# First International Hire > A first international hire is a company’s first employee in a country where it has no legal entity. It changes who the legal employer is, what the salary costs, and when the person can start. A first international hire is a company’s first employee in a country where it has no legal entity of its own. The company has the person and a role, and now has to employ them under a law it has never employed anyone under before. Three things change at once. Who the legal employer is: with no entity, the company chooses between a contractor agreement, an employer of record or its own entity. What the salary costs: every country adds employer contributions on top of gross pay. And when the person can start: right-to-work steps and payroll dates belong to the country, not to the company. An employer of record answers all three for one person. 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 are the options for a first international hire? Three. A contractor agreement, which fits only when the work is a real project with its own deliverables. An employer of record, which employs the person locally on the company’s behalf and fits one employee in a country with no entity. Or the company’s own entity, which fits once enough people are in the country for its running costs to beat the employer of record fee. Most countries look at the working pattern, not the paperwork: a person who keeps the company’s hours and takes its direction is its employee. That rules out the contractor route for most first hires. The entity route is rarely the starting point for one person, because incorporation, registrations, a bank account and monthly filings cost the same whether the entity employs one person or twenty. ## What does a first international hire cost? The salary, plus the employer contributions the country requires, plus the employer of record fee. The contributions are set by law and are owed under any model; the fee is the only line that belongs to the provider. In Teamed’s worked examples the fee is 7.6% to 11.3% of the year’s bill. Teamed’s fee is from $599 per employee per month, with no setup fee, no exit fee, cancel any month and zero FX markup. A refundable deposit of one month’s gross salary is held to protect the hire’s pay; it is not a fee. ## How long does a first international hire take? With Teamed, onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has three things: the offer to the hire, the hire’s details and documents, and the signed service terms. Where the country needs a visa, a permit or a registration first, that step adds time, and the lead time is given before anything is signed. Twenty-four hours is the fastest case, not a promise for every country. The first payslip then lands on the normal pay date for the hire’s country, which is also where the programme’s commitment ends and the ordinary service carries on. ## Key facts - **Teamed EOR fee:** From $599 per employee per month (Source: Teamed brand database, verified 2026-10-15) No setup fee, no exit fee, cancel any month, zero FX markup. - **Onboarding:** From 24 hours (Source: Teamed brand database, verified 2026-10-15) Once Teamed has the offer, the hire’s details and documents, and the signed service terms. Country steps add time. - **Deposit:** One month’s gross salary, refundable (Source: Teamed brand database, verified 2026-10-15) Held to protect the hire’s pay. It is not a fee and it does not start the onboarding clock. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does a first international hire need a local entity? No. An employer of record is the legal employer in the country, so the company does not need its own registered company there. The entity comes later, if and when its running costs fall below the employer of record fee for the headcount in that country. ### Can a first international hire be a contractor? Only if the work is a real project: its own deliverables, its own hours, other clients too. If the company sets the hours and directs the work, most countries call that employment, and a contractor agreement does not change it. ### Who should handle a first international hire inside the company? One owner and three contributors. The owner is whoever will manage the person day to day. Finance contributes the full cost, not the salary alone. Whoever signs contracts checks who the legal employer is and reads the provider’s terms. On the provider side, ask for the same: one accountable person. ### Does a first international hire create a taxable presence? It can, if the person signs commercial agreements or generates revenue in the country. That risk follows the role, not the employment model, so an employer of record does not remove it. Keeping contract authority with the company keeps the risk low. ## Sources - [Who should handle your first international hire?](https://www.teamed.global/first-hire), Teamed - [What a first international hire really costs](https://www.teamed.global/insights/what-a-first-international-hire-really-costs), Teamed _Last updated 2026-10-15. Reviewed by Teamed's in-house employment-law team. Source: https://www.teamed.global/glossary/first-international-hire_