Finding the right employer of record (EOR) can be surprisingly difficult. The contract staffing space can be somewhat opaque, and it can be hard to predict whether an EOR is well-aligned with your employer brand, provides an excellent employment experience, and checks off all of the compliance boxes your legal team requires.
Here are 5 things to look for in an EOR partner that might not be immediately obvious.
This seems obvious, yet, there is an astonishing amount of subcontracting and reselling in the staffing industry. Oftentimes companies buy Employer of Record (EOR) services from companies that don’t actually provide them, and instead have a third party in the background acting as EOR.
As a result, there is a markup for a third party’s service, reduced visibility, and likely harm to the overall contractor experience. Always ask whether a vendor subcontracts any part of the service.
Employers of record shouldn’t just think of their service as a legal arrangement that mitigates risk for their clients. A good EOR should embrace the role of employer, understand the client’s culture, and provide a contract employment experience that’s worthy of the company brand.
Service is an essential part of a good EOR, but it’s not enough on its own. A good EOR should have technology that eliminates administrative work and gives managers and employees self-serve tools and access to what they need when they need it. This exists for the permanent workforce, so why should the contract workforce be so far behind?
Good tech is also essential for compliance and helps create the guardrails to ensure companies are not exposed to risk from poor practices behind the scenes of the EOR.
Employment is inherently human. Where somebody chooses to work is one of the most important decisions a person makes. That’s no less true for contractors than full time employees. A good EOR takes that seriously, and supports contract employees — whether that takes the form of benefits enrollment advice, professional development, or performance feedback.
Co-employment is a real risk – do your legal team want an EOR that your contractors never hear a word from or one they have a real relationship with?
For many employers of record, the conversation about compliance doesn’t extend beyond worker classification. But employment compliance is far more complex than just ensuring workers receive the right tax documents.
A good EOR ensures compliance with local sick leave and overtime rules, knows how to keep its clients in line with the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance, and understands best practices for co-employment, pre-employment screenings, and dozens of other requirements. If they call their service “payroll”, they’re telling on themselves. Compliant employment goes well beyond cutting a check.
HireArt’s embedded employer of record gives managers and contractors self-serve software, instant access to data, and an excellent user experience with automated onboarding, background screening, expenses, PTO, and offboarding. Our client NPS score is +90 and our Contractor NPS score is +85, both industry bests.
To learn more about how HireArt can help your organization get the most out of its contract workforce, schedule a discovery call today.
