What is employer of record?

What is the short answer for a busy buyer?

An employer of record, or EOR, is the legal employer of a person who works for your team. Your company directs the person's daily work. The EOR handles the employment duties set out in your agreement.

For a hiring manager, the first question is whether you already have someone to hire. An EOR can handle employment for a candidate you have found. Candidate search is a separate task, so check whether the service includes it.

Suppose your engineering team has chosen a developer in another country. The technical interviews are done, and the developer wants to join. You still need to settle who signs the employment agreement, runs payroll and handles local employment matters. That is the part of the hire to discuss with an EOR.

If you have only an approved job description, your needs are broader. Someone must find candidates, assess them and get a finalist through your interviews. Buying employment support does not, by itself, fill that role.

What changes for the hiring manager?

You still need a manager who can give the person useful work and judge the results. Decide who owns onboarding, grants system access and reviews performance. Put those names in your hiring plan before choosing a start date.

The employment arrangement also needs a clear route for decisions that affect the worker's terms. Ask how your manager should request a pay change, record leave or raise a performance concern. Identify who approves each step and who speaks with the employee.

A service agreement should let your team answer a practical question: when something changes, whom do we call, and what happens next?

What should be clear before you sign?

Ask for the legal name of the employer, the proposed employment contract and the full quote. Confirm that each document refers to the same worker location and role.

Avoid making a start-date promise based only on a sales estimate. Ask which documents, approvals and payments must be complete before the person can begin. Your internal onboarding plan should use that confirmed date.

What does the data say about hiring time and employment costs?

Hiring benchmarks and local employment rules answer different questions. A recruiting benchmark can help you plan the search. It does not tell you when a chosen candidate can start work through an EOR.

SHRM puts median time to fill at roughly a month and a half for executive and nonexecutive roles in its 2025 findings. That measure runs from job requisition to offer acceptance. It does not measure EOR onboarding or the gap between acceptance and the first working day. SHRM recruiting benchmarks.

For your own plan, track the search and employment setup separately. A shortlist deadline tells you when interviews can begin. An accepted offer tells you that the candidate has agreed. A confirmed start date tells the manager when to have access, equipment and work ready.

Ask every provider which event starts and stops its hiring clock. Comparing figures without those definitions can make a faster-looking service appear more useful than it is.

What belongs in the employment budget?

Start with the worker's pay, then ask for the other costs attached to the proposed employment terms. Request an annual view alongside the monthly invoice.

Local statutory payments can change the budget. Mexico's aguinaldo is an annual payment of at least 15 days of salary, due before December 20. Colombia's prima de servicios corresponds to 30 days of salary per year, recognized in two payments. These are employment costs to discuss in the quote. Mexico Federal Labor Law, article 87, Colombia Labor Code, article 306.

Ask whether the monthly price includes accruals for those payments or whether you will fund them separately when due. Have the provider show how a midyear start affects the estimate.

Use the same salary, location and benefits assumptions across quotes. Otherwise, you may be comparing different employment packages while focusing on a small difference in service fees.

How should you check working-hour overlap?

Mexico City is UTC-6 and does not observe daylight saving time. Bogotá is UTC-5 year-round. The difference between either city and a US team's clock can change when the US team switches clocks. IANA North America time zone data, IANA South America time zone data.

Write down the working hours you need in both locations. Include required meetings and any support coverage. Ask the candidate to confirm that schedule before the offer is final.

An EOR agreement and an overlap agreement solve different parts of the hire. The first defines employment responsibilities. The second tells your manager when the person will be available.

How do the hiring models differ for nearshore and Latin American teams?

Choose the model based on the work you need help with. Start with candidate search, then employment, then daily management. A provider's label is less useful than its written scope.

Use the table to prepare questions, rather than assuming every service uses the same contract. Ask the provider to describe the actual arrangement for your hire.

When does an EOR fit?

Consider an EOR when the candidate is known and employment is the open issue. Give the provider the candidate's location, role and intended terms. Ask it to explain the proposed structure before you commit to an offer.

For example, an employee referral may already have passed your interviews. You may want to keep your existing assessment process while buying help with employment. In that case, compare how each service would employ that person and support your manager.

Do not pay for a candidate search you do not need. Equally, do not assume an employment service includes interviews or reference checks. Put any extra hiring work into the scope.

When do you need a recruiter or a managed partner?

If nobody has passed your interviews, decide who will own the search. Your internal talent team may be able to source candidates while a provider handles employment.

A recruiting agency is another option when you can employ the successful candidate yourself. Ask what happens after placement, including how any replacement terms work.

