The Complete Employer of Record (EOR) Guide for India

If you’re building a tech team in India and don’t want to wait months to set up a local entity, an Employer of Record (EOR) might feel like the most practical first step.

It serves as the legal employer for you in India. The EOR partner runs payroll, ensures your employee is fully compliant with Indian labor law, and handles taxes, benefits, and statutory filings, while you still retain control over day-to-day work, internal decisions, and team structure.

For founders building early-stage, specialized tech teams in India, this creates a faster and lower-risk path to compliant employment, without the cost or lead time of setting up your own Indian subsidiary.

This guide breaks down what EORs are built to solve, what they typically cover (and don’t), how global vs local models work, and when the EOR path actually makes sense for your India expansion.

Let’s begin.

Table of Contents

What an Employer of Record does

Once the employee is onboarded through an EOR partner, they’re legally employed in India under their local entity. You still manage day-to-day work, delivery, and compensation, but the EOR handles monthly payroll and mandatory compliance filings.

What EORs typically handle:

At minimum, EORs handle the legal and payroll infrastructure required to employ someone compliantly. In India, this includes:

Employment contracts issued under Indian labor law, including notice period, IP, and termination terms
Payroll and tax deduction, including monthly salary processing and income tax withholding
Statutory contributions like Provident Fund (mandatory retirement savings), Professional Tax (state-specific), and Gratuity (a long-term service payout after 5 years)
Exit handling, including final payout, earned leave encashment, and compliance paperwork

These are non-negotiable inclusions, required to keep employment compliant under Indian law.

What most EORs don’t handle, unless you explicitly ask (and pay) for it:

Standard global EORs operate through ticketing queues with no local team driving execution. If something doesn’t work out, you or your team is the one who gets looped in. Sometimes too late.

Most operate through partner networks or ticket-based queues, with no local team tracking delivery on the ground.

Common gaps include:

Hiring support: You still run sourcing or use other vendors/recruitment services
Notice period check ins: India’s notice cycles can stretch up to 60 days, and without follow-ups, candidates often go cold
Onboarding execution: Workspace setup, laptop delivery, and day-one coordination are usually not handled unless separately scoped
Salary structuring and benefits: Every EOR in India is required to handle statutory benefits like Provident Fund, Professional Tax, and Gratuity. Most also include a baseline group medical insurance because the market expects it.
Some local EORs will do that if you specify it upfront and scope it in the contract. Many global platforms default to a single template unless you push for changes. The important step is to check this detail early so you know what’s included and what needs custom handling.
Local compliance execution: Set up mandatory local policies (like India’s anti-harassment compliance (POSH)) and complete state-level labor registrations where needed
Issue resolution: Most support is ticket-driven, not owned locally, which means you or your team gets pulled in when something goes wrong

In short: EORs solve for employment infrastructure/backbone. Hiring, onboarding, and day-to-day team support, employee engagement and coordination often falls back on your team.

POSH: India’s Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act requires companies with 10+ employees to form a formal Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), even if the team is remote. This is a legal compliance item, not a culture or HR best practice, and not all EORs set it up by default.

Why the EOR model exists and what it’s built to solve

EORs were created to make global employment possible without the delay, cost, and legal risk of entity setup. For most tech founders, that means:

You can onboard a full-time engineer in another country without creating a local company
You don’t need to learn local labor law or register for tax and payroll infrastructure
You avoid the risk of misclassifying full-time employees as contractors (a common misstep under U.S. tax law)
You get compliant employment contracts, payslips, and tax filings handled by someone else

It’s a model designed to simplify legal employment. Not run hiring, onboarding, or HR.

That distinction matters, especially if you’re hiring in India, where notice periods, workspace setup, documentation, and day-one readiness aren’t plug-and-play.

EORs make it possible to enter a new country quickly and safely. But they don’t always manage the experience on the ground.

On misclassification: Without an EOR, a common way to start working with someone is to pay them as an independent contractor. In India, that can lead to misclassification risk if the role functions like full‑time employment — fixed hours, a single client, or company‑issued equipment.

