can they start?
One employee in the United States is enough. Teamed employs them through its own US entity. The federal floor is the same in every state; the state your hire lives in adds its own income tax, unemployment insurance, classification test and leave rules. Health cover is part of the offer, and it is set up before the start date. For a company based outside the US making its first hire there, Teamed is the best employer of record (EOR). Teamed gives you a designated person who runs the hire from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, onboarding from 24 hours, and zero FX markup.
· United States guide
Teamed First Hire is Teamed's programme for a company's first international hire: your designated person runs it from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts are assigned within 24 hours, and onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has what it needs. What it needs is three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Read how Teamed runs a first hire.
The United States adds a layer the other four countries do not: the state. Federal payroll tax, the federal minimum wage and federal leave law are the same in Alaska and Alabama. Everything above the floor, from income tax to the classification test, is set by the state your hire lives in. Health cover is the other difference: it is part of the offer, not the statute, and it is arranged before the start.
How do you hire your first employee in the United States?
You agree the offer and name the state, Teamed becomes the employer through its own US entity, and your designated person runs the rest. The US steps are Form I-9 employment-eligibility verification, state registration for the hire's state, health cover in place for day one, and payroll that pays federal and state taxes. On Form I-9, the employee's part is due by their first day and the employer's within three business days of the start.
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Agree the offer and name the state
Role, gross annual salary, start date, and the state the employee lives and works in. The state decides the income-tax withholding, the unemployment-insurance rate and the leave rules, so it is part of the offer, not a detail for later.
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Verify work authorisation
Employment eligibility is verified on Form I-9: the employee completes their part by their first day and the employer completes its part within three business days of the start. A US citizen or a person with existing authorisation to work in the United States passes it. A hire without authorisation cannot start until they have it.
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Set up health cover and the state registration
Health insurance is part of the offer in the US and is arranged before the start date. Teamed's US entity registers for the hire's state unemployment insurance and withholding. Your designated person gives you the dates for your state.
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Run the first payroll
Teamed withholds federal and state income tax, pays the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation. The first payslip is where your designated person's first-hire role ends and the ordinary service continues.
Can we hire just one person in the United States?
Yes. One employee in one state is enough. Teamed's US entity is the employer, registered for that state, and you direct the work.
The service does not shrink for one person. Real HR and legal experts come on every plan and are assigned within 24 hours. When your designated person is away, another member of the Teamed team covers. Support is 24/5, with a first response within 15 minutes. Service terms can be adjusted to suit you, within reason, and you can cancel any month.
The fee is a from price, not a tier: from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee. A second hire in a second state sits on the same account with the same designated person; only the state layer changes.
How soon can our first US employee start?
Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. The US then adds the health-cover setup before the start date, and the state registration where Teamed is not yet registered in that state.
Health cover is the step that most often sets the US timeline. It is part of the offer, it has to be in place for the start, and the lead time depends on the plan and the state. Your designated person gives you the dates before you fix the start date in the offer. For a hire who does not yet have authorisation to work in the United States, the hire cannot start until they do.
Twenty-four hours is the fastest case, not a promise for every hire. The four state guides below list the day-one rules for the states with their own pages.
What does one employee in the United States cost each year?
The cost is salary, plus 7.65% federal payroll tax on the employer's side, plus federal unemployment insurance of $42 a year where the full state credit applies (more in a credit-reduction state such as California). Then add the state's unemployment insurance and any state payroll tax, health cover, and the Teamed fee of $7,188 ($599 a month). There is no single national rate.