If you want help with both search and employment, compare a managed recruiting arrangement. Break its scope into the same tasks you would assign internally. This makes a bundled price easier to assess.

Opus is one option to examine against those needs. This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial.

Talk to Opus about a role.

How should you treat PEO and contractor proposals?

If a proposal uses the term professional employer organization, or PEO, ask the provider to explain the employment structure. Establish whether it proposes co-employment, who signs the worker's contract and whether your company needs its own local entity.

For a contractor proposal, have the actual working relationship reviewed. Describe who controls the work and how the person will operate within your team. Avoid choosing a contract label simply because the invoice looks easier.

Form W-8BEN concerns an individual's foreign status for US withholding and reporting. Treat that paperwork separately from the review of the working arrangement. IRS Form W-8BEN.

What should you ask a provider before accepting a quote?

Give each provider the same hiring scenario. Include the role, worker location, expected pay and target start date. Ask for written answers so your talent, finance and legal teams can review the same proposal.

A useful comparison should show what happens during a normal month and when the relationship changes.

Which entity will employ this person?

Request the employer's full legal name and the proposed contract. Ask whether another company is involved in delivering the service and who handles employee questions.

Have the provider explain why the arrangement fits this role in this location. Ask your reviewer to check the agreement against the work the person will actually do.

Country coverage on a website is only the start of that discussion. Your decision concerns a specific employee, contract and job.

What will we pay over a full year?

Request a quote that separates the worker's pay from employer costs and service charges. For a bundled rate, ask what is included and which events can change it.

Check the following items:

• Statutory payments and employer contributions.
• Required benefits and any optional benefits you select.
• Setup fees, deposits and recurring service charges.
• Currency conversion terms and bank charges.
• Charges tied to pay changes, leave or the end of employment.
• Deposit return terms and the timing of the final invoice.

Have finance review a sample invoice. Ask the provider to explain how the bill would change if the employee starts partway through a month or receives a raise.

Do not assume a refundable deposit is a fee. Show it separately in your cash plan, with the return conditions beside it.

What must happen before the first day?

Ask for a list of required documents and the person responsible for each one. Confirm when the employment agreement must be signed and when payroll funding is due.

Your manager should also plan the work itself. Assign access requests, equipment setup and an onboarding contact. Decide what the hire should be able to do by the end of the first week.

Ask how the provider handles a delay. You need a clear contact if a document is rejected or the candidate requests a contract change.

How will support work after onboarding?

Request a named route for payroll errors, leave questions and employment changes. Ask which issues your manager can resolve directly and which need the provider's review.

Use a concrete example: the employee says their pay is wrong shortly before a weekend. Who receives the report? Who investigates it? How will the employee and your finance team hear the outcome?

Also review your internal responsibilities for system access and sensitive information. Ask how confidentiality and ownership of work are addressed in the agreements. Match those terms to the systems and material the person will use.

What happens if the hire leaves?

Request the process for resignation, performance concerns and a proposed termination. Ask who speaks to the employee and who calculates the final amounts.

Have the provider explain how service cancellation differs from ending employment. Review both before signing, including any notice requirements in the agreements.

If a replacement guarantee is part of the offer, ask exactly what it covers. A new candidate search and the costs of ending employment are separate items to resolve.

Finally, ask how a future move to your own employing entity would work. You do not need to plan that move now, but you should understand the contract terms that would affect it.

Where does Opus fit in this decision?

Evaluate Opus when your buying decision includes placement support as well as ongoing employment costs. Compare its written scope with the tasks your team needs covered.

Opus states: "The client chooses the finalist and manages day-to-day work." Your team therefore needs interview capacity and a manager ready to own the hire's work. Opus hiring process.

What does its monthly rate cover?

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. Opus pricing.

Use a role-specific quote for your budget. Compare the full monthly scope with any proposal that lists salary and service fees separately. Ask for the same treatment of benefits, currency terms and employment changes in both quotes.

What hiring claims should you assess?

Opus reports: "Opus delivers 3 vetted candidates in 5 days." That is a candidate-delivery commitment. Confirm your interview availability and agree on the first working day separately. Opus hiring process.

Opus also states: "Every placement carries a lifetime replacement guarantee with no cap and no time limit." Review the agreement for how you request a replacement and how employment costs are handled during a change. Opus replacement guarantee.

Bring an actual role to the discussion. Specify the work the person will own, who will manage them and the hours your team needs. If you already have a finalist, say so at the start.

Ask for a proposal that identifies the employer, states the full rate and assigns responsibility for each remaining step. That gives your team something concrete to approve before the hire begins.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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