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FAQ

Global PEO & EOR Solutions: General Questions

What is PEO

What is EOR

What is GEO

How to choose the best PEO service

About Acumen International Express Global Employment

What is Acumen International

What is EGE

Which products are included into the Acumen Global Alliance

How EGE can help

What is a Single Service Agreement between a company and Global PEO?

Whom Acumen International can help

How it works

Who are our partners

Which industries we work with

How long is onboarding process

Miscellaneous Questions

What is a hybrid workforce?

What is the difference between a PEO and a staffing company?

What is 13th month bonus

How to choose between independent contractor and employee

What is misclassification risk?

What is the difference between local PEO and global PEO?

For Global Employment Partners

How you can help your clients

Can a staffing company use a PEO?

Why can’t we do all the jobs ourselves?

Are there any significant indirect advantages of our cooperation with Acumen International?

How easy is setting up foreign payroll with Acumen International?

What agencies can benefit from the Express Global Employment service from Acumen International?

Which companies can increase their revenue with Acumen Int?

For International Employers

Why should I onboard my global workforce as employees if I can hire contractors and save money?

Does the Express Global Employment service from Acumen International reduce Employer’s risks arising from dismissal of employees?

Under what legislation do we sign a contract with Acumen International?

What are the benefits of Express Global Employment for Employers?

What are the benefits of Express Global Employment for Employees?

How much time does it take to get an employee on payroll via the Express Global Employment service?

Is there any risk if my foreign staff is working as contractors?

Why should my company avoid worker misclassification?

Who hires the international workforce if I decide to engage a Global PEO? How are salaries paid to the new members of the team?

Who handles taxes and health insurance when my company uses a Global PEO?

Can I ask my international employees to work the same hours as the rest of my team?

How much time off and vacation time are employees entitled to? Will Acumen track the holiday allowance, if needed?

Does our company need to recognize an employee’s time off for maternity/paternity leave or other events if we hire via a Global PEO?

How much notice is required to dismiss a team member employed via a Global PEO?

Global Employment Models: Key Considerations of PEO & EOR

What Is PEO?

PEO stands for professional employer organization. A global PEO functions as a co-employer, sharing multiple workforce-related responsibilities and providing employment services like employee benefits provision and payroll processing.
A global PEO company can hire your global workforce and become their legal employer. At the same time, you remain responsible and liable for your employees and retain autonomy in decision-making that affects them.
Express Global PEO can help you quickly onboard local employees and get everything ready for fast employment of your ex-pat staff post immigration. We help your business quickly establish a presence in 190 countries worldwide, sidestepping local restrictions and bureaucratic logjams that can cost your company time and money.

What Is EOR?

An employer of record, or EOR, enters into a service agreement with the client’s business to employ their foreign workers on the client’s behalf. This means the client company has no legal ties to the employee and gets freedom from having to establish its legal entities and hire workers directly. The EOR acts as the legal employer and assumes all responsibility and liability for employees while they perform work for the client. An EOR handles payroll, withholds and files taxes, and ensures that employment practices conform to local regulations. A global EOR service is designed to fulfill a similar function on a global scale and help businesses onboard global workforce while meeting compliance requirements worldwide. Acumen International’s global EOR service gets you covered in 190 countries.

What Is GEO

A Global Employment Organization, ‘GEO’ is a global solution that allows businesses to legally employ staff globally without creating costly business entities in foreign countries. A GEO fully complies with local labor, tax, and immigration legislation. You select the best candidates from the international labor pool, and we will onboard them for you in full compliance with local regulations to protect you from compliance risks and unexpected costs.
Our global employment solution changes the way businesses operate on the international landscape. By leveraging our global infrastructure, you can onboard, payroll, and manage your global workforce through a single global employment service provider, with unlimited employees, in any number of countries.

How to Choose the Best Global PEO Service?

Before your company commits to a particular global PEO, you should ask the following questions:

  • What issues are you struggling with that a global partner could resolve?
  • What credentials can the potential partner provide to back up their claims of expertise?
  • What type and scope of experience does the team who will handle your project possess?
  • Are there any standalone SaaS products or tools to help simplify your decision-making?

Make a list with answers and see if the PEO’s solutions align with your needs. Carefully researching each global PEO company before committing to a partnership can save you time, money, and headaches. See more

What is Acumen International

Acumen International is a global Professional Employer Organization (PEO), which means we can employ your international workforce on your behalf in 190 countries worldwide. We would act as a legal employer for your foreign employees, we would register them with statutory authorities in your target country or countries and payroll them monthly. We can also handle additional expenses like car rent, office rent, benefits, and business trip administration. We can also sponsor work permits for your expatriates you need to send on international assignments.

What Is Express Global Employment?

