EOR

How EORs simplify employee termination across borders

December 9, 2025 manish No comments yet

Employee termination in the global workforce is challenging, with every country following multiple rules on notice, severance, and compliance. Even a minor error can result in legal and financial risks.

An Employer of Record (EOR) simplifies this by handling all termination procedures according to local laws. This will ensure accuracy, fairness, and compliance, thus allowing businesses to make confident decisions while experts handle the complications.

This blog addresses the unique legal and administrative complexities of cross-border termination and details how you can leverage an EOR’s services to navigate them.

Table of Contents

Complexities of employee termination in global hiring

Terminating an employee is always a sensitive process; however, it tends to become significantly more complicated when the employee is based in another country. Global hiring will expose businesses to a wide range of laws, expectations, payroll rules, and compliance requirements that differ from one region to another. A simple miss in step can turn into a legal issue, reputational risk, or financial loss.

Some of the key complications for the remote employee termination process are given below:

1. Varying labor laws across countries

  • Every country has its own rules related to notice period, severance, and termination grounds.
  • Some allow flexible termination, while others require extensive documentation
  • Missing the steps can result in penalties or wrongful termination claims.

2. Strict compliance requirements

  • Multiple countries have made formal processes, filings, or approvals before termination mandatory.
  • Regulations are usually complicated and frequently updated
  • Companies will risk legal consequences if they fail to follow the exact procedures

3. Complicated payroll calculation process and severance rules

  • Final pay might include bonuses, overtime, PTO, and tax adjustments
  • Severance requirements will differ based on tenure, country, and reason for termination
  • Errors can result in disputes or compliance risks.

4. Heavy administrative workload

  • Termination could involve multiple steps, government filings, asset recovery, benefits closure, and documentation archiving.
  • Certain countries require employers to keep records for years.
  • Coordinating across languages and time zones increases complexity

What is an Employer of Record, and what does it do?

An EOR is usually a third-party company that legally employs workers on behalf of another business. This will enable the company to hire talent across multiple states or countries without setting up a local entity, navigating complex labor laws, or managing payroll compliance.

It handles everything required under local laws. This includes employment contracts and compliance with labor law, worker documentation, employee classification, and termination/offboarding. This, in turn, protects the company from costly legal and compliance mistakes.

Additionally, the EOR is responsible for paying global teams correctly and on time. This includes monthly payroll processing, social contributions, and more. It will also assist with routine tasks businesses do not have time to manage, such as onboarding paperwork, employee updates, attendance tracking, and more.

If you’d like a deeper breakdown of how an EOR operates across different countries, you can read our full explainer on what an Employer of Record is.

Cross-border termination simplified by an EOR

Terminating an employee is a challenging process; however, doing it across borders adds layers of legal and operational complications. Each country has its own employment laws, severance rules, notice requirements, documentation standards, and dispute resolution processes. Even one step not handled properly can result in penalties, lawsuits, and reputational damage.

Employer of Record (EOR) services act as a safeguard for businesses. They take complete responsibility for handling international terminations while also ensuring compliance, fairness, and clarity. A lot of businesses are simplifying employee termination with EOR.

This is how EORs streamline this sensitive process across multiple countries:

1. Navigating local labor laws

Every country has a set of strict rules around how and when an employee can be terminated. An EOR understands International labor laws and termination in detail and ensures that:

  • Termination is done as per compliance.
  • Notice period will meet the legal requirements
  • Documentation will align with local standards

This protects the company from common legal mistakes in global terminations.

Severance packages change widely depending on the tenure, country, contract type, and reason for termination. EORs will calculate the accurate:

  • Final payout
  • Severance amount
  • Benefits
  • Accrued leave payouts

This removes any assumptions and ensures that the employee receives what they are legally entitled to.

3. Handling the mandatory documents

The termination process will need certain forms, agreements, and filings. EORs will prepare, verify, and manage all the required documents, including:

  • Termination notices
  • Final settlement letters
  • Government filings
  • Compliance reports

These ensure that nothing is missed, especially in countries with strict documentation laws.

