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Solutions

Four services, one team, one invoice.

Pick the one you need today. Scale into the rest without switching vendors. Same account manager throughout.

01 / SOLUTION

Employer of Record

We become the legal employer. You direct the work. Payroll, taxes, benefits, compliance, all handled.

4 direct + 75
countries
Same day
onboard
Custom benefits
or statutory base
COVERED
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
+ specialist EORs in 75 more
Learn more
Powered byENGAGE
02 / SOLUTION

Contingent workforce platform

Your entire contingent program on one platform. Internal ATS for the talent you engage, supplier management for third-party staffing, and program analytics across both. No MSP markup, no vendor swap.

1 platform
ATS + VMS + EOR + 1099
0%
vendor markup
Real
SLAs
COVERED
Internal ATS
Third-party supplier mgmt
Talent pool & CRM
Program analytics
Learn more
03 / SOLUTION

1099 / IC Compliance

Keep your contractors as contractors, safely. AI-powered risk scoring, audit-ready files, all 50 states + international.

AI engine
real-time
100%
compliance through audits
All 50
states
COVERED
Classification review
Risk scoring
Payment processing
Audit documentation
Learn more
04 / SOLUTION

Sourcing + EOR

In-house recruiters who've worked with industry leaders. We source and vet candidates, hand them over for your approval, then engage them at our reduced EOR rate.

In-house
recruiting team
Vetted
talent pool
Flat fee
or low markup
COVERED
Engineering & product
Creative & media
Finance & ops
Specialized roles
Learn more
Head-to-head

How we compare to the SaaS EORs.

The first three rows are the ones their sales reps won't put in writing. Read the rest of their T&Cs before you sign.

FEATURE
HQ Simple
YOU ARE HERE
Deel
Rippling
Remote
Who's the legal Employer of Record?
HQ Simple. Full primary liability.
Local partner (most countries)
Local partner (most countries)
Mixed direct + partner
Wage, hour & employment compliance
Ours
Falls on you (per T&Cs)
Falls on you (per T&Cs)
Falls on you (per T&Cs)
Direct entities (we own them)
US, CA, UK, AU
Disclosed on request
Disclosed on request
~10 countries (vague)
Dedicated account manager
Named rep, same person always
Help center + rotating support
Help center + rotating support
Help center + rotating support
4-day workweek (rested team, better service)
Yes, with Friday coverage
No
No
No
Free ATS included
Yes
Upsell
Upsell
Not available
AI classification engine
Included (ENGAGE)
Basic checks
Basic checks
Manual review
Hospitality-trained support
Yes
No
No
No
SMB-friendly pricing
Flat per-worker
Per-seat + add-ons
Per-seat + add-ons
Per-worker
Who's the legal Employer of Record?
HQ SimpleHQ Simple. Full primary liability.
DeelLocal partner (most countries)
RipplingLocal partner (most countries)
RemoteMixed direct + partner
Wage, hour & employment compliance
HQ SimpleOurs
DeelFalls on you (per T&Cs)
RipplingFalls on you (per T&Cs)
RemoteFalls on you (per T&Cs)
Direct entities (we own them)
HQ SimpleUS, CA, UK, AU
DeelDisclosed on request
RipplingDisclosed on request
Remote~10 countries (vague)
Dedicated account manager
HQ SimpleNamed rep, same person always
DeelHelp center + rotating support
RipplingHelp center + rotating support
RemoteHelp center + rotating support
4-day workweek (rested team, better service)
HQ SimpleYes, with Friday coverage
DeelNo
RipplingNo
RemoteNo
Free ATS included
HQ SimpleYes
DeelUpsell
RipplingUpsell
RemoteNot available
AI classification engine
HQ SimpleIncluded (ENGAGE)
DeelBasic checks
RipplingBasic checks
RemoteManual review
Hospitality-trained support
HQ SimpleYes
DeelNo
RipplingNo
RemoteNo
SMB-friendly pricing
HQ SimpleFlat per-worker
DeelPer-seat + add-ons
RipplingPer-seat + add-ons
RemotePer-worker
Based on publicly-available info as of 2026. No shade intended. Just honest.
The wedge nobody talks about

If your "tech-first" EOR drops the ball, you are the one who pays the price.

