Hiring in Eastern Europe is faster, safer, and more accessible than ever in 2025, especially with the help of an Employer of Record (EOR). For companies expanding into countries like Poland, Romania, or Serbia, partnering with the best Employer of Record in Eastern Europe in 2025 offers a compliant, low-risk way to build local teams without setting up a legal entity or navigating complex labor laws.
This guide breaks down everything you need to know about EORs: how they work, why Eastern Europe is a smart hiring destination, and how to choose the right provider. You’ll learn the key benefits of using an EOR, how to avoid common mistakes, and what makes Rivermate a trusted partner in the region. Whether you're hiring one employee or building an entire team, this article gives you the clarity and tools to expand efficiently and compliantly across Eastern Europe.
What is an EOR?
An Employer of Record is a third-party organization that legally employs workers on your behalf in a country where your company doesn’t have an established presence. While you maintain full control over the employee’s daily responsibilities and performance management, the EOR takes on all legal obligations tied to employment.
The best Employer of Record in Eastern Europe in 2025 helps companies hire fast, stay compliant, and reduce administrative burdens across multiple countries.
EOR responsibilities typically include:
- Drafting compliant employment contracts
- Managing local payroll and benefits
- Handling tax filings and social contributions
- Ensuring labor law compliance
- Mitigating misclassification risk
With an EOR, you can onboard new hires in days instead of months and operate safely in markets you don’t yet know inside-out.
Benefits of Using an EOR in Eastern Europe
An EOR makes international hiring easy and legally safe. It removes the need to register a local company or manage legal complexity internally.
Core benefits of using an EOR include:
- Entity-free hiring: No local incorporation required
- Fast onboarding: Start within days
- Full compliance: Avoid legal and tax penalties
- Local benefits: Offer region-specific perks that support retention
- Cost efficiency: Lower HR overhead and risk
An EOR gives you full control of work output while offloading everything related to employment law.
Best EOR companies operating in Eastern Europe
Hiring in Eastern Europe offers access to a deep pool of highly skilled talent across markets like Poland, Romania, Serbia, and the Baltic states. However, managing legal compliance, payroll, and employment infrastructure across jurisdictions can be complex. EOR providers simplify this process by allowing companies to hire full-time employees without setting up local entities. Below are five of the leading EOR platforms that offer strong operational coverage, compliance capabilities, and HR support across Eastern Europe.
1. Rivermate
Rivermate is a global Employer of Record operating in many different countries in Eastern Europe. Rivermate offers its Employer of Record Service in countries like Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Ukraine. Offering full legal employment services, including payroll, benefits, contract management, and HR compliance, topped with visa support and a Contractor of Record service. Unlike many EORs that rely on partners, Rivermate employs its own in-house legal and HR experts in each region, enabling faster onboarding, consistent local guidance, and real-time compliance updates. Users describe its service as responsive, reliable, and legally thorough, making it ideal for companies seeking high-touch, transparent control over their global workforce.
2. Remote
Remote operates fully‑owned EOR entities in key Eastern European markets (e.g., Poland and Romania) and global jurisdictions. Its developer-friendly platform supports hiring, payroll, localized benefits, equity management, and IP protection, all managed by in-house legal and HR teams, not third-party partners. Designed for tech-driven companies and startups, Remote provides a transparent, compliant, and scalable foundation for remote teams.
3. Deel
Deel is one of the fastest-growing global Employer of Record (EOR) providers, supporting both contractors and full-time employees in over 160 countries, including Eastern European markets such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Baltic states.
The platform combines robust EOR services with an integrated HRIS, automated contract workflows, background check integrations, equity management, and compliance monitoring, making it especially attractive to VC-backed and high-growth startups.
4. Atlas HXM
Atlas HXM operates a direct Employer of Record model, maintaining fully-owned entities in 160+ countries, including numerous Eastern European jurisdictions such as Czech Republic, and Romania. It is purpose-built for mid-to-large enterprises, offering end-to-end employment support, payroll, compliance, benefits design, visa assistance, as well as workforce analytics, risk management, and HR advisory services .
The platform is ideal for companies entering complex regulatory environments, though its comprehensive feature set and enterprise-grade pricing may exceed the needs of smaller businesses
5. Papaya Global
Papaya Global offers global workforce management solutions, including EOR services, across countries such as Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and other Eastern European markets. The platform emphasizes automated global payroll, centralized workforce data, and strong integrations with leading ERP systems.
While Papaya often operates through local partner EORs in many jurisdictions, including parts of Eastern Europe, it differentiates itself through advanced payroll analytics, compliance automation, and support for enterprise-scale HR tech deployments.
Why Choose an EOR in Eastern Europe?
Eastern Europe is one of the most attractive global hiring regions in 2025. It offers a balance of affordability, skill, and accessibility.
Key regional advantages:
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High-quality, multilingual talent
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Strong technical and academic education systems
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Competitive labor costs
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Overlapping time zones with Western Europe and North America
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Cultural readiness for remote work
Countries like Poland, Romania, and Serbia have become go-to destinations for building global teams—especially in tech, finance, and customer support.
