Employer of record

What is the short answer for a busy buyer?

Choose an employment service around the hire you need to make. If you have a finalist, focus on the legal employer and employment terms. If you still need candidates, include recruiting in the buying decision.

An employer of record, often shortened to EOR, is the legal employer for a worker assigned to your business. Your manager directs the work. The buying task is to confirm how that split works for the person, country, and role you have in mind.

For example, suppose your engineering team has chosen a developer abroad. Before promising a start date, ask the provider to identify the employing entity and send the proposed employment terms. Your finance team needs the full cost. Your manager needs an onboarding plan and a clear route for payroll or leave questions.

If the role is still open, employment paperwork solves only part of the problem. Someone must find candidates, assess their work, and help you reach an accepted offer. Ask which of those tasks the quote includes.

Opus is an option to assess when your decision includes candidate selection and ongoing employment support. This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial.

Start your comparison with a short written hiring request:

• Describe the work and name the manager who will review candidates.
• State whether you have a finalist or need a search.
• Specify the worker's location, expected schedule, and target start date.
• Give the provider your budget assumptions and ask what the quote includes.

This gives every bidder the same assignment. It also makes exclusions easier to spot. A quote for employing your chosen candidate should not be compared with a recruiting-and-employment quote as though both cover the same work.

The best employer of record companies for your shortlist are those that can answer your specific employment questions in writing. A broad country count or low service fee does not settle who will employ this person, what you will pay, or how problems will be handled.

Talk to Opus about a role.

What does the data say about timing and nearshore work?

Use hiring benchmarks to plan the search. Keep the employment setup and first working day as separate milestones.

SHRM reports that median time to fill in 2025 was roughly a month and a half for both executive and nonexecutive positions. Its measure runs from job requisition to offer acceptance. That is a recruiting benchmark, rather than a promise about employment setup or a worker's first day. SHRM's 2025 recruiting analysis.

A buyer who already has an accepted candidate is at a different stage from a buyer opening a search. Avoid comparing their timelines without checking the start and finish points.

Ask each provider to put dates against the events that affect your plan:

Use the last row for project staffing. A candidate accepting an offer does not tell your engineering lead when that person can join a sprint.

Check overlap by city and season

Nearshore hiring can support shared working hours, but agree on the actual schedule. A country name is too broad for a meeting plan.

Mexico City stays on UTC-6 without daylight saving time. Tijuana follows US seasonal clock changes. A schedule that works for a candidate in one city may need different meeting times in the other. IANA time zone data for North America.

Bogotá stays on UTC-5 without daylight saving time. Buenos Aires and São Paulo stay on UTC-3 without seasonal clock changes. US teams that change their clocks should check their meeting times against those fixed offsets. IANA time zone data for South America.

Before interviews, write down the hours the role actually needs. Include recurring meetings and any support coverage. Ask candidates whether that schedule works throughout the year.

Then separate team preferences from employment terms. Have the provider explain how the proposed schedule fits the local arrangement. Do not let a general promise of US overlap replace a written agreement about working hours.

Compare evidence that matches your role

A hiring speed claim should identify what starts the clock and what stops it. A retention claim should explain the group being measured and the period covered.

Ask for evidence relevant to your role and location. A broad company figure can help frame a discussion, but your hiring plan needs details about the service you will buy.

For your shortlist, record the claim, its definition, and the question it leaves open. This prevents a headline number from becoming an assumption in your budget or delivery plan.

How do the hiring models differ here?

Separate the search for a person from the arrangement used to employ them. Then decide which tasks your team can own.

Treat the table as a way to organize questions. The proposed contract must confirm the arrangement.

Decide who will find the person

An EOR can handle employment when you already have a candidate and need a legal employer in their country. If you need sourcing too, ask whether recruiting is included or requires a separate service.

For a recruiting agency, establish what happens after you select a candidate. Ask who prepares the employment offer and who handles payroll once the person starts.

If you compare a combined package with separate services, ask for the same scope from both. Include the effort your own team must supply. A low fee may still leave your Head of Talent coordinating a search, employment setup, and several support contacts.

Decide who will manage the work

For a hire joining your internal team, name the person responsible for daily priorities and feedback. Ask how that manager should raise employment questions with the provider.

For outsourced delivery, define the result you are buying and how you will accept it. Clarify who assigns tasks and approves changes. This helps prevent a disagreement about whether the supplier owes you a person, a completed project, or both.

Write those responsibilities into the buying documents. A service label alone will not explain who handles a missed deadline or a request to change duties.