Under the U.S. Department of Labor's Joint Employer Rule, "joint and several liability" means YOU are fully responsible for minimum wage, overtime, and other employment law violations if your provider fails to comply. Even if you already paid the invoice. Even if it was "their job" to handle the admin.

TECH-FIRST EORs

Software ships. Liability stays with you.

Most of the big "platform" EORs include a Customer Responsibility clause stating the client is ultimately responsible for compliance with local labor laws, health and safety, and worker classification. They provide the software; you provide the cover.

FROM A REAL T&C · PARAPHRASED
"Customer is solely responsible for ensuring its directions to Workers comply with all applicable laws, including wage and hour, classification, and occupational safety laws of the relevant jurisdiction…"
AT HQ SIMPLE

We are the legal Employer of Record. Full stop.

We don't believe in "co-employment" or "administrative-only" support. We take on the full employer responsibility, and the liability that comes with it. We embrace the role of the primary employer. You direct the work.

FROM OUR MSA · VERBATIM
"HQ Simple shall be the employer of record for all Worker engagements and shall bear primary responsibility for compliance with applicable wage, hour, classification, tax, and workplace safety laws."
Who's responsible for…
Most SaaS EORs
HQ Simple
Wage & hour compliance
Your liability
Our liability
Worker misclassification
Your liability
Our liability
Health & safety
Your liability
Our liability
Local labor law violations
Your liability
Our liability
Termination disputes
Your liability
Our liability
Tax filing errors
Sometimes shared
Our liability

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Joint Employer Rule (2024). Comparisons based on publicly-available T&Cs as of 2026 and customer-shared MSAs.

Read our MSA before you sign
The math nobody runs until it's too late

One misclassification finding costs more than five years of HQ Simple.

Estimate what one classification audit would cost your team (base penalty, back wages, legal) and compare it to running our compliance program for the same window. Inputs are conservative and drawn from public state penalty schedules; real exposure varies. NOT LEGAL ADVICE.

Your situation
60
5500
AB-5 + EDD penalties
2y
1y5y
If a California audit landed today
$843,700
estimated total exposure · illustrative
Base penalty
$139,000
Back wages
$576,000
Legal fees (~18%)
$128,700
HQ SIMPLE OVER THE SAME 2 YEARS
$128,160
60 workers × ~$89/mo flat
6.6× cheaper
than one prevented audit
The wedge isn't software pricing. It's the audit you don't get because we caught it 14 months early. That's what you're really buying.
Beyond the calculator

The penalty is only the headline. Here's the rest of the bill.

For reference: an internal Nike audit, leaked in 2023, flagged roughly $293M in potential U.S. tax exposure across about 918 likely-misclassified contractors, near $319,000 per worker. The calculator above models a single audit finding. Class actions and multi-year exposure stack on top of it.

Back penalties
Local, state, and federal back-tax penalties typically run 35–40% of the misclassified spend.
Worker claims
Misclassified workers can claim lost benefits, equity, unpaid PTO and sick leave, and FLSA back pay for overtime and double-time.
Regulator action
DOL, IRS, and state-AG investigations bring document requests, deposition prep, and defense costs that don't depend on whether you ultimately win.
Class actions
Private litigation around denied promotions, wage increases, and benefit access. Often filed once one finding becomes public.
Public record
Settlements and consent decrees are searchable. Recruiters, partners, and customers find them years later.
Nike figure: leaked PwC audit reported by The Guardian, May 18, 2023 — “Nike could be fined over $530m for misclassifying thousands of workers.” This is exposure, not a settled case. DOL Wage & Hour Division reported $259M recovered for ~177,000 workers in FY2025; recent misclassification recoveries include $446K for 88 home-care workers (LA) and $503K for 227 hotel workers (FL).
Honest coverage

Direct in 4. Local specialists in 75 more.
And we'll tell you which is which.