Hiring in the region gives companies the flexibility to scale quickly and efficiently, especially when supported by an experienced EOR provider.
Advantages of Hiring in Eastern Europe Through an EOR
An EOR makes international hiring easy and legally safe. It removes the need to register a local company or manage legal complexity internally.
Core benefits of using an EOR include:
- Entity-free hiring: No local incorporation required
- Fast onboarding: Start within days
- Full compliance: Avoid legal and tax penalties
- Local benefits: Offer region-specific perks that support retention
- Cost efficiency: Lower HR overhead and risk
An EOR gives you full control of work output while offloading everything related to employment law.
Navigating Local Labor Laws
Eastern Europe presents a complex legal landscape for employers. Each country has distinct labor laws, tax rules, and benefit mandates. Missteps can lead to audits, penalties, or invalid contracts.
In Poland, employers must contribute to social insurance (ZUS) and navigate different legal frameworks for civil vs. labor contracts. Romania mandates paid annual leave, public health insurance, and minimum wage thresholds. Serbia requires written employment contracts and formal procedures for termination and notice.
Failing to comply with local rules exposes companies to serious legal and financial risk.
An EOR eliminates this burden. EOR providers in Eastern Europe stay updated on labor law changes, manage contracts, payroll, and benefits, and ensure full compliance in every hiring location.
Access to Top Talent in Eastern European Markets
Eastern Europe remains one of the most dynamic regions for sourcing global talent, especially in IT, engineering, finance, and business services. As of 2025, the region continues to attract international employers seeking highly skilled professionals at globally competitive rates. When supported by a reliable EOR, hiring in Eastern Europe becomes both efficient and compliant.
Countries like Poland, Romania, and Ukraine are recognized for their strong technical education systems, with universities producing thousands of STEM graduates annually. These institutions supply a steady pipeline of software engineers, data scientists, and system architects equipped for high-demand global roles.
English proficiency is another regional strength. Professionals in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria frequently work in multilingual environments and possess strong communication skills, making cross-border collaboration seamless. Many are already accustomed to distributed teams and remote-first operations, demonstrating readiness to integrate with global workflows and time zones.
Cost-effectiveness is also a key driver. Salaries in Eastern Europe remain significantly lower than in Western Europe or the United States, while the quality of work remains high. This allows companies to access top-tier talent while maintaining budget flexibility.
Roles commonly hired through EORs in Eastern Europe include software developers, DevOps and cloud engineers, product managers, financial analysts, and customer support specialists. With an EOR like Rivermate, companies gain immediate access to these talent pools, without the burden of setting up legal entities or navigating complex labor laws.
How to Select the Best Employer of Record Services in Eastern Europe?
Choosing the right EOR provider is critical. The wrong partner can create delays, compliance issues, and poor employee experiences. The right one becomes a seamless extension of your HR and legal operations.
Look for an EOR with proven experience in the specific Eastern European countries where you want to hire. Local presence and legal infrastructure matter. You’ll also want a provider with transparent pricing, fast onboarding capabilities, and dedicated customer support.
What are the Key Benefits of Using an EOR in Eastern Europe in 2025?
EOR solutions have matured significantly in recent years, and in 2025 they offer more value than ever before. For fast-scaling companies, EORs are no longer just a workaround, they’re a competitive hiring model.
Using Rivermate, companies benefit from streamlined onboarding, automated compliance updates, localized benefits management, and a unified view of their distributed workforce. This reduces internal workload, accelerates global growth, and gives HR teams the structure they need to scale confidently.
In a competitive labor market, speed and flexibility are everything. Being able to hire in new countries without delay gives companies a measurable edge, and EOR services make that possible.
How Does an EOR Facilitate Global Hiring?
An EOR eliminates the biggest roadblocks to international hiring: time, complexity, and risk. When you find the right candidate in Romania, you shouldn’t have to wait six months to bring them on board. With an EOR, you don’t have to.
The EOR acts as the legal employer from day one, ensuring that the employee is properly registered, paid, and supported. You maintain full operational control while the EOR handles all back-office and legal functions. This makes it easy to expand into multiple markets at once or to test hiring strategies in new countries without long-term commitments.
Challenges of Using an Employer of Record in Eastern Europe
While EORs solve many problems, they’re not without limitations. Because the EOR is the legal employer, some administrative processes, such as issuing equity or terminating an employee, require coordination and localized handling.
Service quality also varies widely among providers. Some EORs outsource parts of their operations, which can lead to delays or confusion during onboarding, payroll processing, or support requests. Pricing models can also differ, with some providers charging per employee and others using percentage-based fees.
Looking to hire in Eastern Europe without the complexity of entity setup?
Use this guide as your foundation. Stay informed, stay compliant, and treat every new hire as an opportunity to lead with professionalism and purpose. Your business deserves a strong, scalable infrastructure and your employees deserve a seamless, thoughtful start.
Contact Rivermate today to take the next step with confidence. We’re here to help you grow the right way, from day one.