The Express Global Employment is Acumen International’s in-house solution aimed to provide a quick, manageable, fully-compliant worldwide (in 190 countries) payroll solution via a single point of contact. As a result, the Customer gets a number of benefits that otherwise would be problematic or unjustifiably expensive.

Which Solutions Does Acumen Global Alliance Offer?

We decided to create the Acumen Global Alliance so that our new Licensed Partners can also offer our global services to their clients. Our mission is to enable Licensee Partners to leverage our international network and what we can do for our clients. As one of our Licensees you will become an Authorized Acumen Alliance Partner. You’ll get our Marketing, Sales and operation support. You’ll receive the License which enables you to sell Global Employment and International Recruitment services to your market. As an Acumen Global Alliance Partner, you’ll have the support of a Global community of peers. Helping your clients fulfill their ambitions to grow globally, support their customers worldwide and manage the international workforce to boost their gross and expertise is one of the inspiring services you can deliver.
Fill out the form below to request the Acumen Global Alliance Licensee Information Pack
See more: ACUMEN GLOBAL ALLIANCE Overview Webinar

What Is a Single Service Agreement between a Client Company and a Global PEO?

The Single Service Agreement between Acumen International and your company is the one-stop solution for your international workforce, including employment, legal and global HR consulting. All within a single contract.

How Express Global Employment Solution Can Help

Our innovative Express Global Employment (EGE) is designed to help businesses start operations in literally any foreign market or markets within only 72 hours. Express Global Employment offers a flexible innovative alternative to conventional business expansion. You can operate in any country without the cost of setting up a legal entity.
Acting as a legal employer on your behalf, we would legally onboard your workforce in the target locations and arrange monthly payroll for them. Also, we can process business expenses and provide employee benefits like cars, mobile phones, laptops and Internet, housing, and others.

Who Are Global Employment Solutions Intended for?

Our solution works for both Agencies and End Employers, such as SMEs with limited budgets or large enterprises who are not ready to commit to certain countries and need an interim solution to get established there.

How Does Global Employment Solution Work?

  • You select the candidate and share your project details in the request form. We can help you to recruit a candidate if there’s a need.
  • We prepare a customized in-country employment costs analysis for you based on the candidates info you have and your needs.
  • You sign the Agreement with our UK legal entity which is governed by Western legislation. It’s a single service agreement which allows to onboard any headcount in any number of countries.
  • We’re drafting and approving the Employment Agreement with you and having it signed with the employee in accordance with local rules and legislations.
  • We onboard your candidate compliantly within the days after signing the agreement.
  • We do monthly invoicing to you, the payroll and tax filings with the single invoice in accordance to the local law. You have the employees working for you from almost any country in the world.
  • 24/7 support for you and your employees.commit to certain countries and need an interim solution to get established there.

Who Are Our Global Employment Partners?

We only partner with organizations that have in-depth experience in supporting and meeting the needs of growing businesses as they expand internationally.

What Industries Can Benefit from Global Employment Solutions?

We work with international businesses, growing companies and start-ups across many industries, from IT to agriculture. Industries such as automotive, airplane, oil and gas, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals pursue volume potential, while for service companies in industries like finance, horeca or logistics, presence in the new or emerging markets is essential to providing full service to their clients, wherever they go.

How Long Is Onboarding Process

As a pioneer of Express Global Employment solution, we can officially onboard employees in as little as 72 hours to meet your company’s immediate employment needs.

What Is a Hybrid Workforce?

  • A hybrid workforce is a team of employees that have a flexible work structure consisting of both in-office and remote workers.
  • International workers that you employ using our Global PEO solution is a hybrid workforce of independent and direct salesforces.
  • Build a hybrid salesforce that is 100% dedicated to your products and brand. By combining the expertise of independent agents or contractors with the loyalty of salaried employees, you create a win-win situation that gives you the best of both worlds, while mitigating your compliance, financial and business risks. A global Professional Employment Organization (PEO) can provide the ideal solution to your overseas staffing problems.

What Is the Difference between a PEO and a Staffing Company?

  • Staffing and PEO companies provide HR services for businesses, but their solutions and services are quite different. Staffing companies offer one option for businesses looking to add workers to their workforce. International PEO companies provide a wide range of employment services worldwide to ease the burden of bureaucratic red tape for businesses expanding overseas and help them to save time and money. The International PEO companies supply many employment services needed, such as compliant employee hiring and termination, monthly salary disbursement, pay slip management, tax filing, provision of employee benefits, immigration and work permit support for ex-pat employees, etc. 
  • Important to note! Talent hiring is not a key service of Acumen International, but we are happy to provide recruitment and sourcing services for your candidates as an on-demand service when you request subsequent compliant hiring of your selected staff.

What Is the 13th month Bonus?

