2023 Oyster Review: Is It the Right Global Payroll Service for You?

With Oyster, you get one platform to process both employee and contractor payroll. It partners with payroll experts and has local entities in the countries it services, allowing the provider to run payroll and manage local taxes compliantly. You can choose your preferred currency and payroll frequency. Salary payouts are typically done monthly, but this can change to twice a month, depending on country payroll regulations.

If you have bonus and commission payments, Oyster lets you add this information via its “Add Payroll Change” feature. You can even set these payments as a one-time or monthly recurring transaction. While these payment details can be inputted directly into Oyster’s platform at any time in the year, the system won’t allow you to make payroll changes to the current month if the pay period’s cut-off date has passed.

Oyster has an edit function in case you need to revise or delete payment details for bonuses, commissions, and allowances. (Source: Oyster)

Cross-border payments are made possible through international money transfers, allowing you to pay workers in more than 120 currencies. However, for Oyster to pay employees, you have to set up a payment method by connecting your bank account to its system. Payroll funds will be pulled from your account automatically, based on employee and contractor pay runs that you approve.

Oyster supports automated clearing house (ACH) direct deposits, but only if you have a US-based bank account and pay global employees in USD ($). If you pay workers in GBP (£) and euro (€), Oyster allows you to set up payments via Bankers Automated Clearing Services (BACS) and Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct deposits, respectively, provided your bank allows these transactions.

With Oyster, you can easily add and modify your company’s bank account and payment method details. (Source: Oyster)

When setting up direct debit payments in Oyster, note that the system will require you to verify your account. Some banks’ verification process includes depositing small amounts into your bank account and you have to input those amounts into Oyster. For SEPA direct deposits, you have to click the “Authorize account” button after you have input your account details into the system.

Oyster has an “Expenses” module where employees can submit expense reimbursements and upload the related receipts. Reimbursement requests are sent to you for review and approval. and approval. Then, Oyster will process all approved expense reimbursements in the next pay cycle.

Oyster’s mobile-responsive platform allows you to access its system and submit expense reimbursement claims through smartphones and tablets. (Source: Oyster)

Oyster processes salary payments based on approved invoices submitted by fixed contract workers (individuals who receive the same amount each month) and pay-as-you-go contractors (workers who are paid a defined rate for a specific task or unit, such as the number of hours worked).

Fixed contractors don’t need to create and submit invoices because Oyster automatically generates these for them monthly. Pay-as-you-go contractors will need to create and submit invoices through Oyster manually. All submitted invoices will go to you for review and approval. Note that Oyster will only start the payment process after you have approved the contractor invoices.

Contractors can track the status of submitted invoices through Oyster’s “Payments” module. (Source: Oyster)

Approvers or system administrators can approve expense reimbursement requests one by one or in bulk. System administrators can even raise an expense claim on behalf of the employee. Note, however, that these transactions are marked “approved” automatically in Oyster.

Hiring international employees is a complicated process as it involves complex labor laws that differ per country. Oyster’s EoR service is designed to help you avoid compliance mistakes, providing you access to local experts who can assist you in finding qualified candidates and guide you through the entire process. Oyster even assigns dedicated hiring success managers to clients who sign up for its Enterprise plan, which is great for businesses that plan to ramp up global recruitment activities.

Oyster also has free-to-use online tools for calculating global employment costs, analyzing worker misclassification risks, and assessing potential costs if you want to convert contractors into employees. It even has country hiring guides to help you learn best practices for recruiting, paying, and managing global employees.

In addition to EoR services and hiring support, Oyster’s online platform has automated tools for building competitive and locally compliant employment packages. Its in-platform virtual hiring assistant, Pearl, not only guides you through the system’s hiring and onboarding processes but also helps you select the best employment terms, such as the standard probation period and vacation leave credits, for your new hires based on their location.

