Hire globally with the #1 EOR service

An employer of record (EOR) is a third-party organization that legally employs workers on behalf of a company, typically in countries where the company does not have a local entity. The EOR handles payroll, taxes, compliance, and benefits, while the company manages the employee's day-to-day work. A global EOR extends this model across multiple countries, enabling companies to hire, pay, and manage international employees through a single provider and system, ensuring compliance and consistency as they scale globally.

An EOR works by becoming the legal employer of your international employees while you retain control over their roles and responsibilities. The EOR manages employment contracts, payroll, tax filings, and compliance. With Rippling EOR, companies can hire globally without an entity while automating onboarding, payroll, and compliance in one system.

Companies use an employer of record to hire international employees quickly and compliantly without setting up a local entity, which can take 6–12 months. This reduces time, cost, and legal risk. Global EOR services are especially valuable for companies expanding into new markets or hiring remote teams across multiple countries.

Employer of record services include onboarding international employees, managing employment contracts, running payroll, managing taxes, providing benefits, and ensuring compliance with local labor laws. Rippling EOR provides these services in one platform with automated onboarding, built-in compliance, payroll, benefits, and support from local experts.

Companies evaluate global EOR providers based on country coverage, compliance expertise, onboarding speed, payroll accuracy, and how fast you can get to an in-country expert when something comes up, like a termination, a local labor law question, or a benefits issue. Also look at whether the platform integrates payroll, HR, and benefits in one system or requires separate tools for each. Rippling's EOR gives you direct access to in-country advisors and combines employment, payroll, and HRIS in one platform, which also means EOR employees aren't siloed from the rest of your workforce.

An EOR, or employer of record, is a type of global employment organization that legally employs workers on behalf of a company. The terms are often used interchangeably, but EOR specifically refers to the legal employment model. Global EOR services focus on compliance, payroll, and employment management across countries.

Yes, companies can hire international employees without setting up a local entity by using an employer of record. The EOR acts as the legal employer and handles compliance, payroll, and benefits. With Rippling's EOR, companies can quickly hire employees globally without an entity while keeping all workforce data, payroll, and systems in one place. And if you later set up an entity in that country, Rippling can convert EOR employees to direct hires without re-onboarding.

Rippling EOR keeps global payroll and HR in sync because they run on the same system. When an EOR employee takes time off, changes locations, or gets a comp adjustment, payroll and compliance automatically update. There's no manual handoff between systems, no waiting for a sync overnight, no risk of one system having stale data. This is different from EOR providers where employment data lives in one tool and your HRIS lives in another — that split is where errors and delays come from.

Rippling's EOR stands out by offering a unified global employment platform that combines EOR, payroll, HRIS, and benefits in one system. It provides automated onboarding, built-in compliance, and support from local experts. Rippling also ensures consistency across global teams by syncing HR, payroll, and benefits data automatically, so companies can scale internationally with speed, accuracy, and full visibility.