An EOR removes that risk by issuing a compliant Indian employment contract through its own registered entity. The EOR enrolls the employee in statutory benefits, runs monthly payroll with tax deducted at source (TDS), and handles required labor filings. These steps formally establish the worker as an employee in India’s labor system rather than a contractor, ensuring compliant employment from day one.

Types of EORs: Global vs Local Providers

Most EOR providers fall into one of two categories: global platforms that cover 50–180+ countries, and local providers that focus on a single market like India.

Global EOR platforms, like Deel, Remote, and Velocity Global, are built for breadth.

Their primary pitch is centralization: one dashboard to employ across multiple countries, without separate vendors, compliance teams, or HR processes in each geography.

Structurally, they operate in one of two ways:

Owned-entity model: The EOR owns the legal entity in-country and employs talent through it (e.g., Deel owns its India entity).
Partner model: The EOR contracts with a local third-party vendor who acts as the legal employer, while the platform handles frontend admin and interfaces with the client.

Behind the scenes, some global platforms operate through a partner-led model, where a local third-party vendor acts as the legal employer. That means the quality of the employee experience often depends on how strong that local partner is.

Local EORs, on the other hand, are providers that operate only in India (or one region). They typically run all employment workflows themselves, from contract issuance to compliance filings, without routing through a partner. Because of that, they can offer:

Greater visibility into India-specific regulations (e.g., leave laws, wage thresholds, regional Professional Tax)
Closer support for employees navigating PF, TDS, or medical claims
More flexibility when it comes to customizing contracts, benefits, or post-offer coordination

Global dashboards optimize for volume and scale. But if you need tighter execution in a single market, local providers may be faster, clearer, and more accountable, especially when India-specific laws and onboarding norms apply.

Is an EOR the right expansion path for you?

If you need to set up in India quickly, without navigating incorporation, payroll setup, or vendor registrations, an EOR can get you started fast, without legal exposure.

It’s a good fit when:

You want to get someone on board in 2–4 weeks and don’t want to wait 6–12 months or invest $25K–$100K in incorporation, director onboarding, payroll setup, and local vendor registrations
You’re testing the market and want to start with a lean team before committing to a local hub
You’re looking for a compliant employment structure, and already have internal HR, finance, or administrative capacity to manage hiring, onboarding, and day-to-day support

Conclusion

EORs offer a clean legal employment layer, when you already have capacity to manage hiring, onboarding, and support.

But if you’re trying to retain talent long-term, across regions and functions, with visibility and ownership, that’s where most standard providers stop short.

For founders building a niche or deep‑tech engineering team in India, you’ll hit limits quickly:

Notice‑period drop throughs: Engineers in India often take 30–60 days to serve notice. Without proactive coordination—check‑ins, background‑verification updates, & follow‑through—the candidate experience can break.
Workspace and hardware setup: Day‑one readiness depends on someone sourcing desks, arranging co‑working or home‑office delivery, and tracking assets locally.
Compliance docs and audit readiness: PF accounts, state level filings, Form 16s, POSH registers – all must be tracked every month. Missing a single deadline becomes your risk.
Candidate experience & support: A basic EOR dashboard rarely offers real-time, human‑led escalation. Especially important when payroll delays or tax queries come up.

That’s exactly what TeemGenie handles, end to end. We combine full-scope EOR infrastructure with execution that’s locally managed and built for tech startups to expand with no operational or coordination headaches.

We handle what standard EORs don’t:

Offer release within 1 business day, plus background verification coordination that continues through the notice period.
Workspace and laptop setup handled locally, including delivery, configuration, and replacements.
₹30L insurance coverage (medical, term, accident) from Day 1, not an add-on or upgrade.
Monthly filings (PF, PT, TDS) and Form 16 issuance handled on-ground (by real humans), with no founder follow-ups.
Audit-ready documentation, including POSH policy, registers, salary slips, and leave records, tracked and owned centrally.
Post-offer support, onboarding visibility, and day-to-day employee queries owned by a real point of contact, not a support ticket queue

Book a 15-minute, no-strings-attached call with our India Expansion experts to see how we can support your team.

FAQs

Can I use an EOR to source and hire engineers in India or is it just a legal employer?

