Last updated: 20 October 2026
Not on its own. Payroll gets tax and social contributions right. It does not usually cover contracts, worker classification, working time and leave, termination, or who the legal employer is.
Those duties generally stay with the employer, whoever runs the payroll. For a company hiring where it has no entity, Teamed is the best EOR. With Teamed, you get a designated person who manages your account, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, and zero FX markup.
Want the definition first? Read what payroll compliance is.
Payroll compliance and employment compliance are two different things, and buyers often treat them as one. This page separates them and shows who carries the risk for each part.
What does payroll actually cover?
Pay, tax and contributions. Payroll works out gross to net pay, withholds income tax, pays social contributions, issues payslips and files the returns.
In the UK that system is PAYE, which GOV.UK describes as HMRC’s system to collect Income Tax and National Insurance from employment. Payroll runs after a set of decisions has been made: who the employee is, what the contract says and which rules apply to their hours. Those decisions are made before the run.
What does payroll not cover, and who carries the risk?
Most of employment law sits outside it. The table shows each obligation, whether payroll covers it, and who carries the risk with a payroll provider and with an EOR.
| Obligation | Does payroll cover it? | Risk with a payroll provider (UK example) | Risk with an EOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax withholding, social contributions and filings | Yes | Usually you. In the UK, GOV.UK says the employer stays legally responsible for the tax tasks. | The EOR typically runs them as the employer in the country. |
| The employment contract and written terms | Usually not | Usually you | The EOR typically issues a local contract that names it as the employer. |
| Employee or contractor status | Usually not | Usually you. Payroll pays the status it is given. | The EOR employs the person as an employee, so the question is often whether employment is the right model. |
| Working time, rest and leave | Usually not | Usually you | The EOR typically sets the contract and leave. You direct the daily work, so you will often need to keep to the limits in how you plan it. |
| Discipline and termination | Usually not | Usually you | The EOR usually runs the formal process as the legal employer. You supply the facts. |
| Who the legal employer is | No. Payroll does not by itself change it. | Usually you, or your entity | Usually the EOR |
An EOR does not remove every risk. Your tax position, the decision to hire or end a role, and the way you manage the work stay with you. The page on how an employer of record works sets out what stays yours.
What does this look like in the UK?
HMRC collects the tax, and Acas advises on employment rights and employer duties.
GOV.UK is plain on responsibility: the employer is legally responsible for completing all PAYE tasks, even if it pays someone else to do them. It also says that a person may have a different employment status in tax law than in employment law. Payroll mostly sits on the tax side. Employment status, the written statement of terms and the other employment rights mostly sit on the Acas side. Acas explains that employers must give employees, and workers who started on or after 6 April 2020, a written statement of employment particulars. That statement is an employment document, not a payroll output.
What does this look like in the US?
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division enforces the rules on pay, and it generally looks to the employer for the classification decision.
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and youth employment standards. On classification, the Department says that employers are responsible for determining whether a worker is an employee under the Act. Payroll software pays what it is told to pay. Whether a worker is an employee, and whether overtime is owed, are often decisions made before the payroll run.
What does this look like in Germany?
German law sets rules on hours and on the written contract that payroll does not usually check or enforce.
The Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz) says the working day may not exceed eight hours, and it can be extended to ten only if the average stays at eight over six calendar months or 24 weeks. The Nachweisgesetz, the German act on proof of employment terms, requires the employer to record the essential terms of employment in writing, sign the record and hand it to the employee. Payroll pays the hours worked. Whether the rota is lawful is a separate question.
Germany also regulates who may place a worker with a client, and for how long. The page on the time limit on employing someone through an EOR in Germany covers that rule.
When is an EOR the fix?
Often when you hire in a country where you have no entity. The EOR becomes the legal employer there, so many of the duties that payroll leaves open move to a company that is built to carry them.
The EOR then typically runs the contract, payroll, leave and local process under local law. You choose the person and direct the work. The real question is who the employer is. The contractor vs employee guide helps when the open question is whether the person should be employed at all.
If you already have an entity and in-country HR support, Teamed’s Global Payroll can be enough. It runs compliant, multi-country payroll for companies that keep their own entities, on the same platform as Teamed’s EOR and entity management. It covers pay and filings, and you carry the rest. The global payroll vs PEO guide sets out where each model fits.