Are you a business owner who’s interested in the global expansion? If so, an international Professional Employer Organization, or PEO, might be exactly what your company needs. Let’s look at how an international PEO can help onboard and train global teams.
PEOs vs. EORs
Before we discuss the benefits of PEOs, let’s take a closer look at how they compare to organizations that act as Employers of Record (EoR). Many people mistake the two for being the same. While PEOs work similarly to companies that provide global employment of record services, they’re not the same.
Although they offer similar benefits when onboarding global employees, there is one main difference between the two types of organizations. When you opt to use an EoR, they become the legal employer of your employees. PEOs, on the other hand, act as co-employer.
The EoR will be registered as the employer in the United States for tax purposes. The same isn’t true for PEOs.
3 Benefits of International PEOs
Opening storefronts or businesses to expand your business internationally is the best way to create a global brand. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to hire employees overseas. Most of us don’t have the bandwidth to travel worldwide to hire and train new employees, especially when our headquarters are likely in the United States.
That’s where international PEOs come into play. Here are three of the benefits of PEOs:
1. They Can Help With Recruiting and Training.
Here’s the thing: Not all PEOs offer recruiting and training as a part of their services. Sometimes, PEO services don’t begin until after you’ve hired your employees. That being said, most PEOs are beginning to realize that this is a service that companies desperately need and are beginning to offer recruitment, interviewing, onboarding, training programs, and employee handbook reviews as a part of their services. Some organizations also offer employee retention programs to ensure worker satisfaction is met so your company will remain staff.
If you want a PEO’s assistance in hiring employees, it’s important to ensure that this is a service the organization offers before committing to using one. Allowing another organization to handle these responsibilities can make life easier as your company works on its international expansion.
2. They Handle HR tasks.
Once you’ve hired people, you need to worry about the important HR tasks a workforce comes with. International PEOs can take on most of the HR tasks you assign to them. They handle payroll, taxation, and employee benefits like health insurance, workman’s comp, etc. Since it can be difficult for you to oversee these things for your foreign employees, allowing a PEO to operate as a co-employer allows you to focus your effort and time on other essential business tasks.
3. They Ensure You’re Being Compliant.
The downside to hiring workers in foreign countries is that other countries employment laws and regulations are so different from those in the United States. An international PEO is trained to ensure your business complies with those laws.
If you want to make sure you’re hiring a PEO company with a good understanding of the law, you can find an organization that the IRS approves.
Using an international PEO is one of the easiest and most hassle-free ways to take your business to the global level. Not only can the organization handle onboarding and training, but they’ll also be equipped to ensure your business complies with the laws and regulations in other countries.