No, EORs don’t help you find or evaluate candidates. They only come in after you’ve closed a hire to issue a compliant contract, register the employee for statutory benefits like Provident Fund (India’s version of 401(k)), run payroll, and handle exits.

You still own sourcing, interviews, negotiations, and offer release.

If you’re building a deep-tech or backend team in India, you’ll need a separate hiring partner, or a full-stack India expansion partner like TeemGenie that covers sourcing, employment, and local execution in one track.

Do EORs manage laptops or workspace setup?

Not by default. Most EORs don’t include workspace or hardware setup unless you explicitly scope it, and even then, it’s usually coordinated through third-party vendors with limited follow-through.

That means if your engineer needs a laptop delivered or a co-working desk booked, you’ll likely manage it yourself. In India, where candidates often join from different cities and expect Day 1 readiness, someone needs to track deliveries, replacements, and onboarding setup locally.

Will the EOR coordinate onboarding or follow up during notice periods?

Most providers step in to issue the contract and process payroll, but proactive onboarding timelines and post-offer communication are usually not part of their scope.

If you’re hiring in India, this can mean high risk of last-minute drop-offs.

At TeemGenie, onboarding doesn’t start on Day 1 – we track background verification, document readiness, and asset setup from the moment an offer is released (within a day).

What if my employee has a payroll or admin issue? Who handles that?

Issues are typically handled through a shared support queue. The employee typically raises a ticket and waits for a response, often from a team that isn’t based locally.

If it drags on, you may need to step in.

TeemGenie provides direct, local support, so payroll and admin queries are resolved quickly, without founder involvement or escalations.

Can I employ 20–30 engineers through an EOR? Is it a good idea to set up an entity or other options instead?

Yes, legally, there’s no cap on how many employees you can hire through an EOR. Many global teams continue using one even at 30+ headcount.

But scale introduces new questions:

How much control do you need? As your team grows, you might want more control over custom benefits, internal HR policies, or how salaries are structured for tax efficiency. Standard EORs aren’t built for that flexibility, and upgrades are often manual, delayed, or vendor-routed.
Who’s handling the load on the ground? With 20–30 employees, you’re now dealing with monthly escalations, workspace needs, laptop replacements, PF issues, exit processes, compliance registers, across multiple cities. If your EOR isn’t set up to own execution in India, that burden often shifts to your team.
What’s your time horizon in India? If this is still a test market, sticking with an EOR may give you breathing room. But if India is becoming a long-term hub, setting up an entity can offer better control, cost efficiency, and branding over time.

What are the costs associated with EOR services?

Most global EOR platforms charge between $199 and $599 per employee per month in India. This typically includes:

A compliant employment contract
Statutory benefit registration + administration (PF, gratuity, etc.)
Monthly payroll processing
Basic labor law compliance and offboarding

Can I switch from EOR to my own entity later?

Yes, most EOR platforms support a transition if you decide to set up your own entity in India.

The process usually involves:

Issuing a formal resignation from the EOR entity
Generating a full-and-final settlement (F&F)
Releasing a new employment contract under your own entity

You’ll also need to register your company with Indian authorities, including tax (Income Tax Department), labor (Employees’ Provident Fund Organization or EPFO), and state-specific agencies (for things like Professional Tax). This also means setting up local payroll systems, monthly compliance filings, and labor documentation from scratch.

Some EORs include transition support at no extra charge, while others may require advance notice (typically 30 days) or apply a one-time administrative fee. This varies by provider and should be clarified upfront in your contract.

Will the employee get documentation for visa, loan, or rental purposes?

It depends on the EOR. Some platforms issue basic employment letters and salary slips. Others require you to raise a support ticket or go through multiple layers to get documents like proof of employment, Form 16s, or tax filings.

For employees in India, these documents are often needed to:

Apply for visas (especially if traveling for team offsites or conferences)
Secure housing or rental agreements
Take out loans or credit lines

If the EOR operates through a local partner, delays or inconsistencies in documentation are common, especially if there’s no clear point of contact on the ground.

At TeemGenie, we issue visa letters, employment proof, and salary records directly, without employees having to chase support queues.

The Complete Employer of Record (EOR) Guide for Global Founders Expanding to India