Independent contractors or freelancers are self-employed individuals who provide services to companies as a non-employee. This is one of the most common ways companies tend to hire non-local designers, engineers, support reps, etc.
For legal and tax purposes, independent contractors are not classified as employees. They may work for multiple clients, set their own work hours, negotiate their pay rate, and decide how a job gets done.
For example, the IRS says that if an independent contractor or freelancer does work that can be controlled (what will be done and how it will be done) by an employer then they are, in fact, classified as an employee.
As you can imagine, hiring someone as an independent contractor versus an employee is a fine line to tread.
While there are benefits when you choose the contractor route, there are quite a few drawbacks to consider and you’ll need to weigh them carefully to determine the best fit for your company.
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A foreign subsidiary is a company that operates overseas as part of a larger company who’s HQ is in another country.
Establishing a foreign entity is great for having an international presence and accessing new markets. Though, setting up a subsidiary in Oman can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Oman, you have to:
If you're lucky, this process can take months. If you're not so lucky, it can take up to a year. And on average, it costs about $50k-$80k, all-in-all, to get setup. And that's just for Oman.
An employer-of-record (EOR) is a company that hires and pays an employee on behalf of another company.
An EOR is typically used to overcome the financial and regulatory hurdles that often come with employing remote workers.
Each country has its own payroll, employment, and work permit requirements for non-resident companies doing business in their jurisdiction. Meeting those demands can be a huge obstacle when it comes to hiring remotely.
At Panther, we help companies employ and pay people in over 160 countries, without having to set up a foreign subsidiary. Payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and more are all handled by us, at a fraction of the cost.
Outside of saving you months and tens of thousands of dollars, other advantages of using Panther are:
Because you no longer have to set up your own subsidiary, you’ll save a ton of time and tens of thousands of dollars using Panther.
Paying employees in Oman is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Oman’s employment and payroll standards.
This means that you have to know, understand, and keep up with 1) fluctuating currency changes, and 2) local payroll and tax laws in the countries you’re looking to hire in.
Outside of the laws and regulations around payroll, there may be different conditions surrounding leave, overtime, termination, and more. As you can imagine, maintaining this kind of regulatory knowledge can be challenging. But it is crucial and necessary to follow local legislation.
After, you’ll have to determine the best way to pay your international employees. This can be done in a number of ways, including but not limited to:
One of the most challenging (and expensive) parts of paying international employees is setting up the infrastructure to do so.
Before you start to run payroll, you have to register your company as the local employer in the country the worker resides in. As you can see in the “Set up a subsidiary” section, this is a multi-step process that can take up to a year and put you on your way to bankruptcy.
Outside of EORs acting as the full admin employer, many also provide remote payroll.
For example, at Panther, in just 1-click, you’re able to pay your entire global team, anywhere in the world. We send you an invoice each month, charge you in US Dollars, and pay your employees the same amount in their local currency.
We factor in currency fluctuations and use the mid-market rate plus any applicable fee passed on by our provider at cost at the time of billing.
Employees work 9 hours a day and 45 hours a week.
During Ramadan hours are reduced for Muslim workers; 6 hours a day and 30 hours a week.
Overtime may not exceed 12 hours a day.
Employees receive 125% of their normal wage for daytime overtime hours and 150% their normal wage for nighttime overtime hours.
Employer
Employees must be paid at least once a month.
Not required by law.
PTO is calculated by the:
There are 10 public holidays.
The duration of sick leave entitlement provided to workers is dependent on how long they have been employed by their employer:
Pregnant employees receive 50 days of fully paid leave. Maternity leave is only allowed 3 times per employee with the same employer.
Not required by law.
Not required by law.
Hajj Pilgrimage Leave: 15 days to perform the Hajj pilgrimage once during his service period, provided that the worker has spent a continuous year in the service of the employer.
Exam Leave: 15 days a year to take the exam for the Omani worker affiliated with the study in one of the schools, institutes, colleges, or universities.
3 days.
3 days in the event of the death of the son, daughter, mother, father, wife, grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister.
2 days in the event of the death of the uncle, aunt, uncle or aunt.
130 days for a working Muslim wife in the event of her husband’s death.
In order to terminate an employee, the employer must have provided sufficient grounds for the termination, a notice period, and an end of service gratuity.
The notice period in Oman is:
Both parties should provide 30 days written notice.
15 calendar days’ basic pay for each year of service for the first three years.
30 calendar days’ basic pay for each year of service above three years.
Probationary periods are not required, however, if set in the employment contract may not exceed 3 months.
