← Remote Work Glossary

Professional Employer Organization (PEO)

A firm that co-employs a company's staff to handle HR, payroll and benefits — typically within one country.

A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) enters a "co-employment" arrangement: it manages payroll, benefits and HR compliance while the client company directs the actual work. PEOs usually operate within a single country where the business already has a legal entity.

The key difference from an EOR: a PEO requires you to already have an entity in that country, whereas an EOR does not — which is why EORs dominate cross-border remote hiring.