4. Calculating the final payroll accurately

Calculating the final payroll can be complicated. Mainly when it includes the following:

  • Overtime working hours
  • Bonuses
  • Unused PTO
  • Local tax adjustments
  • Social security contributions

EORs will handle accurate calculation and payment. This ensures employees are compensated correctly and on time.

5. Help companies follow lawful termination grounds

Certain countries need a strong justification for termination. EORs will help companies in understanding what is legally acceptable and guide them through the following:

  • Proper performance documentation
  • Warnings
  • Improvement plans
  • Legally compliant termination reasons

This will reduce the risk of disputes or wrongful termination claims

EOR vs. in-house termination: Side-by-side comparison

Remote employee termination process with an EOR

Terminating an international employee requires careful coordination, legal accuracy, and respectful communication. An Employer of Record (EOR) will manage the entire process on behalf of the company, ensuring every step complies with local labor laws and protects both the business and the employee. You can manage termination by EOR efficiently. The standard international employee termination by an EOR-led termination process looks like the following:

1. Case review and initial consultation

  • The company will inform the EOR about the situation, the reason for termination, and supporting documentation.
  • The EOR will evaluate the case against local labor laws to confirm if termination is legally permissible.
  • They advise the company on risks, required steps, timelines, and documentation.
  • The EOR will review country-specific rules on notice periods, termination grounds, severance, and mandatory processes.
  • They determine whether the termination falls under performance, misconduct, redundancy, or voluntary resignation, each with its own legal implications.
  • Clear guidance is provided to ensure the employer avoids legal exposure.

3. Prepare the required documents

  • The EOR drafts compliant termination notices, settlement statements, severance calculations, and final payroll summaries.
  • Documents are prepared in the required format and local language
  • Any government filings or mandatory forms are submitted in advance.

4. Coordinating the termination meeting

  • The EOR will assist in scheduling and conducting the termination meeting based on local norms. This could be in person, virtual, written, or a formal hearing.
  • They guide the employer on what can and cannot be said legally.
  • The communication is kept clear, respectful, and compliant.

5. Handling post-termination compliance tasks

  • The EOR will submit all the needed government notifications and labor authority reports.
  • The benefits, insurances, and social security accounts will be closed or updated.
  • Final employment documents, like a settlement letter and a certificate of employment, are delivered to the employee.

Why Global Squirrels is the ideal EOR partner for seamless employee termination?

Global Squirrels is an EOR platform that assists businesses in hiring skilled talent from across the globe. With complete support, including payroll, onboarding, HR administration, and compliance, Global Squirrels makes it efficient and simple for companies to build a remote team without setting up a local entity or dealing with complicated regulations.

Terminating an international employee could expose businesses to huge risks ranging from legal disputes and financial penalties to cultural misunderstandings and operational delays. Global Squirrels will remove these complications by managing the entire termination process with precision, compliance, and local expertise. Here is why companies can rely on Global Squirrels for managing terminations of their global workforce:

Global Squirrels will ensure every termination follows the exact labor laws of the employee’s country. Hence, there would be zero guesswork around mandatory procedures and reduced risk of fines, legal claims, and wrongful termination disputes.

2. Documentation assistance from start to finish

Every termination will need multiple documents, usually in the local language or specific formats. Global Squirrels will prepare and manage the termination notices, final settlement documents, government filings, compliance certificates, and country-specific post-employment documents.

Final payroll is one of the most error-prone parts of termination, especially across borders. Global Squirrels will ensure precise calculations of final salary, PTO, bonuses, and overtime, the delivery of required payroll documents, and on-time payouts following the country’s payroll cycle.

Final thoughts

Global employee termination is complicated; however, an EOR will remove that burden by managing local compliance, documentation, and final payroll with accuracy. With Global Squirrels, businesses can handle international offboarding smoothly, legally, and without risk.

For global teams, partnering with an EOR is the simplest way to ensure a compliant and stress-free termination process.

Ready to experience effortless global operations? Request a demo!

manish