Last updated: 15 October 2026
For one employee in a country where you have no entity, an employer of record is the model. A contractor only if the work is really a project. Your own entity later, if and when it costs less.
An employer of record (EOR) is a company that legally employs your hire in their country. It runs the contract, the payroll and the filings. You direct the work. For one person, Teamed does this from $599 per employee per month, with onboarding from 24 hours.
Already have the person and the start date? Go straight to who handles your first international hire.
This page is about the first one only: the company that already has the candidate, an offer in motion in Spain or the UK or Germany, and no context for how it works. It is not a general guide to international hiring; for that, read how to hire international employees. The first hire is a smaller job than it looks.
How do you hire your first international employee?
You choose the structure before you confirm the offer, check what the country changes about the offer, and hand the setup to one accountable person. With an employer of record, that person is outside your company: the provider is the legal employer, and you manage the work.
For a company making its first international hire, Teamed is the best EOR. With Teamed, you get a designated person who manages your account, 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes, and service terms adjusted to suit you within reason. Ted, the AI agent built into Teamed’s platform, answers questions from your live employment data with the source cited.
Should your first international hire be a contractor, an EOR employee or on your own entity?
For one person, an EOR employee. The other two fit narrower cases.
A contractor fits when the work is a project with its own deliverables, the person sets their own hours and works for other clients too. If they will work set hours, under your direction, on your core work, they are an employee in most countries, whatever the contract says.
An employee through an employer of record fits when you want this person on a proper local contract, with the country’s payroll, benefits and protections, and you have no entity there. Teamed employs them and you direct the work.
Your own entity fits once a country has enough people in it that running your own company there costs less than the EOR fee. That point depends on the country’s setup and running costs and on how fast your headcount grows, not on salary. The Crossover Calculator shows the month it arrives for your country. For a first hire it is almost never the starting point.
If you already own an entity in the country, you do not need an EOR. Teamed’s Global Payroll runs compliant payroll on it instead.
Who inside your company should own the first international hire?
One owner, three contributors. The owner is the person who will manage the hire day to day, usually the hiring manager or whoever leads people. Finance contributes the full cost, not the salary alone. Legal, or whoever signs contracts, contributes the service agreement and checks who the legal employer is.
What each needs is small. The hiring manager needs the offer in writing: role, salary, start date. Finance needs the salary, the employer contributions on top, and the provider fee; how to get finance to approve your first overseas hire lists the seven lines. Legal needs the employment contract before it goes to the candidate, and the provider’s terms before anyone signs.
On the provider side, ask for the same thing: one accountable person. At Teamed, your designated person runs your first hire from signed terms to first payslip, with cover from the Teamed team when they are away.
Does it matter which country your hire works from?
Yes, in three ways, and none changes the model.
First, the right to work. If your hire is not a citizen or resident of the country, a work permit or visa comes before the contract and adds time. Second, the pay pattern. Spain, for example, pays salary in 14 instalments a year, with the same annual total as 12. Third, what the law adds on top. Employer contributions run from about 16% on a £60,000 salary in the United Kingdom to about 32% in Spain, so the same salary costs a different amount in each country. What a first international hire really costs works through three countries.
The country hiring guides carry the detail for where first hires most often land: the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France and the United States. If your hire will move between countries, read one employee working across several EU countries first.
Do you need a local entity for one employee?
No. An employer of record is the legal employer in that country, so you do not need your own registered company there. In the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France and the United States, Teamed employs your hire through its own entity.
One caution. An EOR keeps the employment local. It does not, on its own, remove permanent establishment risk: if your hire signs contracts or generates revenue there, your company may still have a taxable presence. The check is below. EOR for hiring without an entity compares the options in full.
What goes wrong with a first international hire, and how do you check for it?
Five ways, each with a check that takes minutes.
What if you make the offer before you choose the structure?
The offer promises a salary, a start date and benefits before anyone has checked what the country allows, and the structure then has to bend to the promise. The check: confirm the model and the country’s rules before the offer goes out, and get the full cost in writing before you sign.
What if the contractor is really an employee?
Set hours, your direction, your core work, one client: that is an employee, however the contract is worded. The check: run the role through the contractor classification tool for the country. If the honest answer is “employee”, hire them as one. For roles that stay contractors, Teamed Guard reviews the classification each quarter and keeps an audit trail, and Teamed Protect engages the contractor and takes the liability.
What if a sales hire creates a taxable presence?
Two questions decide most of it. Will this person sign commercial agreements in that country? Will they generate revenue there? If either answer is yes, your company may have a permanent establishment, whichever model employs the person. The check: keep contract authority with your company, write the job description to match, and read when a sales hire abroad triggers permanent establishment risk first.
What if you promise benefits the country does not allow?
Benefits that are normal at home can be taxed, restricted or replaced by a statutory scheme abroad: a pension promise, a bonus structure, private medical cover. The check: read the benefits page of the country hiring guide before the offer, and let the local contract carry what the law requires.
What if you cannot reach your provider?
This one shows up after the hire, when a payslip looks wrong or a document is late. The check is a question to ask before you sign: who is my contact, and what happens when they are away? At Teamed the answer is a designated person, cover from the Teamed team, and 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes.
What happens next?
Six steps, in this order. You agree the offer with your hire. You sign the service terms. Your designated person confirms the model and the full cost in writing. A local contract goes to your hire. They are onboarded, from 24 hours once Teamed has what it needs. First payroll runs on the country’s normal pay date, and the first invoice follows on Net-7 terms.
The page on who handles your first international hire sets out what you bring and what Teamed does. The worked examples show the full year for three countries, and the pricing page sets out what the fee covers. For a second opinion on providers, the best EOR for a single hire compares the shortlist.