The offer email has a line you have never seen before.
“You’ll be employed through Remote, our employer of record in the Philippines.”
So who is your employer? The company that interviewed you? Or a platform you have never spoken to?
Here is the short answer. An employer of record is the company that legally employs you, so a foreign business can hire you without opening an office in your country. On paper, the EOR is your employer. In practice, you work for the client.
Almost every page that explains what an employer of record is was written for the company paying for it. This one is written for you, the person being hired. What it means, what you are owed, and the questions to ask before you sign.
The belief that costs people money
The old belief: “An EOR is a middleman. They take a cut, and I’m not a real employee.”
That belief makes people nervous about the wrong thing. They worry the platform is skimming their pay. Meanwhile they don’t check the things that matter: the currency, the notice period, and whether the company quietly built the EOR fee into a lower salary.
The new belief: an EOR contract is a full local employment contract, and the company is paying extra to give it to you.
When a European company hires you through an EOR, it pays the EOR a monthly fee per employee, plus your employer contributions, on top of your salary. That is a real cost. A company doesn’t spend it on someone it sees as temporary.
I have been on the other side of this choice. When I went fully remote with a German tech company, I was hired as a B2B contractor, invoicing in euros. No EOR. That meant no employer contributions, no paid leave unless I priced it into my rate, and no notice period except what the contract said. It can work. But you should know which deal you are being offered, and what each one is worth.
What an employer of record actually does
An EOR is a company with legal entities in many countries. When a business wants to hire you in a country where it has no entity, the EOR hires you through its local entity instead.
Remote.com’s own definition is a good one: an EOR “legally employs workers on behalf of another company,” handling “payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance, while the client company directs the employee’s day-to-day work.”
Here is how the jobs are split:
| The EOR (Deel, Remote, Oyster, Multiplier) | The client company (who you work for) | |
|---|---|---|
| Signs your employment contract | Yes | No |
| Pays your salary and issues payslips | Yes | No (it pays the EOR) |
| Withholds your income tax | Yes | No |
| Pays employer social contributions | Yes | It funds them through the EOR |
| Gives you statutory leave and benefits | Yes | It decides any extras |
| Sets your work, goals and team | No | Yes |
| Decides to end your role | Carries it out under local law | Makes the decision |
In the Philippines, for example, the EOR is the employer that issues your BIR Form 2316, the annual certificate of tax withheld. That is the document you need for loans, visas and your own records.
So who do you go to with a problem?
Work problems go to your manager at the client company. Pay, payslip, contribution and contract problems go to the EOR.
Law firms also warn companies that the client can sometimes be treated as a joint employer. Orrick, an international law firm, notes the company “may be considered a de facto employer or joint and severally liable” with the EOR. You don’t need to remember the legal term. Just know that both companies carry responsibility for you.
What you are owed as an EOR employee (and a contractor is not)
This is the part that turns an EOR offer into money. Statutory benefits are not perks. They are set by law in your country, and the EOR must provide them.
Philippines
- 13th month pay: at least one-twelfth of your total basic salary for the year, paid on or before 24 December (PD 851, per DOLE’s 2025 advisory). It covers rank-and-file employees; many companies extend it to managers too.
- SSS: 15 percent of your monthly salary credit, with the employer paying 10 percent and you paying 5 percent (from January 2025).
- PhilHealth: 5 percent of salary up to ₱100,000 a month, split equally between you and the employer.
- Pag-IBIG: 2 percent each, on a maximum fund salary of ₱10,000.
- Service incentive leave: five days of paid leave a year after one year of service, under the Labor Code.
As a contractor, you pay both halves of SSS and PhilHealth yourself and get no 13th month.
Indonesia
- THR (religious holiday allowance): one month’s wages after 12 months of service, pro rata before that, paid at least seven days before the holiday. It applies to permanent and fixed-term staff.
- BPJS Kesehatan (health): 5 percent of wages up to the ceiling, with the employer paying 4 percent and you paying 1 percent.
- BPJS Ketenagakerjaan: old-age savings (employer 3.7 percent, you 2 percent), pension (employer 2 percent, you 1 percent), plus work-accident and death cover paid by the employer.
Vietnam
- Social, health and unemployment insurance: the employer pays 21.5 percent and you pay 10.5 percent, up to a salary cap, under PwC’s 2026 tax summary.
- 13th month pay: customary, not required by law. Under the Labour Code a bonus is at the employer’s discretion, unless it is written into your contract or company policy. So get it in writing.
Malaysia
- EPF: the employer pays 13 percent of wages up to MYR 5,000 (12 percent above that), and you pay 11 percent.
- SOCSO and EIS: smaller capped contributions from both sides for injury, invalidity and job loss.
These figures change. Check the current rates with the agency in your country before you rely on them, and ask the EOR for a breakdown of what it pays on your behalf.
What the company pays for you (and why it matters in your negotiation)
Published 2026 list prices for EOR employment:
- Deel: $599 per employee per month
- Remote.com: $699 per employee per month
- Oyster: $699 per employee per month
- Multiplier: from $459 per employee per month on an annual plan
That is roughly $5,500 to $8,400 a year per hire, before your salary and before the employer’s contributions.
