EOR and AOR.

EOR (employer of record) and AOR (agent of record) are two related constructions for engaging workers through a specialised third party, widely used in international workforce arrangements.

Employer of record

An EOR is the legal employer of a professional who in practice works for another organisation. The EOR signs the employment contract, runs payroll, remits taxes and social contributions and guarantees local labour-law compliance; the client directs the day-to-day work. EORs are typically used to employ people in countries where the client has no entity of its own; the client pays the EOR a fee per worker, usually monthly. Related national figures include payrolling in the Netherlands and portage salarial in France — similar in shape, different in protection and detail.

Agent of record

An AOR is the counterpart for independent contractors: the professional remains self-employed, while the AOR manages contracts on the client's behalf, validates contractor status, handles invoicing and payment and maintains the compliance file. An AOR is not an employer; the model is close to what Hero calls brokering or "contract & pay".

Choosing between them

Practical rules of thumb:

• Own entity, local hire: a regular employment contract.
• No entity, employee needed: EOR.
• Independent professional, obligations professionally managed: AOR/broker.
• Full programme control: MSP, with EOR and AOR services as building blocks.

Classification risk never disappears: an AOR construction offers no protection if the professional factually works as an employee. The choice is factual rather than cosmetic: who directs the work, who carries the risk and who pays — the form follows from the facts, not the other way around. See w2-and-1099 for the United States and the Dutch DBA rules for the Netherlands.

Relevance to Hero

Hero serves international placements from local entities — Hero France SAS, Hero USA Inc. and Hero Singapore Pte. Ltd. (offices under construction) alongside the Schiphol headquarters. Within the service model, the Silver tier (contract & pay, €79 per contract per month) behaves as an AOR service, while per-country employment solutions cover the EOR side. One client can thus run one process worldwide, with the legally correct form in each country — the operational meaning of The global company next door.