The 13th-month bonus (sometimes called the 13th Salary, an end-of-year bonus) is an extra payment given to employees for ongoing work at the end of a calendar year. In some countries like Poland, the 13th salary is not required. In other countries e. g. Thailand and the Philippines, 13/14 month salaries are a part of employee contracts, essentially meaning additional mandatory payments. By violating these norms, you may expose your company to risks of non-compliance.

How to Choose between Independent Contractor and Employee?

  • A worker who is a natural person, working directly and exclusively with the Client, who is provided with the tools and equipment to perform the job, who has subordination, control of hours, whose work is subject to the direction of his manager, who has financial dependency, who has limited autonomy (technical and directive) is to be considered an employee and not an Independent Contractor.
  • Some extra information you can find by reviewing our short video
  • In addition, here, you can download a checklist that would help you to understand better the preferable method of engagement considering your company’s aims, resources, and strategic plans. This checklist is for IT specialist, however I’m sure that this information can be applicable in your case.

What Is Employee Misclassification Risk?

The risk of misclassification is associated with the fact that some Companies want to avoid paying employers’ costs, benefits, and taxes to the government. Instead of employing a worker, they pay the worker as an Independent Contract. However, if the worker decided to go to Labor Courts and claim that his relationship with the company was an employer-employee relationship, the worker would win. At this point, Courts would order the Company to retro-pay all that was due as an employment relationship, plus fees and any other compensation that a judge might understand is due.

What Is the Difference between Local PEO and global PEO?

Global PEO and local PEO companies provide different scope of services. We need to differentiate International PEO and PEO that operates locally in a country. E.g. PEO that provides services in the United States offers services of human resource consulting, safety and risk mitigation services, payroll processing, employer payroll tax filing, workers’ compensation insurance, workforce management technology, training etc. This type of PEO enters into a contractual co-employment agreement with its client. But a client still acts as a legal employer. We provide International PEO – a company that acts as a legal employer for the employee while the employee works for his actual employer company (Client). A global PEO does the onboarding and arranges monthly payroll for the employee on a client’s behalf in 190 countries

For Global Employment Partners

How You Can Help Your Clients with Global Employment Services

  • Help your clients expand globally while mitigating non-compliance risks
  • Streamline your client’s global hiring process by working with a single global PEO provider
  • Leverage Acumen’s global network and hyper-local expertise in 190 countries to fulfill projects for your clients
  • Benefit from our extensive in-country expertise without having to study all the details yourself
  • Minimize client dissatisfaction, which can ruin your brand and retain satisfied clients by fully meeting their needs
  • Increase your business revenue.

Can a Staffing Company Use a PEO?

A global PEO can provide staffing companies with comprehensive HR services, such as payroll processing, providing employee benefits and risk management. By outsourcing these services to a PEO, the staffing company can focus less on the day-to-day administrative functions of running a business and spend more time growing recruiting business. As global PEO provider Acumen International serves recruiting and staffing agencies all over the world, acting as an Employer of Record for their contractors allowing them to be where their clients are, no matter how remote the location is. Our solutions allow agencies to fully capitalize on the benefits of a shared economy and use our company’s global resources and local expertise. See

Why Can’t We Do All the Jobs by Ourselves?

You can! But your total expenses and time needed will most possibly skyrocket, while you might be exposed to compliance and local legislation risks. You can get much more for the same amount of money and for much less time with safer and more reliable results when you delegate this job to Acumen International. Follow the “Click for Country Payroll Calculation & Our Quotes” link to ensure that

What Benefits Does Acumen International Bring to the Table?

Working with Acumen Global PEO and EOR solutions, you can build your network, which has significant value by itself nowadays. This adds up to your flexibility, dynamics, agility, capabilities to do your main business in the best possible way. While this advantage is indirect, it’s quite essential and doesn’t need an extra payment for that. This can pay off in the projects you haven’t even started yet!

Can Acumen International Make Setting up Foreign Payroll Easier?

Setting up foreign payroll with Acumen International is as easy as sending an email. Sufficient is to fill up a simple and transparent online form and to get your quotation for your approval within one working day (that is why the service is called the Express Global Employment). Upon your approval the contract can be drafted and signed within few days. In the meanwhile, all the preparation work will be done by Acumen International. You can cover as many countries/locations as needed within a single contract with the UK legal entity.

What Agencies Can benefit from the Express Global Employment Solutions by Acumen International?

HR, Payroll, Outstaffing, Accounting and similar companies can quickly and effectively satisfy their Customers’ need in foreign employment with the help of Acumen International’s Express Global Employment service. Get in touch and receive your special Agency quote for the specified countries and all the staff within one working day. Having a frame contract with us can make the process even faster and more convenient to your Customer’s satisfaction. For your Customers all the process will be smooth and painless and you will remain the single point of contact for them with all connected benefits for you, including the welcome income (commission).

