Do I need my own entity to hire someone in another country?

No. You need your own entity only if you employ the person directly. An employer of record can employ them for you, and a contractor works under a services agreement instead. Each route has different obligations, so choose before you write the offer.

Who signs the employment contract?

The legal employer signs it. If you employ the person through your own entity, that is your entity. If you use an employer of record, it is the employer of record.

How long does it take to start an international hire?

It depends on the country and the route. A visa, permit or registration step adds time, so plan the start date after those steps. The first international hire timeline walks through the order.

International new-hire checklist: offer to first payslip

What should be on an international new-hire checklist?

Tick each line when its "done when" test is true. The steps are in the order they happen, so a missed one shows up as a gap, not a surprise.

Before you make the offer

Choose how the person will be employed. Done when: You have written down whether they will be employed by your own entity, by an employer of record (a company that employs the person for you), or work as a contractor, and why.
What an employer of record is
Find out what right-to-work evidence the country asks for. Done when: You know which documents prove the person may work there, who collects them, and whether a visa or permit is needed.
Right-to-work verification
Read the country guide before you write the offer. Done when: You have noted what it says about probation, notice, working time and leave, and your offer follows the guide, not memory.
Country hiring guides
Cost the hire in your own currency. Done when: You have a monthly employer cost that includes employer contributions and benefits, not just gross pay.
Employer cost calculator
Get budget sign-off on the full cost. Done when: The approver has seen the monthly and yearly employer cost and the one-off costs, and has said yes in writing.

Offer and contract

Send an offer that matches the local contract. Done when: It states the job title, pay in the local currency, start date and probation, and says it depends on the right-to-work check and the signed contract.
Settle the contract language and the law that governs it. Done when: The contract is in a language the person reads well, and you know which country's law applies to it.
Set a start date with room to spare. Done when: The date falls after the signed contract, the documents and any visa, permit or registration step, with a buffer for delays.
First international hire timeline
Get the contract signed by both sides before work starts. Done when: Signed copies are filed, and nobody has asked the person to start work earlier.

Documents and details

Send one list of what you need from the hire. Done when: They have a single request through a secure channel, not a thread of email attachments.
Worker onboarding documents checklist
Confirm the person's bank details through a second channel. Done when: The account is in their own name and you have checked it by a call or message that is not the one that sent it.
Find out which tax and social security registrations are needed. Done when: You know what the employer and the employee must register, who files each one, and by when.

Pay, benefits and equipment

Set the pay currency, pay frequency and first pay date. Done when: All three are in your payroll schedule, with the cut-off for changes written next to the first pay date.
Payroll schedule template
Set up benefits and leave. Done when: Every benefit in the offer is enrolled or has an enrolment date, and the leave balance starts on the right day.
Order equipment and set up accounts. Done when: The laptop is delivered and accounts work before day one, and you have checked the country's import rules before shipping.
Give the person your privacy notice where the country asks for one. Done when: They have received it, and you know where their personal data is stored.

First week and first payslip

Plan day one and the first week. Done when: The manager's calendar shows a welcome call, a one-to-one and a named buddy, with times shown in the new hire's time zone.
Tell finance about the new cost. Done when: The hire is on the headcount list and the cost centre, and finance knows the currency.
Check the first payslip against the contract. Done when: Gross pay, deductions and net pay match what was agreed, and any difference has a written reason.
Confirm the person received the payslip and was paid on the right date. Done when: They have said so, and the payment shows in your records.
Book a check-in before probation ends, if the contract has probation. Done when: The date is in the manager's calendar, and the contract tells you when probation ends.
Probation period
Write down what slowed you down. Done when: You have a list of the steps that ran late, and the checklist is updated before the next hire.

That is the whole checklist.

Why does an international hire need a checklist?

Delays in a first international hire tend to come from steps nobody put on a list. Documents arrive late, the start date moves, or payroll misses its cut-off for the month.

Each country sets its own rules, so the checklist asks you to check the country guide rather than carrying a rule from one country to another. That keeps it useful in the next country, and it keeps you from quoting a rule you did not read.

What does Teamed do on a first hire?

With Teamed, your designated person runs your first hire from signed terms to first payslip.

Teamed First Hire
How a first international hire runs from signed terms to first payslip.
First international hire timeline
The order of the steps, from offer to first payslip.
What a first international hire really costs
The cost lines to expect.
Worker onboarding documents checklist
The documents to collect, country-neutral.

Questions people ask

Do I need my own entity to hire someone in another country?
No. You need your own entity only if you employ the person directly. An employer of record can employ them for you, and a contractor works under a services agreement instead. Each route has different obligations, so choose before you write the offer.
Who signs the employment contract?
The legal employer signs it. If you employ the person through your own entity, that is your entity. If you use an employer of record, it is the employer of record.
How long does it take to start an international hire?
It depends on the country and the route. A visa, permit or registration step adds time, so plan the start date after those steps. The first international hire timeline walks through the order.

This checklist is a planning aid, not legal advice. Where a step depends on a country's rules, check the country guide or take advice.

Send this page to an AI and ask it to explain it.

An international new-hire checklist, from signed offer to first payslip.

What should be on an international new-hire checklist?

Before you make the offer

Offer and contract

Documents and details

Pay, benefits and equipment

First week and first payslip

Why does an international hire need a checklist?

What does Teamed do on a first hire?

Questions people ask

Print this checklist

What should be on an international new-hire checklist?

Before you make the offer

Offer and contract

Documents and details

Pay, benefits and equipment

First week and first payslip

Why does an international hire need a checklist?

What does Teamed do on a first hire?

Where should you go next?

Questions people ask

Print this checklist