employer of record companies replacement and offboarding playbook

What should a busy buyer settle before hiring?

Get a written exit plan before signing the hiring agreement. It should say who approves an employee's departure, who calculates the cost, and who finds the next hire. Give each task a named owner on your team and at the provider.

A replacement guarantee answers a recruiting question. Your exit plan must also address employee payments and the work left behind. Keep those items separate in the contract review and budget.

Start with a short operating checklist:

Keep the last working day, employment end date, and final payment date in separate fields. Ask the provider to explain how they relate in the proposed exit. Add the replacement's accepted-offer date and first working day when those dates are agreed.

Before opening a replacement search, write down why the first hire did not work out. Use specific examples tied to the role. A missed deadline caused by an unclear approval process calls for a different response than a skill gap.

Check whether the role itself has changed. If you hired for application development but now need someone to own production infrastructure, rewrite the role requirements. Sending the original job description back to recruiting could repeat the mismatch.

Your manager should also name someone to cover the work during the gap. Do not make a project deadline depend on an unsigned offer or a hoped-for handover.

What do country rules tell you about exit costs?

Ask for a calculation based on the employee's actual record. Supply the start date, contract type, compensation history, leave balance, and proposed reason for departure. Have the legal employer identify which rules apply before your team communicates a final decision.

The country details below identify payment items to discuss. They are not a universal severance formula. Ask the provider to show each applicable amount, its calculation basis, and who funds it.

Check Mexico's bonus and vacation balances

Mexico's annual aguinaldo is at least 15 days of salary, payable before December 20. The labor law also provides a vacation premium of at least 25%. Ask the provider to show how applicable bonus and vacation balances enter the final settlement. Ley Federal del Trabajo, Articles 87 and 80.

For dismissal questions, ask which legal route applies. Article 48 refers to compensation of three months' salary, while Article 50 includes a service-based calculation for indefinite employment. Do not add these figures together as an automatic price for every exit. Require the legal employer to explain the provisions used in its calculation. Ley Federal del Trabajo, Articles 48 and 50.

Keep the calculation with the approval record. If the proposed date changes, request an updated version before authorizing payment.

Separate Colombia's prima and cesantías

Colombia's prima de servicios corresponds to 30 days of salary per year, recognized in two payments. Ask payroll to show what has already been paid and how it treats the remaining balance. Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, Article 306.

Article 249 describes cesantías as one month's salary for each year of service, proportional for a fraction of a year. Keep this item distinct from any dismissal compensation the provider says applies. Ask for the payment history and treatment of amounts already deposited or paid. Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, Article 249.

A quote with one line labeled "severance" gives your finance team too little detail. Request separate lines with the legal basis and calculation for each.

Account for Argentina's SAC

Argentina's sueldo anual complementario, or SAC, has installments due June 30 and December 18. Article 122 bases each semester's installment on 50% of the highest monthly remuneration earned during that semester. Ask the provider which pay components enter the calculation and how it treats the departure date. Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, Articles 121–122.

Give payroll the full pay history, including variable pay. Have it reconcile prior payments against the proposed final settlement rather than estimating from base salary alone.

Include Brazil's 13th salary in the review

Brazil's 13th salary, or Gratificação de Natal, is calculated at one-twelfth of the relevant December remuneration per month of service. The law counts a work period of at least 15 days as a full month for this purpose. Lei 4.090, Article 1.

Ask the legal employer how the exit circumstances affect the final calculation. Request separate explanations for notice and other employment costs. The annual bonus calculation does not establish the full exit bill.

Confirm Costa Rica's aguinaldo treatment

Costa Rica's aguinaldo is an annual benefit equivalent to one month's salary. Ask the provider to show the earnings used, amounts already paid, and the treatment of the employee's departure. Keep that calculation separate from other exit payments. Ministerio de Trabajo, discussion of Ley 2412.

For every country, have finance distinguish employee payments from provider charges. Ask which amounts are estimates and which are fixed. Record who approves any change before the final invoice arrives.

How do nearshore hiring models change the replacement plan?

Choose a model based on the work you need someone else to own. If you already have a candidate, your need differs from a search that starts with an empty shortlist.

For an EOR arrangement, check the employment service and recruiting scope separately. Ask who signs the employment contract, handles the departure, and starts a replacement search. Do not infer search coverage from payroll or HR support.

With a recruiting agency and your own employment setup, review two agreements. The recruiting agreement should define any replacement entitlement. Your employment team must also handle the departing employee's process and payments. A contingency recruiting fee does not cover ongoing employment. Recruiting fee and employment-cost distinction. This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial.

For a managed recruiting arrangement, ask whether one contact coordinates the search and employment work. Then confirm who holds each duty in the signed documents. A shared point of contact is useful only if that person can get a decision from payroll, recruiting, or the legal employer.

Keep employee replacement separate from a provider transfer. In a transfer, the buyer may want the same person to keep working. Ask both providers to document the proposed arrangement before promising continuity to the employee.

If you are comparing employer of record vs umbrella company arrangements, request the same responsibility map. Identify the legal employer and the party responsible for each payment. The label alone should not decide your exit workflow.