Check PEO and umbrella arrangements separately

When comparing an employer of record vs professional employer organization, ask each bidder to draw the proposed employment relationship. For a PEO, ask about co-employment and any requirement for your own entity. For an EOR, ask which entity will be the legal employer.

Use the same discipline for an employer of record vs umbrella company comparison. Identify the worker's employer, the client contract, and the payroll route. Ask which obligations remain with your business.

Have your reviewer check those answers against the agreements. Avoid assuming that familiar terminology means the same arrangement across countries.

Use location to narrow the review

If your company is in California and the worker is abroad, state both locations in the request. Ask the provider to explain what each location means for the proposed service.

For a hire in Canada or Italy, request a country-specific proposal. Do not carry pricing, benefits, or contract assumptions from a Latin American quote into another country.

What should you ask a provider before signing?

Ask for documents your finance, legal, and hiring teams can review together. Sales answers are easier to evaluate when they point to a contract clause, a sample invoice, or a named contact.

Who will employ this person?

Request the employing entity's full legal name and the worker's proposed employment agreement. Ask whether another company is involved in delivery and who handles employment questions.

Confirm that the provider has reviewed the actual role and location. If the worker plans to move, ask how that change would be handled before approving it.

For technical hires, request the proposed intellectual property and confidentiality terms. Have your reviewer trace how work created by the employee reaches your business. Ask about access to company systems and any requirements for handling customer data.

What is the full cost?

Ask for a written quote based on the same salary, location, and start-date assumptions across bidders.

Request separate treatment of these items, even if the provider bundles them into one invoice:

• Employee pay and employer costs.
• Benefits and paid leave.
• Service fees and any recruiting charges.
• Currency conversion and payment fees.
• Deposits, advance funding, and refundable amounts.
• Exit costs and other charges tied to a change in employment.

Ask the provider to mark each item as included, separate, or dependent on an event. Request a sample invoice and an explanation of what could change the monthly amount.

For budgeting, ask for an annual view as well as a normal month's bill. Have the provider explain how it handles any periodic payments or employment costs in the worker's country.

Do not substitute a platform fee for the full hiring budget. Your approval should show the expected cash requirement and the assumptions behind it.

What must happen before the start date?

Give the provider your desired first working day. Ask it to work backward through contract review, worker documents, and payroll deadlines.

Name the person on your side who can approve changes quickly. Agree on what happens if a document or signature is late.

Your manager should also confirm equipment, account access, and the first week's work. Ask who owns each task so the employee does not arrive with a signed contract and no way to work.

How will support work after the hire starts?

Request the contact path for a payroll error, a leave question, and a performance concern. Ask who speaks with the worker and who keeps your manager informed.

Have the provider walk through a realistic issue. For example, ask what happens if the employee reports incorrect pay just before a local payday. Request the escalation path and expected response terms.

Also ask how salary changes and revised duties are approved. Your manager needs to know when a routine team decision requires an employment review.

What happens when the arrangement ends?

Request an explanation of the exit process before signing. Ask who communicates with the worker, calculates final amounts, and returns any unused funds.

Separate the service agreement from the employment agreement. Ask how ending one affects the other.

If the provider has a replacement guarantee, request its terms alongside the exit terms. A promise to search again should not become an assumption that every cost is waived.

Finally, ask about moving the hire to your own entity or another arrangement later. Get any transfer conditions and fees into the review now.

Where does Opus fit in your hiring decision?

Assess Opus when your purchase includes finding candidates and supporting the hire after selection. Keep the same questions about employment, cost, and exit terms on the table.

Opus states: "Opus charges one flat monthly rate per hire. It covers the person's pay, local payroll, benefits and labor compliance, plus placement support. There is no separate recruiting fee. The rate depends on role, seniority and location."

Published dollar rate: Not published.

Ask for a written quote for your role and location. Check its inclusions against your budget worksheet, especially any costs triggered by a change or an exit.

Opus states: "The client chooses the finalist and manages day-to-day work." That puts candidate selection and daily management with your team. Assign a hiring manager who can assess the work and give timely feedback.

Opus also states: "Every placement carries a lifetime replacement guarantee with no cap and no time limit." Ask for the guarantee in the agreement and have the provider explain how it works alongside employment exit terms.

Use the proposal to settle the remaining buying questions. Who is the legal employer for this hire? What schedule will the worker follow? Which tasks must your team complete before the first day?

If you already have a finalist, ask whether the proposed scope fits that starting point. If you need a search, send the role requirements and explain how you will assess candidates.

Approve the service when your team can identify the employer, understand the full quote, and assign each onboarding task. Those answers give the hiring manager a workable plan for bringing the person into the team.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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