How to employ a remote worker

Option 1: B2B Contract

The easiest way to hire someone abroad is to treat them as a business.

They must have their own registered company or be self-employed in their country. You sign a simple business-to-business contract. You agree on what they will deliver and how much you’ll pay.

They send you an invoice. You pay it. That’s it.

They handle their own taxes, social contributions, and insurance in their country. You don’t have to do anything else.

You can write your own contract or use our free Blossom VA template, which covers everything you need.

This works well if:

• The person works part-time or by project

• They have other clients at the same time

• You only care about results, not how they do the work

But here’s the risk:

If the person works full-time only for you, uses your company tools like Slack or Bitrix, joins your team meetings, and reports to you like a normal employee, then some countries might say this is not real freelancing.

That’s called misclassification. In that case, the local authorities might say: "You didn’t hire this person properly. You should have paid taxes, social security, and benefits like any employer."

They could then fine you or ask you to pay those costs for the past months/years.

How would they find out?

Usually only if:

• The freelancer gets audited in their country

• Or they apply for benefits like unemployment, maternity leave, or sick pay

If that happens, the government checks how they worked. And whether it looked more like a real job than freelance work.

So B2B contracts are great for flexible, independent setups But not ideal if the person works full-time long-term only for you.

Also important: If someone creates work for you (like designs or code), make sure the contract clearly says the intellectual property belongs to your company. Our contract template includes this clause.

Option 2: EOR (Employer of Record)

If the person works only for you, full-time, and is part of your core team, you may need to hire them properly.

An Employer of Record, or EOR, is a company that does this for you.

Here’s how it works:

• The EOR becomes the person’s legal employer in their country

• You still manage their work day to day

• The EOR handles payroll, taxes, health insurance, paid leave, and everything else

This setup is 100 percent legal and safe. It protects you from fines, makes the worker eligible for benefits, and gives you full control, like setting hours, assigning company tools, managing performance, and so on.

This is the best choice if the person:

• Works full-time only for you

• Is part of your team long-term

• Needs to be managed like an employee

The only downside is the cost: An EOR service usually adds CHF 650–2,000 CHF per month (depending on the country and salary) on top of the salary.

Why This Matters

Many countries, especially in Europe, have strict rules about hiring. If you treat someone like an employee but don’t hire them properly, it can cause legal problems.

You could be fined or asked to pay social contributions later.

Even if your freelancer is totally happy with the setup, their tax office might not be.

To check if you’re at risk, use this tool from Remote.com:

Misclassification Risk Calculator

*We don’t get paid by Remote.com. We just recommend them because we’ve used them ourselves and had a good experience.

 If you want to use EOR, we’ll set up a quick handover call and connect you directly to Remote.com.

Summary

Use a freelance contract if the person is part-time, project-based, or independent. It’s simple and cheap. 

Use EOR if the person works full-time only for you and you want to stay 100% legal. It’s more expensive, but gives you full control and protection.

Still not sure which one fits your case? Book a free call, we’ll help you figure it out.