Which Companies Can Boost Revenue with Acumen International’s Global Employment Solutions?

  • staffing agencies,
  • PEO and Employer of Record companies,
  • recruitment and executive search agencies,
  • Global Mobility companies,
  • HR companies,
  • legal bodies,
  • accountancy firms.

For International Employers

Why should I onboard my global workforce as employees if I can hire contractors and save money?

Hiring contractors can save some money in the short term though it exposes the company to significant risks, especially in the long term. An exclusive employment relationship protects your copyright and intellectual property while avoiding the legal and monetary risk of worker misclassification. Full-time employees work exclusively for your company, and you are in control of their work. An employee relationship provides security to your worker and increases loyalty, therefore reducing training and re-hire costs.

Does the Express Global Employment service from Acumen International reduce Employer’s risks arising from the dismissal of employees?

Use of the Express Global Employment service drastically reduces Employer’s risks arising from dismissal of employees, as Acumen International carries all the burden of legal and other issues of this process, keeping the Employer distant and safe.

Under what legislation do we sign a contract with Acumen International?

You sign a contract with a UK legal entity enjoying the transparency, guarantees and comprehensibility of the UK legal system.

What are the benefits of Express Global Employment for Employers?

The biggest benefit is reduction of expenses of employment, especially when hiring foreign staff in a lot of locations, as all the necessary arrangements, payroll proceedings, benefits, withholdings, compliance control, etc. are provided by Acumen International’s staff. No need to complicate your organizational structure with all accompanying troubles and expenses. You also drastically accelerate all the steps in the process of hiring and dismissing your foreign staff. All this adds profitability and agility to your business and also allows you to compete with other companies in attracting the best in a tight pool of talented professionals (IT industry is a good example).

What are the benefits of Express Global Employment for Employees?

An employee’s productivity improves as he/she gets all the appropriate payments and benefits from professional human resources service flawlessly, entirely, and in time in full compliance with local labor law. That’s precisely what the Express Global Employment service is about. Health programs, life insurance, car rental and more are well-arranged and proceeded quickly in full compliance with local regulations.

How much time does it take to get an employee on payroll via the Express Global Employment service?

As soon as you have a foreign employee to hire, all the proceedings needed to get her/him on payroll via the Express Global Employment service can take as little as one-three working days, depending on the destination country.

Is there any risk if my foreign staff is working as contractors?

A short answer is between “Somewhat” and “A lot”. As a longer answer is country-specific, you might follow the “Free Advice” link to get more information regarding your particular case, but don’t hesitate, as the risks can be quite high and expensive indeed.

Why should my company avoid worker misclassification?

Governments around the world are cracking down on worker misclassification due to lost tax incomes. Worker misclassification, therefore, exposes companies to severe risks. These include fines and back taxes, reputational damages and employee lawsuits. You can read more about the risks of worker misclassification in our article on the topic.

Who hires the international workforce if I decide to engage a Global PEO? How are salaries paid to the new members of the team?

With Acumen as your Employer of Record (EOR), Acumen acts as the legal employer and takes care of all local paperwork and payroll.

Who handles taxes and health insurance when my company uses a Global PEO?

The Acumen global employment team will handle all matters relating to taxes and health insurance for your global workforce, ensuring full compliance with local regulations.

Can I ask my international employees to work the same hours as the rest of my team?

We recommend including expected working hours in the employment offer as well as the employment contract. Local requirements may limit weekly working hours and/or require extra pay for work outside a set hourly window, for example, after 10 pm and before 6 am, on weekends or national holidays.

How much time off and vacation time are employees entitled to? Will Acumen track the holiday allowance, if needed?

Local legal requirements will apply for time off and vacation, and they depend from country to country. Acumen will track all holiday entitlements if legally required.
Most countries have a set number of national holidays as well as a minimum holiday entitlement per year. Employers can choose to offer more leave than the legal minimum, but not less.
In the UK, for example, workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, while the statutory minimum amount of annual leave for each employee in Ukraine is 24 calendar days.
In Poland, for example, holiday entitlement depends on an employee’s overall employment record. Full-time employees are entitled to 20 days of holiday, if they have been employed for less than 10 years, and 26 days if they have been employed for at least 10 years. University education is credited as eight years of employment.

Does our company need to recognize an employee’s time off for maternity/paternity leave or other events if we hire via a Global PEO?

Local legal requirements will apply, and they can depend from country to country. Most countries guarantee workers maternity and parental leave, which may be paid, at least partially, by local governments.

How much notice is required to dismiss a team member employed via a Global PEO?

Notice periods will depend on local labor legislation, the employment contract, and the length of employment. We can advise you on the legally required notice periods for all 190 countries we cover as part of the consultation process.