When shortlisting the best employer of record companies for your team, test how each handles a realistic departure. Give each the same scenario and compare the written response. A clear answer should identify the next action and its owner.

Talk to Opus about a role.

What should you ask a provider before an exit?

Ask for a walkthrough using the role and country you expect to hire in. Request the relevant contract clauses alongside the answer. Save the response where HR, finance, and the hiring manager can find it.

Define the replacement trigger

Ask which events qualify for a replacement search. Cover resignation and performance concerns separately. Also ask what happens if your company closes the role or changes its requirements.

Get answers to these questions before signing:

• How do we submit a replacement request?
• What records must accompany it?
• Is there a deadline for making the request?
• Does coverage depend on payment status or a minimum service term?
• Can we change seniority, location, or role scope?
• What happens if the replacement also leaves?
• What charges continue while the role is vacant?
• Who owns escalation if the search stalls?

Ask whether a replacement means a new search, a fee credit, or another remedy. Those outcomes have different effects on your hiring budget.

Request an itemized exit estimate

Have the provider separate final employee payments from its own fees. Ask it to identify any applicable notice cost, bonus balance, or leave payment. Require an explanation for each item rather than accepting a single total.

Confirm when you must fund the payment and who pays the employee. Ask how the provider will document completion. If it holds a deposit, request the terms for applying or returning that money.

Plan for overlap separately. You may want the departing employee and replacement to work together, but the dates need agreement. Have finance approve the possible overlap cost before you offer it.

Also ask when monthly service billing stops. The employee's final day and the service contract's billing cutoff may be different dates. Put the agreed treatment in writing.

Give the hiring manager a handover checklist

Name the interim owner before the departure meeting. Ask that person to review the work inventory and flag anything they cannot access or understand.

For an engineering role, request links to open pull requests, deployment instructions, and unresolved incidents. Record decisions that exist only in chat. Identify systems where the departing employee is the sole administrator.

For a finance or operations role, document approval rights and recurring deadlines. Transfer ownership of scheduled reports and shared files. Ask the interim owner to complete a routine task using the handover notes while questions can still be answered.

Keep passwords out of handover documents. Use approved account-transfer and credential-management tools. Give the replacement an individual account with the permissions the role needs.

Do not make handover completion depend entirely on the departing employee. Where cooperation or time is limited, have the manager document what remains open and assign recovery work.

Coordinate the exit conversation and access changes

Agree who speaks to the employee and who sends formal documents. Have HR and the legal employer review the proposed message and schedule.

Give IT a written access-removal time. Include email, code repositories, cloud consoles, and business applications. Check active sessions and personal access tokens as part of the company's approved process.

Preserve required business records before deleting accounts. Keep employment records restricted to the people who need them. Equipment return should have a named coordinator and a receipt trail.

If there is an immediate security concern, use your incident process while coordinating with HR. Do not improvise an employment decision through an IT ticket.

Track the replacement through the first working day

Ask for milestones that distinguish search launch, candidate presentation, interviews, offer acceptance, and start date. Name the person who can approve the offer and reserve interview time.

Review what needs to change in onboarding. If the prior hire lacked access or clear ownership, fix those issues before the replacement starts. Give the new hire written success criteria and a manager who can answer questions.

Close the exit only after the relevant owners confirm their tasks. Keep payment evidence, equipment status, and access records with the case. Leave unresolved items assigned to someone rather than marking the whole checklist complete.

Where does Opus fit in this decision?

Opus reports: "Every placement carries a lifetime replacement guarantee with no cap and no time limit." Ask for that commitment in the agreement you will sign and walk through how a replacement request starts. Opus replacement guarantee.

Opus reports 97% one-year retention. Treat that as a company-reported figure when reviewing the service. Ask how the cohort is defined and how departures are counted before using it in a forecast. Opus replacement and retention information.

The replacement commitment still needs an operating plan. Ask who calculates the employee's final payments, who approves the departure date, and who communicates search progress. Request a written answer about any costs that sit outside replacement coverage.

Opus charges one flat monthly rate per hire. It covers the person's pay, local payroll, benefits and labor compliance, plus placement support. There is no separate recruiting fee. The rate depends on role, seniority and location. Dollar rates: Not published. Opus pricing.

Ask for a quote that explains billing during a vacancy and any agreed overlap. Have the provider show how final employee payments appear on the invoice. Do not assume the monthly rate answers every question about an exit.

For hiring speed, Opus reports about 14 days from brief received to hired, not first day worked; the reporting period and calculation are not published. Use that distinction when planning coverage, and request a schedule for the specific replacement. Opus hiring process.

The client chooses the finalist and manages day-to-day work. Keep interview decisions and onboarding preparation with your hiring manager. Before accepting a replacement, confirm that the role requirements address the reason the previous placement ended. Opus hiring process.

Bring the role description, country, and desired start date to the discussion. If you are replacing someone, add the work that needs interim coverage. Ask for written replacement terms and an exit-cost process alongside the hiring quote.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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