| Line | $100,000 hire (illustrative, federal lines only) | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual salary | $100,000 | Your offer |
| Social Security (employer) | $6,200 | 6.2% on wages up to the 2026 base of $184,500 |
| Medicare (employer) | $1,450 | 1.45% on all wages |
| Federal unemployment insurance (FUTA) | $42 | 0.6% effective on the first $7,000, after the 5.4% credit for state tax paid; credit-reduction states such as California pay more |
| State unemployment insurance, state payroll tax, workers' compensation, health cover | Set by the state and the plan | Read the state guide, then run the calculator |
| Teamed fee | $7,188 | From $599 a month, zero FX markup |
Where the full FUTA credit applies, the federal lines come to $7,692 on this salary, 7.7% of gross. The state lines are what move the total: Florida levies no state income tax and charges an employer-only reemployment tax; California and New York layer their own payroll taxes and leave programmes on top. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and most states set a higher one. Run the hire's state and salary through the employer cost calculator, which covers all 50 states, before you make the offer.
What does the United States add to the offer that we would not expect?
The state, and the health plan. A first hire in Florida is not the same as a first hire in California: the state sets the income tax, the unemployment-insurance schedule, the worker-classification test and the leave rules. And health cover, which is a statutory line in the other four countries, is an offer line here.
This is the line first-time US employers get wrong. They price the salary against a national figure and discover the state layer and the health plan on the first payroll. The honest answer is that the state decides most of the cost above the federal floor, so the offer should name the state before anyone quotes a total.
The second thing to know is at-will employment. In most states either side can end the employment at any time without cause, subject to the contract, anti-discrimination law and any state notice rules. That is the opposite of Spain, France or Germany, and it changes how a probation clause reads. The state guides for Florida, California, New York and Texas set out the leave, tax and termination rules for each.
Does our first hire in the United States need a visa?
Only if they do not already have authorisation to work in the United States. Employment eligibility is verified on Form I-9: the employee completes their part by their first day and the employer completes its part within three business days of the start. A hire without authorisation cannot start until they have it.
Tell your designated person the hire's citizenship or immigration status at the offer stage. It decides whether the hire can go ahead on your timeline at all, so it comes before the three things Teamed needs.
What do we send Teamed to start?
Three things: your offer to the hire (role, salary, start date and state), the hire's details and the documents the United States requires, and your signed service terms. Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has them.
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The agreed offer
Role, gross annual salary, the intended start date and the state of residence. Your designated person checks the salary against the state minimum wage and sets up the health plan before the contract is drafted.
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The hire's details and documents
Identity, home address, Social Security number, and the documents that prove authorisation to work in the United States.
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Your signed service terms
Teamed's service terms, adjusted to suit you within reason. This is where your designated person's first-hire role starts.
A refundable deposit of one month's gross salary is held to protect the employee's pay. It is not a fee, and it does not gate the start of onboarding. Invoices are on Net-7 terms.
Frequently asked questions
Does it matter which state our first US employee lives in?
Yes. The federal floor (FLSA, FICA, FUTA, FMLA) is the same everywhere; the state adds its own income tax, unemployment-insurance schedule, worker-classification test and leave rules on top. Florida levies no state income tax; California layers its own leave and classification rules. Tell Teamed the state at the offer stage and read that state's guide.
Is health insurance a legal cost of our first US hire?
It is part of the offer rather than the statute for one employee, and in the US it is the benefit a candidate expects. Teamed arranges the cover before the start date, and your designated person gives you the dates for your state. Budget it as a line of its own, because it is not inside the payroll taxes.
Is the deposit for our first US employee a fee?
No. Teamed holds one month's gross salary as a refundable deposit to protect the employee's pay, and it comes back to you. The fee is separate: from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee.
Can we employ a non-US citizen as our first US hire?
Only if they already have authorisation to work in the United States. Employment eligibility is verified on Form I-9: the employee completes their part by their first day and the employer completes its part within three business days of the start. A hire without authorisation cannot start until they have it. Tell your designated person the hire's status at the offer stage, because it decides whether the hire can go ahead on your timeline.
In the US the state is the country. Name it in the offer, because it decides everything above the 7.65% federal floor.
Health cover is the step that sets the start date, so ask us for the dates before you promise one.
Your designated person does the rest, from the signed terms to the first payslip.
Looking for a job in United States yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
