The right person for your job can be anywhere and that shouldn’t get in the way of doing work together. Clients with Enterprise Compliance Work Protection Program (WPP) and Enterprise Standard subscriptions can both use Upwork Payroll to hire in over 180 countries where Upwork operates.
How it works
We facilitate compliance responsibilities so you only have to engage with the talent. Instead of approving time cards and running payroll, you’ll be able to focus on what’s important. Through Upwork's Employer of Record (EOR) service provider as the employer, you:
- Reduce the risk of legal disputes and negative publicity due worker misclassification
- Let the EOR handle the legal, administrative, and financial aspects of your talent’s employment and ensure compliance with location-specific tax and employment laws, including country specific laws
- Have your talent costs billed through Upwork, while the talent is getting compliantly paid through their employer in their own currency
Talent hired by clients with Enterprise Compliance subscriptions will be classified by us, meaning we'll determine whether to engage the talent you choose as an independent contractor or as an employee of an Employer of Record (EOR). Similar to other U.S.-based Upwork Payroll assignments, we offer Upwork Payroll services through a trusted, third-party international EOR service provider. The talent will become an employee of the EOR and be assigned to you for the purposes of the project.
Step 1: Request pricing
Once Upwork determines the candidate and the work they’ll do on your project are best classified as employment and should be supported through the Upwork Payroll solution, the next step is to finalize the basic terms of the engagement. You will need to provide certain information to your Account Growth and Development partner, including the proposed annual salary in the local currency, the estimated number of weekly hours and contract duration, the title and description of work, and other similar details about your engagement.
Step 2: Review pricing
An Upwork Payroll Specialist will provide you and your Account Growth and Development partner with the estimated cost breakdown, payment framework, and country-specific financial obligations from the EOR within 48 business hours of your request.
Step 3: Pricing Approval
Once you have reviewed the pricing and engagement details, you can provide your approval via an electronic signature. Within 24 business hours of receiving your approval, an Upwork Payroll Specialist will reach out to you to collect a few additional details of the assignment and then communicate those to the EOR.
Step 4: Onboarding
After you give your final approval, the EOR will contact the talent to begin the onboarding process. This will include having the talent sign an employment agreement that outlines the relationship between the talent, the EOR, and you as the end client, as well as the basic employment laws and practices for the locale that will govern the employment relationship. Additional steps required by law or by the employer, such as a background check, may also be included in the talent’s onboarding process.
International onboarding typically takes 3-4 weeks (from quote signature to start date) but can move quicker. An Upwork Payroll Specialist will keep you and your Account Growth and Development partner up to date with the progress throughout the process.
Step 5: Commence working
Once onboarding is complete, a contract will be created on the Upwork platform for billing purposes and the talent can commence work from the agreed start date. The EOR will provide their employee with instructions on time entry, submitting approved expense reimbursements, time off requests, and getting paid. You can then seamlessly communicate with the talent through the Upwork platform to share details about the work to be done and align on scheduling, timelines, and work product expectations.
Important:
Work must not begin until the candidate completes onboarding with their employer (the Employer of Record service provider). Legal compliance and payments to talent for any work that happens before the onboarding process is finished will be your company’s responsibility.
Clients with Enterprise Standard accounts are responsible for classifying the talent in their engagements as either employees or independent contractors. Similar to other U.S.-based Upwork Payroll assignments, if you determine the talent in your engagement is best classified as an employee (rather than an independent contractor), we offer Upwork Payroll service through a trusted, third-party Employer of Record (EOR) service provider. The talent will become an employee of the EOR and be assigned to you for the purposes of the project.
Step 1: Request pricing
Once you find a suitable candidate for your project and determine the engagement should be supported by the Upwork Payroll solution, the first step is to complete a quote request form. This form includes the proposed annual salary in local currency, the estimated number of weekly hours and contract duration, the title and description of work, and other details about your engagement.
Step 2: Review pricing
An Upwork Payroll International Specialist will provide you with the estimated cost breakdown, payment framework, and country-specific financial obligations from the EOR within 48 business hours of your request.
