Our verdict:
Velocity Global is a Global Employer of Record (Global EOR) that specializes in internationally distributed teams. An EOR acts as the sole employer for global hires, who use its platform to log work hours, request time off, and check payroll status.
Pros
- Strong customer service
- Serves all 50 US states — unusual for an EOR
Cons
- Pricing not publicly available
- Pricing structure is complex
120+
% of total employee cost
Paypal, Wise, bank transfer
Velocity Global is a Global Employer of Record (Global EOR) that supports internationally distributed teams. As the EOR, Velocity Global takes responsibility for employment compliance while the client business makes all decisions regarding work activities. Clients pay Velocity Global monthly for the suite of services, with amounts varying according to the number of employees and their salaries.
Overview
Velocity Global targets companies that want to expand into international markets, as well as those that wish to tap into a global labor pool. For clients that wish to sell their services or products internationally, test new markets, or set up regional offices, Velocity Global bills itself as a time and money-saving alternative to setting up local entities.
Using Velocity Global’s service can take up to 90% less time than local entity establishment, allowing faster market entry. This can be especially useful to fast-moving tech and finance businesses that wish to rapidly test and move into new markets before competitors.
Other businesses may not be concerned with expanding internationally but are keen to hire remote working professionals: This is especially attractive for highly paid positions in industries experiencing labor shortages. Velocity Global supports remote hiring both within the United States and internationally. Clients are free to use global recruitment channels to vet candidates in any region, when the winning candidate is chosen they are sent login instructions to the Velocity Global platform, where they can upload the necessary compliance paperwork.
For clients who wish to recruit globally for positions based in a particular office, Velocity Global can assist with work visas and employee relocation.
Key Features
Employer of Record
Velocity Global is able to serve as a Global EOR for employees based in 185 countries and 50 US states. It handles onboarding, payroll, benefits sign up and administration, and ensures compliance in all of these jurisdictions.
As an EOR, Velocity Global becomes the legal employer for a workforce and is thus responsible for legal liabilities with respect to employment. The company manages legal entities in many countries, each with its own legal experts, and selected partners who become the employer wherever the worker is based. Clients are assigned a dedicated support team, who can answer legal, compliance, and other questions.
Velocity Global maintains compliant International employment contracts that are designed to protect Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the fullest extent allowed by local law.
Payroll
Global payroll can require calculating different wage and hour rules, deductions, and currencies. Velocity Global takes this off your hands by offering a single centralized service for companies who need to pay a far-flung international workforce on time and in full global compliance. It is a payroll aggregator, meaning they partner with payroll providers around the world and centralize those payments for the client.
The service also manages payment and invoice management for independent contractors.
All costs including EOR fees, salaries, and contractor invoices are consolidated into a single monthly invoice for simple payments.
Human Resources
Velocity Global also provides a range of HR support, including visa and global mobility services. This could cover executives viewing new expansion markets firsthand, new employees going to headquarters for training, or team leaders relocating to manage a new office.
Velocity Global can assist with business and work visa documents and applications, getting rid of the need to use unproven new consultants. The immigration team will help gather, translate and properly file all necessary documentation, and keep clients up to date on the progress of visa applications and renewals. The client services team will even be available during international trips, and in some cases, Velocity Global can sponsor work visas and work permits.
Velocity Global also offers benefits administration services. Its experts on the ground ensure that benefits packages comply with local regulations in each jurisdiction. But Velocity Global goes beyond the minimum requirements by creating customized benefits packages designed to attract the best employees for any given market. Being such a large employer also means that Velocity Global has access to packages and premiums that are often only available to large employers.
Velocity Global doesn’t just provide employee support — it also helps businesses seeking to engage contractors. Through Velocity Global you can ensure that contractors are classified correctly, and that independent contractors and freelancers are paid in full HR compliance.
Compliance
Velocity Global provides support from global experts with extensive and up-to-date compliance knowledge in their markets. As observed, it also helps clients ensure that global employees are not misclassified, which can lead to fines and other legal risks. Its teams can also provide consultation on the required and most competitive benefits package for each region.
