How to switch EOR providers without losing track of employee rights
Begin an EOR switch by identifying both legal employers and the lawful transition route. Then reconcile service, leave, benefits, immigration, payroll and outstanding liabilities before agreeing a cutover. A platform migration and a legal employment transfer are different events; the documents must explain both.
Establish the legal route first
Ask whether the move is a protected transfer, termination and rehire, novation where lawful, or another local process. Obtain the reason, the required employee involvement and the consequences for each entitlement. Acas identifies business transfers and service-provision changes as potential TUPE situations. That is a reason to assess a Great Britain switch, not a finding that every switch qualifies.
Build an employee-by-employee reconciliation
Use a separate row for recognised service, salary, variable pay, leave, pension, medical cover, visa, equity administration and IP documentation. For each item record its old position, new position, payer, effective date and evidence. Do not replace this with a blanket statement that all rights are preserved.
Agree payroll and funding cutovers
Confirm the old employer’s last earned-pay period, new employer’s first period, filing responsibilities and treatment of adjustments. Test bank details and obtain a sample calculation. Separate commercial notice, onboarding fees, duplicate provider charges, employee entitlements and the refundable deposit; these are different liabilities.
Give the employee a usable explanation
Explain whose name will appear on the contract and payslip, whether the recognised service date changes, how leave balances are handled and whom to contact about errors. Ask the two providers to confirm the same dates. Do not request a resignation simply because it fits an onboarding workflow.
Worked decision
A new provider promises to start on the first of next month. The date is not ready until the legal route, employee documents, work permission, benefit coverage and payroll setup align. Use the switching checklist to show each missing prerequisite, its owner and the decision it blocks. Choose the cutover from the completed prerequisites rather than the sales estimate.
Questions before you act
Will probation restart?
Ask whether a new probation period is legally available and appropriate for this route, and whether the provider proposes one. Do not treat it as an automatic consequence of switching platforms.
When is the old deposit returned?
Use the signed commercial terms and a closing ledger. Record deductions, disputes, currency, the refund trigger and the promised payment date; there is no researched universal EOR refund period.
Can we switch without a gap in benefits?
Seek written confirmation of old and new coverage dates, insurer acceptance and any waiting periods. A payroll start date alone is not evidence of uninterrupted insurance.
Country-specific decisions
- What licence should we check before switching an Ontario EOR?
- Does TUPE apply when we switch a Great Britain EOR?
- Can a new Great Britain EOR replace transferred terms with its standard contract?
- Does switching EOR reset Germany’s 18-month assignment clock?
- What should we verify when changing a Dutch EOR or staffing supplier?
Sources
Planning guidance with scoped country examples. Provider documentation describes its own processes.
- Acas: what a TUPE transfer is — Business transfers and service provision changes
- Fair Work: when businesses change owners — What is a transfer of business?
- Deel: moving an existing employee onto EOR — Third-party EOR exclusion; new employment