How to hire top remote talent from Georgia: A step-by-step guide for global teams

1. Talent and skills

Georgia has a growing pool of.

• Software developers. backend, frontend, full stack, QA, DevOps

• Product and project managers

• Designers and marketing specialists

• Multilingual support, CS and ops for English, Russian, Turkish and sometimes German or Arabic

You are not scraping the barrel. You can find seniors and leads, not only juniors.

2. Cost level

Rough ballpark.

• Mid-level developer in the US. 100k to 130k USD per year

• Mid-level developer in Georgia. roughly 24k to 36k USD per year, depending on stack and company

With EOR, your fully loaded cost per mid-level developer can be somewhere around 2,200 to 2,600 USD per month for many roles. salary, pension, taxes, and EOR fee combined. That is still dramatically below Western markets.

Strong opinion. If you treat Georgia only as “cheap developers”, you will fail. You need to show fair pay against the local market and a strong culture.

3. Timezone

Georgia runs on UTC+4.

• Full workday overlap with the Gulf, the Middle East, and most of Central and Eastern Europe

• Three to four hours of overlap with Western Europe

• Morning coverage for East Coast US teams

This is fantastic for distributed teams. Daily standups, sprint reviews and live calls are easy to schedule without punishing anyone.

4. Language and culture

• Younger talent in tech and services tends to have good English

• Business culture is direct, relatively informal, and quite entrepreneurial

• People are very used to working with foreign clients and remote teams

Sure thing. Here’s a smoother, clearer version that still hits hard and keeps everything fully accurate.

5. Full compliance with Georgian labour & tax laws

Employment Contracts (real, enforceable ones)

• Issued in both Georgian and English

• Fully aligned with the Labour Code of Georgia

• Spell out salary in GEL, probation terms, benefits and airtight IP ownership

• Enforceable in court. Your work stays yours, not floating in legal grey zones

Payroll & Taxes Done Correctly

• 20% income tax withheld and filed every month

• 2% employer + 2% employee pension contributions submitted on schedule

• Monthly declarations filed with the Georgian Revenue Service

• Proper payslips generated. no spreadsheets pretending to be payroll systems

Benefits & Time Off (legally required and locally competitive)

• At least 24 days of paid annual leave

• State-backed maternity/paternity leave handled the right way

• Sick leave policies that help you retain talent

• 15 paid public holidays are built into the calendar

Terminations Without HR Nightmares

• Proper notice periods (usually 30 days)

• Documented termination process, for cause or mutual agreement

• Accrued leave calculated and paid out

• Zero “shortcuts” that turn into legal problems later

Hiring models in Georgia: EOR vs Entity vs Contractors

You cannot design a clean process until you choose the legal relationship you want with your team in Georgia.

1. Employer of Record (EOR) services in Georgia

With EOR.

• A local provider, for example, Team Up. becomes the legal employer in Georgia

• They sign the employment contract upon your hire

• They handle payroll, tax filings, pension, and local compliance

• You remain the day-to-day manager. work, performance, goals, culture

Best when.

• You want one to twenty hires to start

• You do not have a Georgian entity

• You want to test the market with low risk

• You do not want to learn payroll and labour law yourself

Strong opinion. If you are not sure, start with EOR. You can always open an entity later. The reverse is painful.

2. Setting up an LLC in Georgia

Here you.

• Register a company in Georgia

• Open a bank account

• Register with the Revenue Service

• Run payroll and HR yourself or via a local accountant

This gives you maximum control, but also maximum admin. It makes sense only if.

• You plan a significant, long-term presence

• Headcount will exceed, say, 15 to 20 people

• You have the legal and financial capacity to manage ongoing obligations

3. Overseas contractors hiring in Georgia

This is the “quick and dirty” option.

• You sign a service or consulting agreement with an individual or their small company

• You pay invoices, typically monthly, often in USD or EUR

• They handle their own taxes

This is ok when:

• It is short-term or project-based

• The relationship is genuinely contractor-like. no fixed hours, no strict control, no deep integration

Big risk. If someone works only for you, at fixed hours, under your managers and tools, the local authority can treat them as an employee even if your contract says “contractor”. That can create tax and legal exposure for them and for you.

Legal basics. How employment works in Georgia

You do not need to become an expert, but you should know the skeleton.

What is contract employment?

Key points:

• Contracts can be fixed-term or indefinite

• They must comply with the Labour Code of Georgia

• Common practice is to have contracts in Georgian and English, with the Georgian version legally dominant

• Employment terms should be clearly defined.

  • position and responsibilities

  • salary and currency

  • working hours and location

  • probation period if any

  • notice periods and termination grounds

  • confidentiality and IP transfer

With an Employer of Record services provider in Georgia, like Team Up, you usually provide the business needs, and they draft a compliant contract, then handle bilingual structure and registration.

