Organizations often find that as the scope of a project changes, there is a need to take planning and execution to a new level. When it comes to a global plan or project, things can get complicated. Many companies expand into a new country without registering a business and hire “contractors” instead of employees. There are benefits to hiring contractors, as you can get up and running quickly, but as business evolves, converting contractors to employees becomes a challenge.

I recently consulted with a client who is headquartered in the US, but also has a small footprint across the globe. Most of their international workers were considered contractors, but as the scope of the project changed, they needed to quickly convert their 25 contractors in the Philippines to employees. Their HR team was tasked with this process and asked their US Payroll team to make a recommendation for a global payroll provider. Blue Marble was brought into the process through our US partner and upon meeting we quickly determined there were several hurdles the HR team had to work through.

The first issue they were facing was payroll in the Philippines – how to pay their new employees compliantly, as well as how to link their current HRIS to the new payroll system. In addition, the team had to determine what the legal requirements were to employ in the Philippines. I brought in our consulting services team to meet with the client’s HR group to walk through the necessary steps to legally register in the country. Our team outlined the options and determined that a Resident Agent status was the least barrier-to-entry strategy. Our consulting team was able to work with the client to get them registered in the Philippines and then our Project Management team took over for implementation of payroll.

We were able to get the client up and running in the Philippines in less than 12 weeks (registration timelines are dependent upon country requirements). Compliance concerns were never an issue as they had our team of experts walking them through every step from registration to payroll setup. In addition, we provided the team with a compliance tool that provides employers with hands-on resources to help companies get compliant with local labor standards and maintain compliance as regulations change. This new client is now successfully and compliantly working and growing their organization in the Philippines and is utilizing the resources we provide to stay abreast of any labor and compliance changes.

If you are thinking of expanding or have contractors in a specific country you are considering converting to employees, we can guide you every step of the way. Our global payroll platform makes it easy to manage payroll in 150+ countries, and our global consulting team can help with business entities, bank accounts, employment contracts, and more. Click here to get started