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.
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 Swaziland can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Swaziland, 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 Swaziland.
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 Swaziland is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Swaziland’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.
The work week should not exceed 5.5 days.
Employees can work overtime, but they must consent to perform the extra hours.
All employees working overtime must get paid at least one and a half times their normal wage rate.
Employer
Employees in Swaziland receive their salary once a month.
No available info.
PTO is calculated by the:
There are 11 public holidays.
The duration of sick leave entitlement provided to workers that is:
Female employees are generally entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave, six weeks of which may be taken before the due date.
Two weeks of the leave are paid, if the employee has worked for at least one year.
There is no statutory paternity leave.
Standard parental benefits of up to 40 weeks split between two parents (but one parent cannot receive more than 35 weeks of standard benefits).
None.
None.
Employees can take up to one month of unpaid compassionate leave per year.
Employees engaged to perform supervisory technical or confidential work may have a longer probationary period, but it must be agreed to in writing.
The notice period in Swaziland is:
An employee may be paid in lieu of notice.
The Severance Pay in Swaziland once a terminated employee is eligible for severance pay of 10 working day’s wages for each completed year of service after the first year.
Probation period is 3 months.