Project reference · Employ without an entity
We found the engineer, then employed him for six years.
A European manufacturer of equipment for the food industry needed its own service engineer in Ukraine to keep its machines running at customers’ plants, but it had no company here. We recruited him, and when the client chose not to set up a local employer, we became his employer: contract, payroll, taxes, leave, travel and expenses ran through us every month for six years. When the client closed its engineering operations in the country, the exit was paid in advance and settled in full.
Seven weeks from the client’s first request to the engineer’s first working day
Speed
Six years of employment, payroll, leave and travel on our books, never on the client’s
Continuity
Every month a prepayment invoice for the month ahead and a closing invoice for the month gone
Cash flow
About six weeks from the decision to close to the last invoice paid
Exit
The shape of it
Six years, one engineer, one invoice cycle
The search took weeks; the employment took years. The monthly rhythm never changed, only the paperwork around it.
The brief
What the client actually needed
The client’s regional manager asked us for a recruitment: a service engineer who could install and maintain its machines at food producers, travel most of the month and work in English. We shortlisted four engineers within two weeks, and the client’s managers interviewed the finalists at our office.
Then came the real question: who would employ him? The client had no legal entity in Ukraine and did not want one for a single person. We offered to be the employer: a labour contract between the engineer and us, a service agreement between us and the client, and one invoice a month. The client said yes, and he started work seven weeks after the first email.
Why it matters
One engineer still needs an employer
A foreign company cannot simply wire a salary to someone in Ukraine. Pay, income tax and social contributions, the labour book, paid leave, sick pay and the rules for business trips all need a Ukrainian employer, and a field engineer who is on the road most of the month touches every one of them. With an employer of record the engineer had a proper labour contract and full social protection, and the client had one counterpart and one monthly invoice, without opening a company it did not need.
The hard parts
Where it gets difficult
From search to employment in one go
The team that found him also prepared his labour contract, salary card, labour book and first trip, within days of the client’s yes.
Pay in hryvnia, anchored to the euro
His salary was paid in hryvnia with a euro floor written into his contract, and the client was invoiced in euros. When the currency fell, the pay followed the contract and both sides knew the cost.
An engineer on the road
Travel orders, advances, daily allowances and receipts for trips to plants across the country and abroad, approved by the client’s service manager every month and documented the way Ukrainian tax rules require.
Paid before the month began
A prepayment invoice on an agreed monthly budget, then a closing invoice on the signed timesheet. Payroll never waited for a payment, and the client never paid for costs it had not approved.
A new contract, the same job
In the third year the arrangement moved to a direct agreement with the client’s parent company. For the engineer nothing changed: same job, same pay, new paperwork. Later, monthly documents went by email, with originals signed once a quarter.
An exit funded in advance
When the client closed its engineering operations, the date and the settlement terms were agreed in one call. An exit prepayment invoice funded the settlement, the engineer was paid on his last day, and one final invoice reconciled the whole period.
What we did
Find, employ, run, close
- Weeks 1–7 — Find. Job brief, four shortlisted engineers, interviews at our office, and the client’s go-ahead to employ him through us.
- Month 2 — Employ. Labour contract, salary card, labour book and insurance; a service agreement with the client; his first trip to the client’s regional team.
- Years 1–6 — Run. Timesheets and expense approvals every month, prepayment and closing invoices, leave, insurance, training and trips abroad.
- Last 8 weeks — Close. Notice, agreed exit terms, an exit prepayment invoice, payment on the last day, a final reconciliation and signed termination papers.
An employer of record is not a way around the law. It is the law, done for you, every month, for as long as you need it.
How we work
We do not show you another company’s name
The client, its people and the engineer are not named here, and they will not be named in a meeting either. We are glad to talk this project through in detail. What we will not do is discuss the last client that way with you, or you with the next one.
Next step
Need one person in Ukraine before you need a company?
Tell us who you need and for how long. We will find the person if you have not, employ them under Ukrainian law, and tell you up front what a month costs and what an exit costs.