Two things follow from this.
First, an EOR hire is a commitment. The company is paying thousands of dollars a year to employ you properly. You have more leverage than you think.
Second, watch for the fee being moved onto you. Sometimes a company sets a total budget for the role and quietly subtracts the EOR fee and employer contributions before it quotes you a salary. Your gross salary should be your gross salary. The fee is their cost of hiring in your country, not yours.
Thanks, this looks great. One question so I’m reading the offer correctly: is the figure my gross salary on the EOR contract, with the EOR fee and employer contributions paid on top by the company? Or is it a total budget that those costs come out of?
Seven things to check before you sign an EOR contract
Read the contract. Then ask about anything on this list it doesn’t answer.
1. Which currency am I paid in?
Some countries require salaries to be paid in local currency. If your salary was agreed in euros or dollars but you are paid in pesos or rupiah, the exchange rate matters. Ask how it is converted, at what rate, and how often.
2. Is the number gross or net?
Gross is before tax and your share of contributions. Make sure the figure on the contract matches the figure you negotiated, and that you know which one it is.
3. How long is probation?
In the Philippines, probation can last up to six months. In Vietnam it is capped at 60 days for most professional roles (180 for managers), and you must be paid at least 85 percent of the agreed salary during it.
4. What notice period applies on both sides?
The EOR has to follow local termination law. In the Philippines, for example, an employer dismissing for authorised causes must give 30 days’ written notice, and redundancy carries severance. Ask what happens if the client company ends its contract with the EOR. Local law still applies to how your employment ends.
5. What benefits are on top of the legal minimum?
Statutory benefits are the floor. Ask about private health insurance, extra leave, an equipment budget and internet allowance. These are often negotiable.
6. What do the IP and non-compete clauses say?
In the Philippines, courts only uphold a non-compete if it is reasonable in time, trade and place. Still, read it. A clause that stops you working in your whole industry for two years is worth questioning before you sign, not after.
7. Who do I contact about pay?
Get a named contact or support channel at the EOR for payroll questions. You will need it the first time a payslip looks wrong.
Is an EOR job safe? How to spot a fake offer
EOR platforms are now mainstream. Deel alone reported more than 1.5 million workers and 37,000 businesses on its platform in October 2025. That size also attracts scammers who borrow the names.
A real EOR offer:
- names the client company you will actually work for
- comes from the EOR’s official email domain
- goes through the EOR’s own onboarding platform
- never asks you to pay anything
Remote.com states it “will never request your personal information, usernames, passwords, or bank details, or payment information through email or phone calls.” If anyone asks you to pay for equipment, training or a “processing fee,” stop. More checks in is this remote job a scam?
EOR or contractor: which offer is better?
For most people, the EOR offer is the more protective one. You get statutory benefits, employer contributions and real protection on notice and dismissal.
A contractor offer can still be good. But only if the money is adjusted for everything you give up. As a rule of thumb, a contractor rate should be 1.3 to 1.6 times the equivalent employee salary. I break down the maths and the scripts in they offered you a Deel contract.
If you are offered a contractor role and would prefer employment, ask:
I’m excited about the role. Would you consider hiring me through an employer of record instead of as a contractor? If not, I’d want the rate to reflect the leave and contributions I’d be covering myself.
Do this before you sign
Take your offer and answer these five questions in writing:
- Who is my legal employer, and who is my client?
- What is my gross salary, in which currency?
- Which statutory benefits apply in my country, and does the contract include them?
- How long is probation, and what is the notice period on both sides?
- Is anything being deducted from my salary that should be the company’s cost?
If you can’t answer all five, send one polite email with the questions you’re missing. It takes ten minutes and protects the next two years of your income.
I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice. For anything that affects your status, an hour with a local employment lawyer or accountant is cheap insurance.
A contract with your country’s protections, paid by Europe
An EOR offer isn’t second-class employment. It is a European company paying extra so it can hire you properly, where you live, under your country’s rules.
Know what you’re owed. Read what you’re signing. Then sign it like someone who knows their worth.
Sources cited in this post: Remote.com, what is an EOR · Orrick on EOR co-employment · Sprout on BIR Form 2316 · Deel pricing · Remote.com pricing · Oyster pricing · Multiplier pricing · DOLE Labor Advisory No. 16, s. 2025 on 13th month pay (via PMAP) · Grant Thornton on SSS 2025 rates · Malaya Business Insight on PhilHealth premiums · PIA on Pag-IBIG contributions · ADCO Law on THR 2026 · Hukumonline on BPJS Kesehatan · InCorp on BPJS Ketenagakerjaan · PwC tax summaries: Vietnam · Talentnet on 13th month pay in Vietnam · PwC tax summaries: Malaysia · Vietnam Briefing on probation · WageIndicator on Philippine notice and severance · NDV Law on non-competes in the Philippines · Deel on paying in local currency · Staffing Industry Analysts on Deel’s Series E · Remote.com on phishing and official domains