EmployerRecords Editorial Guidelines
We research and rank Employer of Record providers for companies hiring abroad. This page explains how that work gets done: where our figures come from, how we score providers in each country, what we can’t verify, and how we earn money without letting it affect a ranking.
Who We Are
EmployerRecords is an independent research site for companies hiring employees in other countries. We compare Employer of Record providers country by country, publish what it actually costs to employ someone in each market, and track the employment rules that change which provider you should choose.
We are not an EOR. We don’t employ anyone on your behalf, run payroll or sell employment services. The only commercial link between us and the providers we cover is the referral arrangements explained further down this page.
Most of our readers are founders, HR leads and finance teams planning a first or second international hire. They usually arrive with a shortlist and a quote they aren’t sure about. Our pages are written to help you check both.
Independent Research
Everything we publish is our own research. We decide which providers to cover, which facts to check and how each one is scored. No provider has a say in any of it.
We check the evidence ourselves
Rates come from national authorities, and entity claims are checked against public company registers.
No paid rankings
Every provider is judged on the same parameters. No one can pay to move up a list.
Providers don't approve our pages
They can send corrections like anyone else, but never see a page before it goes live.
We show what we couldn't confirm
Unverified claims are marked Confirm. Scores built on thin review data are labelled editorial.
We keep it current
Rates, pricing and rankings are rechecked every quarter, and sooner when a law changes.
ConfirmA claim we couldn't verify. We've asked the provider for evidence.
EditorialA score based on our own assessment, not user review data.
How we research
Every country page and provider review goes through the same five steps. Each figure traces back to a named source and carries the year it applies to.
1
Map the rules
Statutory costs, leave, termination and immigration for the country.
Tax offices, labour and social security agencies2
List the providers
Every provider with a verifiable presence in that market.
Provider sites and public registers3
Check each claim
Entity, pricing, deposits and onboarding, one by one.
Company registers, published pricing, contracts4
Score and edit
Our editor reviews every score and claim before publishing.
Aggregated user reviews for global scores5
Recheck quarterly
Rates, prices and rankings are reviewed every quarter.
Same primary sources184
Countries with statutory employer cost data
46
Countries modelled line by line, including salary ceilings
Quarterly
Every rate rechecked and dated
What we don't use: vendor-submitted reviews, incentivised reviews or unattributed claims.
Who writes and reviews our pages
Every page on EmployerRecords has a named author and passes an editorial review before it goes live. Three groups shape what you read here.
Research and writing
Our authors research each market and provider, check every claim against its source and write the page. Each page carries its author's name.
Meet our authorsEditorial review
Our editor reviews every page before it goes live. Scores, rankings and any claim that could change a buying decision need sign-off.
Reader and provider input
Employers who have hired through these providers, and the providers themselves, tell us when something is wrong. We verify it before anything changes.
Scores are set and changed by the editorial team alone. Nobody on the partnerships side sets, approves or blocks a score.
How we earn
EmployerRecords is free to read. We earn referral commissions from some of the providers we cover, and this is how it works.
You click Visit on a provider
You sign up with that provider
The provider pays us a referral fee
The fee is paid by the provider. Your price stays the same.
What a referral never changes
Position on any listGlobal or country scoreWhat we write, including weaknessesConfirm status
Several providers on our lists pay us nothing and are scored exactly like the rest. We're a small team, so the separation is built into the process: commercial status isn't a scoring input, and any change to a ranking needs a documented reason signed off by our editor.
How we score and rank providers
Every provider on a country page carries two scores out of 5. Each is the average of five parameters, and every provider is measured on the same ones.
G
Global score
How the provider performs everywhere it operates
Country coverage
Countries served, and how many run through owned entities
Platform
Payroll, contracts and leave in one place
Support
A named person when a case escalates
Pricing
The full invoice, with deposits, FX spreads and markups
Compliance
Statutory handling run as a process, not an escalation
Built from user review data where there is enough of it. Otherwise labelled editorial.
C
Country score
How it performs for a hire in that country
Local compliance
Payroll tax, contributions and mandatory benefits
Onboarding speed
Accepted offer to a compliant local contract
Local support
Who answers during a dismissal or long sick leave
Benefits depth
Cover above the statutory minimum
Value
The real invoice against what is delivered there
Our editorial assessment from country-specific evidence.
What decides a provider's position
Rankings follow depth of delivery in that country. A provider is ranked in full only when we can assess all ten parameters. Others are listed with what we could confirm.
Country scoreHow much we could verifyTrack record in that countryGlobal rating aloneCommercial relationships
What we can't verify
Some things can't be confirmed from public sources, and we'd rather show the gap than cover it. We also don't run live payroll through providers or sign contracts to time their onboarding.
What
Why we can't confirm it
What we do instead
Entity registration numbers
Some countries have no public, searchable register
Marked Confirm until the provider sends the record
Negotiated pricing
Your quote can differ from the published rate
We show the published rate and what to ask for
Currency spreads
Providers rarely publish their FX margin
Flagged as a question to ask before signing
Onboarding by country
Few providers publish country-specific times
Shown as the provider's claim, not as fact
Sector obligations
Collective agreements vary by industry and role
We name the rule and the question to ask
How we use AI
AI tools help us find sources, summarise regulations and prepare first drafts. They don't set scores or rankings, and no figure is published until an editor has checked it against its source.
Corrections and updates
If something on our site is wrong, tell us. Send the page and what needs fixing, with a source if you have one. We check every report, correct confirmed errors and update the page date when we do.
Providers use the same channel as everyone else
Providers can
Send factual corrections with a source
Supply documents, such as entity registration or licences
Ask how their score was built
Providers can't
Pay for a position or a score
Write, edit or approve what we publish
See a page before it goes live
Changes to these guidelines
September 2026
Moved every provider to two scores, global and country, of five parameters each. Replaced our Review Methodology page with these guidelines.
Found something wrong?
Tell us the page and the fix. We reply to every report.