What employees should ask before joining or changing an EOR
Before signing, ask who your legal employer will be, what your pay and benefits include, how previous service and leave will be treated, and whom to contact when something goes wrong. Get the answers in your employment documents or a written explanation that identifies any remaining conditions.
Identify the employer and the day-to-day team
Confirm the employer’s full legal name and address on the contract and the name expected on your payslip. Ask which decisions your client-side manager can make and which must go through the employer. Brand names alone may not identify the employing entity.
Understand the money
Ask for the gross salary, pay frequency, currency, expected deductions, variable-pay conditions and benefit costs. A take-home illustration is based on stated assumptions, not necessarily a guaranteed net amount. Ask which expenses are reimbursed and what evidence is required.
Check continuity item by item
If you already do the work, ask for the recognised service date, treatment of unused leave, probation terms, pension and insurance coverage dates. Ask separately about work permission and equity. Do not assume that using the same laptop or manager means every employment right stays the same.
Ask for useful documents and contacts
Find out how to obtain payslips, tax records and an employment confirmation letter. For a mortgage or tenancy application, ask what the employer can confirm and check what the lender or landlord will accept; an EOR cannot promise their decision. Record payroll, benefits and grievance contacts.
Worked conversation
Before an EOR switch, ask: “Will my recognised service date change? What will happen to my unused leave? Will medical cover continue on the same dates and terms? Who issues my last and first payslips? Which changes am I being asked to agree to?” Request a written answer against each item rather than a general assurance that nothing changes.
Questions before you act
Is the client company my legal employer?
Check the actual employment contract and local arrangement. The company directing your day-to-day work may be different from the entity that employs and pays you.
Does changing EOR mean I must resign?
Ask for the proposed legal route and its consequences before signing any resignation or replacement contract. The answer is country- and arrangement-specific.
Who should I contact about a pay error?
Use the legal employer’s payroll contact, keep the relevant documents and involve the client contact responsible for the arrangement. Ask for a dated correction plan.
Country-specific decisions
- Does moving a US contractor to an EOR solve past classification risk?
- What should a Texas EOR employee do when wages are missing?
- Can we use French portage salarial for a closely supervised junior role?
- Is a French portage employee automatically paid between client assignments?
Sources
Planning guidance with scoped country examples. Provider documentation describes its own processes.
- Deel: moving an existing employee onto EOR — Third-party EOR exclusion; new employment
- Oyster: creating EOR employment — Employment record, remote work costs and benefits
- Acas: what a TUPE transfer is — Business transfers and service provision changes