Working hours and overtime

Standard working hours

Overtime work and compensation

Overtime in Georgia is defined as work performed beyond the standard working hours agreed upon in the employment contract or the standard 40-hour workweek.

Leave and holidays in Georgia

Georgian employees are entitled to:

• At least 24 working days of paid annual leave

• At least 15 days of unpaid leave on request in many cases

• Paid public holidays. Georgia has quite a few national holidays

• Maternity and paternity leave with state involvement, but structured through proper paperwork

Your EOR services in Georgia, or local HR support, need to track these and include them in payroll. You just approve or reject requests based on workload.

Probation and termination in Georgia

• Probation period in Georgia is allowed, but must be clearly written into the contract

• Termination needs a valid legal basis. restructuring, mutual agreement, performance reasons, etc

• There are notice rules and sometimes severance obligations, depending on the reason

This is exactly the area foreign companies most often break without realising. A good EOR keeps you on the safe side and guides how to document issues.

IP and confidentiality in Georgia

If your Georgian hires write code, design, content or strategic material, you must ensure:

• All IP created under employment belongs to the company that actually uses it. usually your company

• Confidentiality clauses are strong enough to cover data, trade secrets and client information

• Any work before contract start or after termination is clearly handled by additional agreements if needed

Normally, the EOR contract can assign IP from the Georgian employer to your foreign entity through a separate IP assignment framework.

Payroll processing and taxes in Georgia

This is where people get nervous. Let’s break it down cleanly.

Income tax

• Standard personal income tax is 20% flat

• It is withheld by the employer each month and paid to the Revenue Service

• The employee normally sees their salary as a net after tax number in practice, but legally, contracts can be expressed gross or net

Pension contributions

Georgia has a mandatory pension system for most employees:

• Employer contributes 2% of gross salary

• Employee contributes 2%

• The state adds 2% in many cases, up to some limits

The employer is responsible for withholding and transferring both the employer and employee parts.

Other social taxes

Unlike many EU countries, Georgia does not add big employer social security charges on top. That is one of the reasons cost is so attractive.

Example cost breakdown

Imagine you hire a mid-level backend developer on a gross salary of 2,000 USD per month. Treat USD as equivalent to GEL for simplicity, even though you would settle in GEL at the actual rate.

You would roughly see.

• Base salary. 2,000

• Employer pension: 2%

• Employee pension: 2% withheld from salary

• Income tax. 20% withheld from salary

Your employer cost without the EOR fee is approximately $2,040 per month. With the cost to use EOR on top, the total could land somewhere around 2,250 per month, still radically below US or Western European figures for a similar profile.

Pay cycle and currency

• Most companies run a monthly payroll

• Salary is usually denominated and paid in GEL, but negotiations are often done in USD or EUR

• If you use an EOR, you typically pay one consolidated invoice in EUR or USD to the provider. They handle conversion and local payouts

Step-by-step: Employer of Record services in Georgia

Now, let us do the full practical process as if you are about to make your first hire in Georgia using an EOR like Team Up.

Step 1. Define your hiring need

Write this down clearly.

• Role and seniority. for example, Senior Backend Engineer

• Tech stack or skillset

• Budget range per month or year

• Target start date

• Whether you want them as a long-term employee or a 6 to 12-month experiment

If you cannot state this in one sentence, you are not ready to hire yet.

Step 2. Choose your EOR services provider

Compare providers on:

• Do they have a real legal entity in Georgia?

• Can they show sample contracts and explain the clauses?

• How do they price? flat per employee, percentage, hidden FX, or bank fees

• Who will be your account manager? How quickly do they respond

• What is included? contracts, payroll, tax filings, HR support, local guidance, terminations

Team Up positioning here:

• Georgia focused

• Clear breakdown of salary vs taxes vs fee

• One invoice, no hidden extras

Step 3. Sign the master service agreement with EOR

You will usually sign:

• A service agreement between your company and the EOR that defines.

  • pricing, invoicing and payment terms

  • scope of services

  • data protection and confidentiality

  • liability and dispute resolution

• Sometimes, a data processing agreement is required if you are subject to GDPR or similar regimes

Once this is signed, you are ready to onboard hires.

Step 4. Source candidates

You can either:

• Use the EOR’s talent pool and recruitment support

• Or run your own recruitment using job boards, LinkedIn, and community channels, then send the final candidate to EOR for employment

Your sourcing pipeline might look like this:

1. Job spec created with input from both hiring manager and EOR

2. Screening by CV and short intro call

3. Technical or role-based interview

4. Practical task or code test if appropriate

5. Final cultural fit and offer call

Step 5. Agree offer terms

Once you pick a candidate, you align on:

• Gross monthly salary in GEL or USD

• Benefits, if any. health insurance, bonuses, equipment budget

• Start date

• Probation period length

• Working hours and remote or hybrid setup

You then send these terms to the EOR.