Step 3: Pricing Approval
Once you have reviewed the pricing and engagement details you can provide your approval via an electronic signature. Within 24 business hours of receiving your approval, an Upwork Payroll Specialist will reach out to you to collect a few additional details of the assignment, and then communicate those to the EOR service provider.
Step 4: Onboarding
After you give your final approval, the EOR will contact the talent to begin the onboarding process. This will include having the talent sign an employment agreement that outlines the relationship between the talent, the EOR, and you as the end client, as well as the basic employment laws and practices for the locale that will govern the employment relationship. Additional steps required by law or by the employer, such as a background check, may also be included in the talent’s onboarding process.
International onboarding typically takes 3-4 weeks (from quote signature to start date) but can move quicker. An Upwork Payroll Specialist will keep you up to date with the progress throughout the process.
Step 5: Commence working
Once onboarding is complete, a contract will be created on the Upwork platform for billing purposes and the talent can commence work from the agreed start date. The EOR will provide their employee with instructions on time entry, submitting approved expense reimbursements, time off requests and getting paid. You can then seamlessly communicate with the talent through the Upwork platform to share details about the work to be done and align on scheduling, timelines, and work product expectations.
Important:
Work must not begin until the candidate completes onboarding with their employer (the Employer of Record service provider ). Legal compliance and payments to talent for any work that happens before the onboarding process is complete will be your company’s responsibility.
Making changes to an Upwork Payroll contract
Any changes that need to be made to an Upwork Payroll contract, including requesting to end a contract, will be supported by your Upwork Payroll Specialist. To reach your Upwork Payroll Specialist for questions or to make changes to an Upwork Payroll contract, email upworkpayroll-intl-specialist@upwork.com
Ending an Upwork Payroll contract
All requests to change an Upwork Payroll contract, including ending or modifying a contract, should be emailed to upworkpayroll-intl-specialist@upwork.com. Advance notice is required before ending an international Upwork Payroll engagement and the minimum amount of notice can vary from country to country. This notice period allows the Employer of Record (EOR) to comply with any termination requirements, such as laws governing final paychecks or termination paperwork. The notice period for assignments outside the U.S. will be communicated to you in the quoting process before the engagement begins
Frequently Asked Questions
An EOR is an organization that legally employs workers on behalf of another business, taking on the responsibility for all legal and administrative employment tasks. This includes handling paying workers, payroll taxes, benefits, and compliance with local labor laws. The EOR provides a comprehensive, compliant solution that allows businesses to hire and manage workers in different regions without the need to set up a local entity or navigate complex employment regulations directly.
Upwork Payroll is generally available for engagements involving administrative or professional work or responsibilities but cannot be used to support engagements requiring talent to perform more physical or dangerous duties like manual labor, operating heavy equipment, or driving. Hourly and salaried assignments are available through Upwork Payroll — fixed-price contracts are not supported through this service.
Yes. For international hiring, the payroll costs vary by location and other factors and are determined on a contract-by-contract basis. Once you request an estimate, an Upwork Payroll Specialist will provide you with the estimated cost breakdown, payment framework, and country-specific financial obligations from the EOR within 48 business hours. You will then have the opportunity to review the pricing and engagement details before providing your approval via an electronic signature.
Workers’ eligibility for overtime payments are country dependent and the specific rules governing overtime payments will be communicated to you by the Upwork Payroll Specialist during the quoting process and before the talent begins onboarding with the EOR.
Upwork is here to help you resolve issues. Please contact us immediately if:
- You’re concerned with the employees' work performance, so we can help facilitate a resolution between you and the employer.
- The employee alerts you (or you become aware of) of a need for a leave of absence or disability accommodation so we can be a conduit of a compliant reasonable accommodation process as directed by the employer.
For U.S.-based contracts, contact us at upworkpayroll-us-specialist@upwork.com
For international contracts, contact us at upworkpayroll-intl-specialist@upwork.com
All contractual requests including ending or modifying a contract should be emailed to upworkpayroll-intl-specialist@upwork.com. Advance notice is required and can vary from country to country. This allows the Employer of Record (EOR) to comply with any termination requirements, such as laws governing final paychecks or termination paperwork. The notice period for assignments outside the U.S. will be communicated prior to starting the contract. We’ll include this information in the quoting process.