Prepare your first hire abroad with clear numbers.

01 / Your buying guide

Start with the hire, not the platform

Oyster offers employment administration for hires in countries where your company has no employing entity. Start with the working relationship assessed for the role by your advisers, then confirm that Oyster supports that service in the person’s country.

Write down the country, start date, salary and the reason the role is employed rather than contracted. That short note drives every later step, and it keeps a first call focused on your hire instead of a general product tour.

• Which country, start date and salary anchor this specific hire?
• Has the working relationship been assessed for the actual role and country?
• Who inside your company owns employment records once Oyster is live?

02 / Your buying guide

EOR, contractors and paid advisory

Two services carry most first hires. EOR is published at $699 per employee per month. Contractor management is free for the first 30 days and then $29 per contractor per month, with contracts available in 180+ countries. Project advisory through People Partner Services is a separate line at $300 per hour.

Keep the services separate in your notes. The contractor product handles contracts, invoicing and payment administration, and Oyster's optional protection add-on is conditional cover, not the same thing as a contractor of record service sold by other vendors.

• Decide per person which service applies, then price each one.
• Ask when the free contractor period starts and what ends it.
• Confirm whether any advisory work you expect is billed hourly.

03 / Your buying guide

Service fee versus total employment cost

The published number is a service fee. Gross salary, employer contributions, benefit premiums, visa support where the country allows it and any currency conversion charge sit on top. Oyster applies a conversion fee when the invoice payment currency differs from the contract currency, and no rate is assumed here.

Annual discounts are advertised without a published figure, so treat any yearly price as something to obtain in writing. Annual seats are paid upfront for the full year, are non refundable once paid and invoice at net 30, while semiannual and quarterly options carry a higher per seat price. Multiplying the monthly rate by twelve does not describe an annual seat contract.

• Ask for one country quote separating fee from employment cost.
• Get the annual seat price stated in writing before comparing.
• Check which benefits tier the quote assumes for that country.

Annual EOR seats are quoted separately. Twelve monthly fees do not represent an annual-seat contract. Employment costs, benefit premiums, optional services and FX are separate; a refundable EOR deposit affects upfront funding.

04 / Your buying guide

From hire request to first payroll

Oyster's documented flow starts with an admin submitting a hire request carrying the offer terms: salary, holiday, probation and benefits. Oyster is then introduced to the hire, who supplies their details through the approved platform. Identity and right to work documents are provided and verified, then agreements are reviewed and signed. Availability of the automated path varies by situation, and onboarding specialists support the setup.

Illustrative planning scenario: a ten-person US company wants to hire one marketing manager abroad. The founder owns the role brief, finance confirms funding, the provider verifies the country route and the employee completes secure onboarding. Walk through those handoffs in the demo before promising a start date. This is a hypothetical example, not a customer result.

• Agree who signs and who approves time off before day one.
• Ask the provider which documents the hire needs and when.
• Keep sensitive employee records in the approved secure onboarding channel.

05 / Your buying guide

Plan the exit before you need it

Basic setup, onboarding, HR expert conversations and termination processing are included per the pricing FAQ. Employment and termination liabilities are not, and neither is optional advisory work. A refundable EOR deposit is required, with the amount and release terms agreed individually, so both belong in the contract discussion rather than a later email.

Before an exit or transfer, agree the country-specific process with the provider and your advisers. Ask for a written view of final costs, funding, benefits continuity and deposit release before communicating a timeline to the employee.

• Confirm deposit amount and release timing in the signed contract.
• List notice, final pay, unused leave and severance per country.
• Ask what happens to benefits between last day and settlement.

06 / Your buying guide

Benefits, support and who this suits

Benefits run from an Essential package covering statutory country requirements to Competitive and Best-In-Class upgrades, with local and global options. Packages are chosen during hiring or from the Benefits page, and support contacts the employee to complete enrollment. Premiums and eligibility need confirming per country, and not every package sits inside the monthly service fee.

Oyster is a useful shortlist candidate when you want a guided first-hire process and a benefits discussion built around the employee’s country. Ask the demo team to show one hire invitation, one benefits enrollment and one payroll change. If you already have an employing entity, ask about a separate payroll scope before buying EOR.

• Ask which benefits tier the country quote actually prices.
• Confirm who the employee contacts for enrollment questions.
• Treat third party rating pages as dated context, not proof of fit.