The short answer
Hire a contractor when the work has clear deliverables and the engineer runs it with their own tools and schedule. Use an employer of record when you want a full-time team member who works your hours under your direction, and you have no company in that country. Your own local company makes sense once you have a larger team there.
Independent contractor
An independent contractor is a self-employed engineer who signs a services agreement with your company, sends you an invoice, usually every month, and handles their own taxes and social security in their country. You pay the invoice and run no local payroll. It is the fastest way to start.
- Setup: a services agreement and an invoice. No local entity or payroll on your side.
- Fits: projects with clear deliverables, part-time work, or a first hire while you test a market.
- Watch out: if the day-to-day relationship looks like employment, local law can treat the engineer as an employee (see below).
Employer of record
An employer of record (EOR) is a company that legally employs the engineer in their own country on your behalf. It runs local payroll, taxes, social security and the benefits the law requires, while the engineer works with your team day to day. You pay the EOR the salary costs plus a service fee. Deel and Remote are two of these platforms.
- Setup: a contract with the EOR platform; it signs the local employment contract.
- Fits: full-time team members with set hours, your direction and a long-term role, in a country where you have no company.
- Watch out: compare what each platform includes, and read who handles ending the contract under local law.
Your own local company
You can also open a company in the country and employ engineers directly. This takes time, local advisors and ongoing accounting, so it usually makes sense only when you already have a larger team in that one country.
What decides if someone is an employee
In much of Latin America, labor law looks at how the work really happens, whatever the contract calls it. Colombia's Constitution, in article 53, names the "primacy of reality over formalities" as a principle of labor law. Brazil's labor code, in article 3 of the CLT, defines an employee as a person who provides non-occasional services to an employer, under the employer's direction, for a salary.
Common signs that a contractor relationship looks like employment:
- You set fixed working hours and tell the engineer how and when to do each task.
- The engineer works only for you, for an open-ended period.
- They are part of the team like an employee: company title, reporting line, a fixed monthly amount whatever the output.
Signs that fit a contractor: defined deliverables, their own tools and schedule, other clients, and invoices for the work.
How Boecia Talent fits
Boecia Talent recruits for contractor and full-time roles and never employs the engineers. You choose the model, then hire the engineer directly or through an employer of record. Say which model you plan to use when you request a quote, so the shortlist only includes engineers who want that arrangement.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules differ by country and change over time, so check with a lawyer or accountant in the engineer's country before you sign.
Questions companies ask
Can I hire a full-time engineer in Latin America as a contractor?
You can sign a contractor agreement, but local law looks at how the work happens. If the engineer works fixed hours under your direction for you alone, the relationship can be treated as employment. An employer of record is the usual way to hire that kind of team member without a local company.
Who pays the taxes for a contractor?
The contractor usually handles their own taxes and social security in their country and invoices you. What your own company has to report depends on where it is registered, so ask your accountant.
Does Boecia Talent act as the employer?
No. Boecia Talent only recruits. The company hires the engineer directly or through an employer of record such as Deel or Remote.
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