Is an employer of record legal? The countries that limit it
Where national law treats an employer of record as labour leasing, dispatch or outsourcing and sets conditions on it, what each country allows, and who can employ your hire there. Each answer links to the rules, quoted from the statute or official guidance.
Yes, in most countries: an employer of record is the legal employer of your worker, with a local entity, a local employment contract and the employer's duties under local law. Some countries treat the arrangement as labour leasing, dispatch or outsourcing and add conditions: a licence, equal pay with your own staff, time limits or limits on the work. A few allow it only through a local licensed provider or in narrow legal forms.
Where the law limits the model
In these countries, ask the provider how its local employment complies before you sign, and whether it employs through its own licensed entity or a partner's. The count of providers is how many name the country on their own website as one where they employ.
Is an employer of record legal in Austria?
Yes, as a regulated trade: the arrangement is judged by its substance, and the worker's pay must take account of what comparable staff at the user company earn.
The rules, with their sources. 33 providers list Austria, and 1 of them says it employs there through its own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Brazil?
Yes: outsourcing is allowed where the provider directs the work, and temporary work has time limits.
The rules, with their sources. 47 providers list Brazil, and 5 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in China?
As labour dispatch, for temporary, auxiliary or substitute roles only, within a cap on the dispatched share of the workforce.
The rules, with their sources. 41 providers list China, and 6 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in France?
Only within narrow legal forms: lending labour for profit is banned, so the provider's French employment has to fit temporary agency work or portage salarial, each with its own limits.
The rules, with their sources. 42 providers list France, and 4 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Germany?
Yes, as licensed labour leasing: the provider needs a permit, the worker is owed the client's essential terms and pay, and each placement with the same client has a time limit that switching providers does not reset.
The rules, with their sources. 42 providers list Germany, and 5 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in India?
Yes, under the Labour Codes in force since November 2025, though contract labour is barred from core activities, with exceptions.
The rules, with their sources. 49 providers list India, and 12 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Italy?
Only through authorised agencies, within caps on how many leased workers a company may use relative to its permanent staff.
The rules, with their sources. 38 providers list Italy, and 5 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Japan?
As licensed worker dispatching, with time limits on how long a client may use dispatched workers at a place of business and in the same unit.
The rules, with their sources. 38 providers list Japan, and 5 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Mexico?
Only as a specialised service outside your core business: since the 2021 reform, subcontracting of personnel is banned, so ask how the provider's Mexican employment complies.
The rules, with their sources. 46 providers list Mexico, and 5 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in the Netherlands?
Yes, as payrolling: the worker is entitled to at least the same terms as the client's own staff in equal roles, and a new admission scheme for companies that hire out workers is on the way.
The rules, with their sources. 44 providers list Netherlands, and 4 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Singapore?
Yes for citizens and permanent residents, whom the employer of record employs with full Employment Act rights; but since July 2024 it may not apply for a work pass for a foreigner based in Singapore who works for an overseas company, so a foreign hire needs your own Singapore entity or representative office.
The rules, with their sources. 52 providers list Singapore, and 9 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Spain?
Only within limits: Spanish law allows supplying workers to another company only through authorised temporary work agencies, and treats a provider that merely places a worker with you as illegal cession, making both companies jointly liable.
The rules, with their sources. 42 providers list Spain, and 4 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Sweden?
Yes, under the Temporary Agency Work Act; a long placement with the same client entitles the worker to a permanent-job offer or compensation.
The rules, with their sources. 40 providers list Sweden, and 3 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Is an employer of record legal in Switzerland?
Only through a lessor licensed in Switzerland: Swiss law treats an employer of record as staff leasing and does not allow leasing staff in from abroad.
The rules, with their sources. 37 providers list Switzerland, and 3 of them say they employ there through their own entity: compare them or get matched for your hire.
Hiring in one of these countries? Tell us where and how many people: we rank the providers that employ there, own entity first, and get you quotes from the ones you pick.
Get matchedBefore you sign
- What an employer of record is, and where national law limits it: the full guide, with every rule quoted from its source.
- Own entity or a partner's: why it matters who the legal employer in the country is.
- Employer of record or contractor: when the law treats a contractor as an employee, country by country.
- What each provider charges beyond its fee
This page summarises the law as the EOR guide quotes it; it is not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm them for your case with the provider and a local employment lawyer before you hire.