Step 6. Contract drafting and signing

The EOR provider in Georgia will:

• Draft a bilingual employment contract that complies with Georgian law and reflects your offer

• Include IP assignment and confidentiality clauses that protect your interests

• Share the contract with you and the candidate for review

• Handle signature collection. usually electronically

You should always review at least once, so you understand what your employee sees.

Step 7. Onboarding and systems access

Once the contract is signed and the start date is agreed upon:

• EOR registers the employee with the Revenue Service and pension system

• You handle internal onboarding, tools, accounts, documentation, and first tasks

• Ideally, you have a 30 to 60-day onboarding plan that includes.

  • Intro to mission, product, and team

  • clear goals for the first month

  • technical setup and codebase walkthrough for engineers

Step 8. Monthly payroll and HR admin

Every month, the flow looks like this:

1. You confirm any salary changes, bonuses, or overtime to the EOR by a given cutoff date

2. EOR calculates gross to net. income tax, pension, and any other items

3. EOR pays the employee in GEL to their local bank account

4. EOR files tax and pension reports with the authorities

5. You receive a consolidated invoice for.

   • total payroll cost

   • EOR fees

   • any extras, if applicable

From your perspective, you literally pay one invoice and keep managing the person’s work.

Step 9. Performance management and promotions

Legally, the employee is on the EOR’s books, but in reality, they are your team member.

You handle:

• Performance reviews

• Salary reviews and promotions

• Decisions on bonuses or RSUs in your company

• Role changes and internal mobility

When you change salary or position, you inform the EOR, who updates the contract and payroll.

Step 10. Offboarding if needed

If things do not work out:

• You agree internally on the reason and timing

• You consult the EOR on the compliant route. mutual agreement, notice, severance, documentation

• EOR prepares documents and handles local notifications and final payments

The aim is to protect you, the employee, and the EOR from disputes by following local law exactly.

Step-by-step hiring via your own Georgian entity

If you are planning a larger presence or a local office, you might want to build your own structure. Short version of what that takes.

1. Company registration

   • Choose a legal form. most commonly an LLC

   • Register with the National Agency of Public Registry

   • Prepare charter documents and local representation

2. Bank account and tax registration

   • Open a corporate bank account

   • Register with the Revenue Service

3. Accounting and payroll setup

   • Choose a local accountant or an in-house finance person

   • Set up payroll software or procedures

4. HR framework

   • Create employment contract templates

   • Build policies. working hours, remote rules, leave, security

5. Compliance and reporting

   • File monthly payroll and taxes

   • Prepare annual reports if required

Strong opinion. Do not open a Georgian entity for your first one or two hires. It is overkill in most cases. Start with EOR, then if you grow beyond 15 to 20 people and want a physical presence, reassess.

Using contractors safely in Georgia

If you decide that contractors truly fit your use case.

• Use a proper service agreement that clearly states they are independent

• Avoid dictating strict hours and day-to-day control identical to employees

• Do not be their only client forever if you can avoid it

• Spell out IP transfer, confidentiality, and payment terms

• Be aware that local authorities and foreign tax authorities can still reclassify the relationship in extreme cases

Contractors are best for short, contained work. Not core, ongoing product development for years.

Managing remote teams in Georgia: Timezone, tools, and culture

Even with perfect compliance, a badly run remote setup fails.

What time is in Georgia

• Use Georgia’s UTC+4 to your advantage.

  • Europe. almost full day overlap

  • US. morning or late afternoon overlap

• Set clear core hours where everyone is reachable

• Agree on which meetings are live and which are async

• Use good calendar discipline so Georgian teammates are not dragged into late-night calls constantly

Tooling

At minimum:

• Slack or equivalent for communication

• Project management tool. Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp

• Document hub. Notion, Confluence, Google Drive

• Proper password and access management

9.3 Culture and retention

Saving money is great. Losing great people because you treat them like disposable offshore labour is not:

• Pay competitively against the local market, not the absolute minimum

• Offer learning budget, conferences, or certifications when you can

• Involve Georgian team members in real decisions, not just execution

• If possible, arrange occasional in-person meetups. in Georgia or elsewhere

Putting it all together

If you want a super simple mental model for “hiring in Georgia correctly”.

1. Strategy. Decide headcount, roles and whether you start with EOR or entity

2. Partner. Pick a Georgia-focused EOR such as Team Up that actually understands local law and payroll

3. Hire. Source, interview, and select candidates with a clear bar

4. Contract and payroll. Let EOR handle employment contracts, payroll, taxes and pension

5. Operate. Build a solid remote culture, use timezone wisely, and keep compensation fair

6. Scale or pivot. As the team grows, decide whether to stay on EOR, mix models, or open your own entity with guidance

Not sure which route to take? Let’s talk.

We help businesses hire in Georgia the way that makes the most sense for their goals.

Whether you need full company incorporation or the speed and ease of an Employer of Record Solution, we’ll help you navigate the best option.

Book a Team Up consultation