Hire internationally. Without changing platforms.

The Engage + HQ Simple handoff

1. You identify the hire. A candidate in the Engage ATS, a contractor in the Engage platform, or a new hire entirely.
2. Select the country. Engage shows direct vs. partner status and the local rules (mandatory benefits, statutory leave, notice periods).
3. HQ Simple generates the quote. All-in effective markup, no per-seat SaaS, no setup, no onboarding. Typically 1-2 business days.
4. Accept and onboard. The worker's record flips from contractor or candidate to EOR employee. Onboarding portal switches to country-specific document set.
5. Monthly payroll runs. HQ Simple (or the partner) processes payroll in local currency, handles tax withholding and mandatory benefits. Engage surfaces the data in your dashboard.
6. Ongoing support. Compliance updates, leave tracking, termination workflows, all handled on the same record.

Why we're direct in only 4 countries, and transparent about the rest

We chose depth over marketing. In the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, HQ Simple is the legal employer ourselves, no intermediaries, full ownership of the relationship, and the pricing advantage flows to clients. In other countries, we partner with verified local EOR providers rather than build thin direct presence.

The reason to be explicit about this: Deel and Rippling both advertise "110+" and "150+" country reach, but most of that coverage is also delivered through local partner providers, not their own entities. The difference is what you get charged. Deel and Rippling charge their full per-employee SaaS fee plus setup, onboarding, and offboarding fees on top of the partner's cost. HQ Simple charges $0 SaaS to clients in partner markets (the partner pays HQ Simple 2%), so the partner's wage-plus-markup is the only cost you see.

The partner network covers 40+ additional countries including the major European economies, India, Brazil, and most of Asia-Pacific. The Engage platform is the same in either case.

What the sticker price hides

"$599/month per employee" is the advertised line. It is not the bill. Once you're inside a contract, the typical SaaS EOR stacks:

• Setup / implementation fees, $100–$750 per employee
• Background checks, $100–$200 per person
• Offboarding / end-of-assignment fees, $500–$750 per exit
• Health insurance and benefit add-ons, often ~$55/month per employee on top of the premium
• Refundable deposits, commonly equal to one month of payroll plus fees, held for the life of the engagement
• Payment processing fees, 2–3.5% on card payments
• Late pre-payment penalties, around 0.15% per day if your prefunding misses the window

Pass-through items that are also the client's cost: local employer payroll taxes (often 10–40%+), statutory benefits, severance and termination obligations, 13th-month pay in countries where it's required.

Public EOR coverage reporting consistently puts real spend 30–50% above the advertised monthly rate.

Compliance liability and who's really the employer

Two things the sales deck rarely surfaces:

1. Who is the legal employer in each country? Most global SaaS EORs are not. They subcontract to a local partner, sometimes one or two layers deep. "110+ countries" is a network claim, not an entity claim.
2. Who carries compliance liability? Many contracts explicitly leave the client on the hook for labor-law compliance, classification, and misclassification penalties. The platform processes what you tell it to process. If you say "contractor," it processes contractor, no classification review, no local guidance.

HQ Simple is the direct legal employer in US, Canada, UK, and Australia, and owns the liability in those markets. In partner markets HQ Simple is up-front about the partner relationship so you know what you're signing.

Questions to ask any global hiring platform

From the HQ Simple Global Hiring Platform Checklist:

• Are benefits tailored to local norms?
• Do employees know who their employer is?
• Will their experience reflect well on our company?

And three more we add from the cost side:

• Is compliance liability clearly defined and covered in writing?
• What's included in the monthly fee, and what's not?
• Do they require deposits or advance payroll funding?