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 Tunisia can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Tunisia, 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 Tunisia.
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 Tunisia is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Tunisia'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.
A work week is 5 days and should not exceed 48 hours.
A workday should not exceed 10 hours per day or 60 hours per week.
Employees are paid either weekly or monthly no later than the end of the month.
Not required.
Employees receive one vacation day per month. After one year of work, they will accumulate 12 vacation days.
15 public holidays.
For an employee to receive sickness benefit, they must have at least 50 days of covered employment in the last two quarters or 80 days in the last fourth quarters before sickness began. The insured employee receives 66.7% of their daily average earnings for 180 days after a five-day waiting period. For up to 180 days a year for each next year, they receive 50%.
Female employees receive 30 days of leave. In order to receive 66.7% of their daily earnings, the employee must have contributed to social insurance for at least 80 days in the four quarters leading up to the birth.
Fathers receive one day of paid leave within the first seven days following the birth of the child.
A lump sum of the insured’s daily average quarterly earnings is given.
Work-related injury leave: There is no qualifying period, but the accident must be reported to the employer within 48 hours and to be assessed. The injured employer will receive 66.7% of their average daily earnings for the highest-paid period before the disability began. Payments will be given after a three-day waiting period and last until the employee has recovered.
For an employer to terminate an employer, they must present a significant and just cause. Before the dismissal, the employee has the right to appeal their case before a discipline council.
One month’s notice period should be given in writing.
Employees are entitled to severance pay unless they have been terminated for misconduct. Payment is calculated as one day’s pay for each month of employment. The maximum amount of severance is three months’ pay.
Depending on the type of employment probation period ranges from 6 to 9 months.
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