Oyster’s virtual assistant, Pearl, provides country-specific employment term options and basic hiring requirements to help you remain compliant with local labor laws. (Source: Oyster)

Note that Oyster hasn’t completely rolled out its automated global hiring solution and virtual hiring assistant to all the countries it services. As of this writing, these tools are available only in 20-plus countries.

After you have decided on the candidate to recruit, you can raise a hiring request via Oyster’s online platform to start the contract creation process. The system will require you to select the employment type as employee or contractor and input your candidate’s basic information, such as full name, email address, and location/country. Then, you can choose the best employment terms from the country-specific hiring requirements and options offered by Oyster’s virtual hiring assistant, Pearl.

The system will generate the contract automatically based on the choices you made. It will also use a template with the employment conditions specific to the country where your new hire will be employed in. After you have reviewed the contract, submit the hiring request online and Oyster will get started with the process. This process includes the creation and approval of a service agreement between you and Oyster as well as the provider preparing the next steps to onboard the employee.

Oyster has an “Agreements” tab where you can review, track, and manage contracts. (Source: Oyster)

While you can use Oyster’s built-in contract templates, you can upload your own employment agreements into the system. Also, for countries where Oyster’s automated hiring tools have yet to go live, the contract creation process isn’t as streamlined and may require manual contract status updates from the Oyster team.

Oysters will send an email to your new hires, inviting them to join the Oyster platform and create their own online accounts. Your employees and contractors will be asked to input their personal details―such as full name, address, and phone number―bank account information, Social Security number, and other new hire requirements. Oyster will use the data that both employees and employers have inputted into the system to create all the necessary contracts and agreements, such as noncompete and confidentiality agreements, which new hires will need to review and sign.

Employees who complete the onboarding process and have signed work contracts can access Oyster’s tools, such as time-off and expense reimbursement requests. They can also view their payslips online and generate employment verification letters for tourist visa or housing loan applications.

Apart from inputting the required ID numbers, your new hires can also upload onboarding documents directly into Oyster. (Source: Oyster)

If an employee resigns, retires, or will be terminated from your company, Oyster requires that you provide them with at least 30 days’ notice (except for cases of gross misconduct). You can do this by raising an offboarding request through its platform and providing the reason for the contract termination or separation.

After receiving the request, Oyster will contact you to confirm the details. Then, it will manage the entire offboarding process—from notifying the worker to preparing the necessary documents for signature. It will also provide you with a summary of the offboarding process and what to expect for each step.

Oyster’s online offboarding form requires you to input the employee’s proposed offboarding date, severance details, and other information. (Source: Oyster)

Oyster’s partnership with SafetyWing allows it to offer localized benefits to your employees. Its Oyster Health plan is available in more than 175 countries and comes with two plan options: Standard and Premium. Pricing starts at $80 per month and is based on your employee’s age and location.

The Standard plan covers inpatient, outpatient, preventative, and emergency care. Meanwhile, the Premium tier includes additional dental and vision benefits as well as routine health checks and vaccinations.

Oyster has an online “Benefits Advisor” tool that lists the benefits that local companies offer and local experts recommend. It has four categories:

• Statutory: Benefits required by law
• Bronze package: Basic extended benefits offered by 60% of the companies that Oyster analyzed
• Silver package: Locally optimized benefits offered by 25% of the companies that Oyster analyzed
• Gold package: Best-in-class benefits offered by 5% of the companies that Oyster analyzed

These categories help you gain a better understanding of the mandatory benefits you should provide, including the options that will make you stand out from other companies. What’s also great about this tool is that it is free to use and you can easily choose the category you want for the selected country.

A screenshot of Oyster’s online “Benefits Advisor” tool (Source: Oyster)

Oyster can handle time-off requests for vacation, sick, and other paid (and unpaid) leaves. Employees can raise the requests via the system, and administrators can approve or reject these online. Administrators can also create a time-off request on behalf of an employee. Note that this type of transaction will still require admin approval.

System administrators can view and manage all leave requests in Oyster’s “Time off” module. (Source: Oyster)