Clients receive updates on international labor law regularly and are free to ask the customer service team for clarifications and more information regarding changes in compliance laws worldwide.
Platform
The Velocity Global online platform is a robust, secure, and simple service for both employers and employees. Employers are able to view payroll information and contractor invoices in local currencies and pay through a single aggregated invoice. Clients can also view onboarding status at any time, and the process can be finished as quickly as 48 hours. If employers have any questions while viewing workforce information on the platform, customer service is available 24/7. For employers who wish to learn about international labor laws themselves, the platform includes a Country knowledge center featuring labor law and compliance information on 185 countries and all US states.
The platform also integrates with other software systems via the Application Connector Framework, making it easy for clients to add EOR services to their existing recruitment, HRIS, and accounting systems.
New hires anywhere in the world are able to log in to the system for onboarding, and are guided through the submission of necessary compliance documents. The platform also includes time management software for employees to easily track billable work hours.
Velocity Global’s data protection is ISO 27001:2012 certified, the international data security standard, and AICPA Type 1 SOC 2 security standards. The platform also complies with international privacy protection regulations including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPEDA.
The platform boasts 99.9% uptime for a robust, always-on system. Traffic is passed through isolated VLANS, firewalls, and DDOS protection. On top of all this, Velocity continuously monitors the system for threats of data breach. Employees are offered security training to ensure they follow best practices as well.
Pricing
Velocity Global pricing is based on a percentage of total employee cost, but is currently not published on the Velocity Global website. To obtain a quote based on your business needs, contact Velocity Global for a consultation.
Velocity Global Pros and Cons
Pros
Benefits of engaging Velocity Global as your international Employer of Record include:
- Strong customer service — Velocity Global comes highly recommended by many clients for their fast responses and helpful responses to questions
- Robust security protocols — the Velocity Global platform meets stringent IP, security, and data privacy protocols in the US, EU, and internationally. For tech and finance companies dealing in sensitive data, this is especially useful.
Cons
Potential disadvantages of Velocity Global include:
- Lack of pricing transparency — pricing is only available with a consultation, so it can take longer to compare the cost of Velocity Global’s services to the competition
- The pricing structure is complex based on a percentage of total cost, rather than a fixed amount per employee per month like many other Employers of Record.
Unique Selling Point (USP)
A comprehensive, highly secure solution for expansion into global markets and tapping talent pools worldwide, including all 50 US states. The service covers nearly every corner of the globe and facilitates remote teams, expansion, market-entry, and talent relocation. It is an all-in-one global workforce solution that places a strong emphasis on data security and IP protection.
Very few international Professional Employer Organizations or EORs provide both international coverage and full domestic coverage in the US.
Video — How Velocity Global Works
Our verdict
Velocity Global will satisfy the needs of companies with a variety of different needs; those opening local offices in new countries, expanding sales into international markets, building global remote teams, and relocating global talent will find the service time and money saving. It is especially useful for IT businesses, who will appreciate the ability to tap into global markets and hire remote professionals from around the globe, with the security of strong data and IP protection.
RemotePad Score for Velocity Global
4.4/5 Our expert score for Velocity Global
Our team came to this score by considering the following components in the following weightings:
| Employer of Record features | 25% |
| Payroll features | 10% |
| HR features | 10% |
| Compliance features | 10% |
| Platform features | 10% |
| Pricing | 20% |
| User reviews | 15% |
For each component, Velocity Global received the following score:
| Employer of Record features | 24/25 |
| Payroll features | 9/10 |
| HR features | 7/10 |
| Compliance features | 10/10 |
| Platform features | 10/10 |
| Pricing | 14/20 |
| User reviews | 14/15 |
Top competitors
Top provider for:
Compliance
Monthly fee
$599per employee
Top provider for:
IP Protection
Monthly fee
$599per employee
Top provider for:
HR support
Monthly fee
$770per employee
FAQ
Velocity Global is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, but has international offices throughout the world.
Velocity Global has had successful series A and B funding rounds, securing $500 million total in funding:
- Series A: $100 million in April 2021
- Series B: $400 million in May 2022.
In April 2021 Velocity Global acquired iWorkGlobal, an international Employer of Record based in San Francisco.
