TL;DR: When you are employed through an employer of record (EOR), the EOR is your legal employer in your country and the company you joined manages your day-to-day work. You receive a local employment agreement, payroll, statutory benefits, leave, and employment protections. It is real employment, not contractor work with a different payment label.
The arrangement can look strange the first time you see it. You interviewed with one company, report to its manager, and work with its team, but another company appears on the employment agreement and payslip.
That second company is the EOR. Its job is to provide the local legal-employment and payroll infrastructure when the company you joined does not have its own entity in your country.
The two-company relationship
| The company you joined | The EOR |
|---|---|
| Chooses the role and compensation | Is the legal employer in your country |
| Sets goals and manages your work | Issues the local employment agreement |
| Provides tools, systems, and team access | Runs payroll, withholding, and statutory contributions |
| Gives performance feedback | Administers required benefits and employment records |
| Decides business priorities | Handles formal employment changes and offboarding |
You should know the legal names of both. Your agreement should explain the EOR relationship and identify the company for which you perform day-to-day work.
Is EOR employment the same as being a contractor?
No. A contractor provides services as an independent business. An EOR employee works under an employment agreement and receives the rights and obligations of an employee in their country.
That normally means:
- Salary through payroll rather than invoices
- Tax and employee deductions calculated through payroll
- Employer statutory contributions
- Required leave and benefits
- A payslip
- Local notice and termination protections
- Company management of the work
The exact package depends on country and agreement. “EOR” is the operating model, not a separate class of worker with fewer legal rights.
Who pays me?
The EOR runs payroll and sends salary to the bank account approved for local payroll. Your payslip should show gross pay, employee deductions, and net pay in the required payroll currency.
The company you joined funds the EOR for salary and employer-side costs. A funding delay between those companies should not be hidden from you if it affects pay. Ask whom to contact and what escalation process applies to a missing or incorrect salary.
Who manages my work?
Your manager at the company you joined normally handles:
- Goals and priorities
- Working routines
- Feedback and performance
- Team communication
- Tools and access
- Career conversations
The EOR handles formal employment administration. If a manager asks you to do something that conflicts with your agreement or local rights, raise it through the documented HR or EOR channel.
How do leave and benefits work?
Your employment agreement and local policy should state statutory leave and benefits. Market benefits may be added depending on the country and offer.
Before signing, check:
- Annual and sick leave
- Public holidays
- Parental and other protected leave
- Health, pension, insurance, or meal benefits
- Employee deductions and dependent coverage
- Waiting periods
- How leave is requested and approved
Your manager may approve the dates operationally while the EOR records leave for payroll and compliance.
What about equity?
Equity normally comes from the startup, not the EOR. It should have separate grant documents identifying the issuer, award type, number of shares or units, vesting, exercise terms, and what happens when employment ends.
EOR employment can change which option type is available and when tax or payroll withholding applies. Do not rely on a sentence in an offer letter. Ask for the actual grant and country-specific tax explanation. Our equity and IP guide explains the questions founders and employees should resolve together.
Who owns the work I create?
The employment agreement should explain confidentiality and intellectual-property rights. The chain may run through the legal employer to the company receiving your work, subject to local law.
Keep a written list of prior inventions, open-source projects, or other work you own before joining. Do not assume a broad US-style assignment means the same thing in every country.
What happens to my personal data?
The EOR needs identity, address, tax, bank, benefit, and employment information to hire and pay you. The company you joined may also receive information needed to manage the relationship.
You should be able to find out:
- Which company controls each category of data
- Why the data is required
- Where it is stored and transferred
- Who can access it
- How long it is retained
- How to request access or correction
- What happens after employment ends
Use the designated onboarding and payroll system for sensitive documents rather than email or chat.
Can the company move me away from the EOR later?
Yes. The company may open its own local entity or switch EORs. That is usually an employment transition, not a silent payroll setting.
Ask whether you will sign a new agreement, whether service tenure is recognized, how leave and benefits carry over, whether probation resets, and whether equity vesting continues. There should be a clear final payroll from the old legal employer and a clear first payroll from the new one.
What happens if employment ends?
The EOR, as legal employer, runs the formal local process. The company you work with supplies the business reason and manages the operational handover.
Local notice, severance, final salary, unused leave, benefits, and required documents still apply. The fact that the company is based in an at-will jurisdiction does not make your employment at will in a different country.
Questions to ask before signing
- What is the EOR's full legal name?
- Which company manages my day-to-day work?
- What is my gross salary, payroll currency, and pay date?
- Which deductions and employer contributions apply?
- What leave and benefits do I receive?
- Who handles payroll or HR questions?
- Is equity included, and where are the grant documents?
- How are confidentiality and IP rights structured?
- What notice and severance terms apply?
- What happens if the company opens an entity or changes EORs?
How employment works through Shor
Shor becomes the legal employer in supported EOR countries, issues the local employment agreement, and handles payroll, statutory contributions, required benefits, payslips, and the formal employment lifecycle. The company you joined continues to manage your role and work.
The employer pays Shor's EOR fee. It should not be deducted from your agreed gross salary. Employee deductions shown on your payslip are the local tax, social, benefit, or other lawful deductions that apply to your employment.
FAQ
Is an EOR my real employer? Yes. The EOR is the legal employer named in your local employment agreement. The company you joined directs the day-to-day work under its arrangement with the EOR.
Do I have the same statutory rights as other local employees? You are employed under local law and receive the applicable statutory protections. Your exact contractual and optional benefits may differ by employer and role.
Will the EOR take money from my salary? Payroll includes lawful tax, social, benefit, or other employee deductions. The employer's EOR platform fee is a company cost and should not be subtracted from the gross salary stated in your agreement.
Who do I contact about a payroll error? Use the payroll or support contact provided during onboarding and tell your manager. Report it promptly with the pay period and affected line, but do not send bank or identity information through an insecure channel.
Does working through an EOR make my job temporary? Not by itself. Duration comes from the employment agreement and business circumstances. EOR employment can be ongoing, fixed-term where lawful, or later transferred to the company's own entity.