Most "global" EORs claim 150+ countries. The fine print: they use one mega-partner that resells the same generalist service in every market: a help desk in Manila answering questions about Polish labor law. We do it differently: 4 countries we own end-to-end, plus a network of local-specialist EORs who only operate in their home country or a small region and live the labor code daily.

The competition's model
One mega-partner. 150 countries.
  • One global back-office processes payroll for every country
  • Same generalist support team for Poland, Brazil, and Singapore
  • Labor-code questions go to a help desk reading from a script
  • You never learn who actually employs your worker
How we built it
In-country specialists. Each one deep, not wide.
  • Each partner only operates in their home country (or a small region)
  • Local labor lawyers and payroll teams who live the code daily
  • Real names, real audit reports. We tell you who employs your worker
  • Same partners, year after year. No marketplace churn
DIRECT · WE ARE THE LEGAL EMPLOYER
DIRECT
US
United States
We are the legal employer
Our entity · our payroll · our liabilityRead more →
DIRECT
CA
Canada
We are the legal employer
Our entity · our payroll · our liabilityRead more →
DIRECT
GB
United Kingdom
We are the legal employer
Our entity · our payroll · our liabilityRead more →
DIRECT
AU
Australia
We are the legal employer
Our entity · our payroll · our liabilityRead more →
✓ Our entity owns the contract✓ We carry primary employer liability✓ Same account director, same SLAs✓ No third-party provider in the middle
Read the full EOR breakdown — including Digital Nomad Visas →
PARTNER NETWORK · IN-COUNTRY EORs (75 COUNTRIES)

Europe

35 countries
Germany
France
Spain
Italy
Netherlands
Ireland
Portugal
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Denmark
Belgium
Switzerland
Austria
Greece
Poland
Romania
Czech Republic
Hungary
Estonia
Lithuania
Latvia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Iceland
Luxembourg
Turkey
Ukraine
Serbia
Albania
Cyprus
Malta
Georgia

Americas

10 countries
Mexico
Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Peru
Costa Rica
Panama
Uruguay
Ecuador

Asia-Pacific

15 countries
New Zealand
Japan
Singapore
South Korea
India
Philippines
Vietnam
Indonesia
Thailand
Malaysia
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Sri Lanka

Middle East

7 countries
UAE
Israel
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Bahrain
Jordan
Lebanon

Africa

8 countries
South Africa
Kenya
Nigeria
Ghana
Egypt
Morocco
Tanzania
Rwanda
How partner countries actually workWe engage a local-specialist EOR who lives the in-country labor code daily. You still get one HQ Simple account director, one invoice, and one Slack channel, but your worker's contract is with the in-country expert. We tell you who the partner is, what they cover, and how the handoff works on day one.Showing 75 of 75 partner countries.
Onboarding

From signed to paid in five days.

The most stressful part of switching EORs is the first payroll. We've run hundreds of these. Here's exactly how a typical onboarding goes.

Switching from Deel, Remote, or Rippling?
We do white-glove migrations at our cost, including calling each of your workers personally to walk them through the change.
1
Day 0

20-min intro call

You meet your future account director. We scope, we quote, we agree on a target start date. No NDAs to get a number.

2
Day 1

Your account director introduces themselves to your team

By name, by Slack, by phone. They send a one-pager with their direct line and on-call coverage.

3
Day 2–3

Worker onboarding kicks off

We send personalized onboarding to every worker. International? They get country-specific docs in their language.

4
Day 5

First payroll runs

On time, every worker, every currency. We pay early on Fridays so banking buffers don't bite.

5
Week 4

Your first business review

We review the rollout with you. What worked, what didn't, what we changed. We do this every quarter, not just at the start.

Ready when you are

Book a call. Talk to a person. Decide nothing today.

Your first conversation, and every one after, is with a knowledgeable expert. Not a screener, not a tech demo, not a discovery rep reading from a script. We'll tell you whether we're the right fit, and who to go to if we're not.

Talk to an expertSee pricing first
✓ No screeners, no junior reps✓ No NDA required to get a quote✓ Real humans, every weekday