Understanding Remote’s Employment Agreements

1. Why Our Agreements Matter: Remote enables you to hire talent worldwide without the need to set up local entities. We become the legal employer through agreements like the one you are reviewing. Our agreements are carefully designed to provide:

   1. Legally Compliant Terms: Drafted by local attorneys to ensure compliance in every country.

   2. Balanced Protections: Structured to protect you, Remote, and your employee.

   3. Efficiency and Consistency: Updated regularly to reflect the latest changes in laws and to ensure compliance.

2. Best Practices: If you decide to engage in customization, keep in mind that every modification carries compliance, financial, and operational implications. To help you get the most out of Remote’s employment agreements — while keeping your hiring smooth, compliant, and efficient — we recommend following a few best practices. These guidelines ensure agreements remain legally sound, avoid unnecessary delays, and protect all parties involved.

   1. Keep it simple – limit agreements to essential terms.

   2. Request only substantive changes – modifications should be business-critical, not cosmetic. Significant modifications increase risk and can delay onboarding.

Understand the impact – some changes (e.g., extended notice, guarantee bonus or longer prior service recognition) may require financial reserves or compliance reviews.

What We Can Modify

• Notice & Probation Periods

  • ✅ You can set trial periods and notice timeframes that fit your business, provided they comply with local law.

  • ⚠️ Remote may need to set aside reserves for longer notice periods.

  • 📌 In some countries, notice and probation are strictly regulated, limiting flexibility.

• Recognize Prior Service

  • ✅ Possible to honor an employee’s previous work history to preserve accrued benefits.

  • 📈 Seniority dates may increase notice periods, severance pay, dismissal protections, or statutory entitlements.

  • ⚠️ Seniority can affect the validity of a new probationary period or fixed-term contract.

  • 🚫 Recognition is not possible before Remote’s local entity opening date.

  • 🌎 In countries like Brazil, seniority is tracked by social security authorities and cannot be overridden.

• Work Location

  • ✅ Employees may work remotely, in-office, or hybrid.

  • 🏢 For on-site arrangements, clients are responsible for ensuring workplace safety.

  • 🌍 In some countries, only remote arrangements are supported due to legal or operational restrictions.

• Define Work Schedules

  • ✅ Working hours and schedules can usually be customized.

  • ⚖️ Local overtime rules and working-time regulations always apply.

• Add Extra PTO Days

  • ✅ You may provide vacation time above the statutory minimum.

  • 📄 In some countries, contracts must reflect only the legal entitlement, but Remote will still track the extra PTO in-platform.

• Strengthen Confidentiality

  • ✅ Enhanced confidentiality provisions can be added to protect business information.

  • 📝 Employees can also sign a separate NDA with your company.

• Background Checks

  • ✅ Appropriate background checks can be included for sensitive roles.

  • ⚠️ Must comply with local legal requirements.

• Variable Remuneration

  • ✅ Generic commission or bonus clauses can be included in employment agreements.

  • 💰 Guaranteed amounts: If variable remuneration includes guaranteed payments, Remote may need to set aside financial reserves to cover these commitments

  • 📑 Full commission/bonus plans cannot be included in the employment agreement: We cannot include the full commission or bonus plan directly in the employment agreement. This is because performance-linked compensation depends on multiple factors such as individual and team performance, business results, and other criteria you define.

    • The specifics of your commission or bonus structure should be outlined in a separate document . This ensures flexibility, as these rewards remain subject to your evaluation and adjustments in line with the agreed criteria.

What We Cannot Modify

1. Backdating Agreements

   1. Not permitted. Creates legal risk for all parties.

2. Benefit Details

   1. Cannot be fixed in the contract, as benefits often depend on third-party providers and may change.

3. Statutory Requirements

   1. Not modifiable — these are already covered by law and including them risks confusion.

4. Cross-Country Terms

   1. Clauses valid in one jurisdiction may not be enforceable in another.

5. Direct Compensation

   1. All salary and payments must flow through Remote to preserve correct employer-of-record structure.

6. Employer Responsibilities

   1. Remote remains the legal employer and cannot delegate core obligations such as leave approval, payroll, or disciplinary actions to clients.

7. IP Terms

   1. Standard IP provisions ensure your company owns employee-created work; these should not be removed or weakened.

8. Termination Clauses

   1. Carefully balanced to comply with local law while protecting both parties.

9. Internal Policies

   1. Should be handled separately in your own employee handbook, not in the employment contract.

10. Allowances & Incentives

    1. Better managed through Remote’s platform for flexibility, rather than embedding in the agreement.

11. Non-English Versions

    1. English versions ensure global consistency. Translations are provided only if required by law.

Important Considerations

• Client Identification: In some jurisdictions, naming the client in the contract creates co-employment risk and is not permitted.

• Co-Employment Protection: Agreements clearly distinguish Remote (legal employer) from you (client). The agreements should never provide that Clients will directly approve time off, conduct performance reviews, or manage discipline. (see also: Co-Employment Risk)

• Financial Planning: Certain modifications (e.g., bonuses, long notice, prior service recognition) may require Remote to hold additional reserves.

• Operational Standardization: Payroll dates, PTO, and benefits processes are aligned to country regulations. Some customizations may not be operationally feasible

Updates & Maintenance

To keep agreements compliant and effective, Remote regularly updates templates to reflect:

• Changes in local employment law.

• Adjustments in Remote’s operations or business model.

Custom terms we agree with you remain in place unless they become non-compliant. Standard non-custom clauses may be updated without prior notice to ensure continued compliance.

Next Steps

1. Preview your agreement in-platform.
2. If you need to request modifications, save the invitation as a draft.

3. If you have questions or believe a change is necessary, please do not invite the employee. Instead, save this invitation as a draft and contact your Account Executive or Customer Success Manager at Remote. If neither is available, please reach out to us via live messaging. Our Legal team will review and, where possible, align your needs with local compliance requirements, before inviting the employee, ensuring a smooth onboarding process.