Employee benefits, insurance & workspace: What EORs provide in Eastern Europe
- Gegidze • გეგიძე | Marketing
- 6 days ago
- 10 min read
Table of contents:
Introduction: Why perks, not just payroll, matter in Eastern Europe
If your entire talent strategy for Eastern Europe boils down to "they’re skilled and cheaper," you’re in for a rude awakening.
Sure, companies first look eastward for cost savings and tech talent. But here’s the truth: most companies discover too late: Eastern European engineers, marketers, and designers aren’t just comparing salaries—they’re comparing benefits, workspace setups, and whether your company actually feels like a real job.
Skip offering competitive perks, clear remote-work policies, or private health insurance, and watch your best hires quietly disappear to competitors who actually understand the region.
That’s why Employer of Record (EOR) solutions exist: to help you get hiring in Eastern Europe right from day one. EORs handle payroll, perks, equipment, and workspace compliance, so your employees feel valued, not just cost-effective.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through exactly what perks matter in Eastern Europe, what’s legally required, and how an EOR ensures your team sticks around long enough to make hiring worthwhile.
What benefits are legally required in Eastern Europe?
You can’t cut corners on compliance, even when you’re hiring remotely.
In Eastern Europe, the legal baseline for employee benefits isn’t a suggestion. It’s a rulebook, and skipping it means fines, disputes, or watching talent walk. Whether you're hiring in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, or the Czech Republic, these are the non-negotiables your Employer of Record (EOR) must handle for you:
Minimum Wage Compliance
Every country has its own floor. And it’s not optional.
Example: In 2025, the Czech Republic mandates a minimum monthly wage of CZK 20,800. In Poland, it’s PLN 4,300. Your payroll must match or exceed this, and your contract has to reflect it, yes, in the local language.
Paid Annual Leave
20 working days is the norm, sometimes more for specific groups.
In Croatia, that’s the legal minimum. In Slovakia or Latvia, it's the same, but hazardous or night workers often get extra days.
Public Holidays
Paid national holidays are part of the package. Don’t expect employees to work through Orthodox Christmas or May Day without compensation.
Sick Leave
Sick means sick. Most countries require partial or full salary coverage based on doctor’s notes, usually for up to 30 days or more, then social insurance kicks in.
Maternity, Paternity, and Parental Leave
Statutory leave policies are serious here.
In Bulgaria, mothers get 410 days of paid leave. Fathers? Depending on the country, they’re entitled to at least 5–15 days post-birth, often paid by the state.
Social Security & Pensions
Your EOR must deduct and contribute to public funds—covering pensions, healthcare, unemployment, and disability insurance.
Example: Romania has a multi-pillar pension system. Employers contribute 2.25% to social security; employees contribute around 25% total (income tax + pension + health).
Working Hours & Overtime Pay
40 hours per week is standard.
Overtime? Has to be tracked and paid at 125%–200% of base salary depending on the day and country law. You can’t ignore it—even if you hire remote.
Severance Pay & Notice Periods
Termination isn’t just a Slack message and a goodbye.
Employees are entitled to notice periods (from 15 days to 3 months depending on tenure) and severance pay where applicable.
Public healthcare
Most countries operate mandatory state healthcare systems.
Your employees are automatically enrolled when social taxes are paid correctly. That’s part of your EOR’s job.
These aren't "nice to haves", they’re compliance essentials.
That’s why you need an EOR that’s tuned into the legal details of each Eastern European market.
Is private health insurance required, or just expected?
Here’s the short version: in Eastern Europe, you don’t have to offer private health insurance, but if you want to keep top talent, you probably should.
Let’s break it down.
The legal side
Most countries in Eastern Europe run a compulsory public health system. Employees are automatically enrolled when social contributions are paid (via employer and employee payroll deductions). This covers basic care, doctor visits, public hospitals, sick leave benefits, etc.
That’s the law.
Your EOR makes these contributions on your behalf, so you’re compliant by default. No private insurance required.
The market reality
Now comes the part no one tells you in the labor code:
Everyone wants more than just “basic care.”
Why?
Because public systems are often overburdened. Waiting times are long. Service quality varies. And the better hospitals? They’re private.
That’s where private health insurance steps in.
It’s not mandatory, but in places like:
Lithuania → private top-up plans are common to bypass long public queues
Poland → mid-tier and above firms offer private health plans to cover employees and their families
Romania → fast-growing tech and finance sectors treat private coverage as a baseline perk, not a bonus
What competitive employers do
They offer private health insurance, not because the government forces them to, but because skilled workers expect it.
And if you don’t?
They’ll go with the company that does.
Offering a clean contract, solid salary, and public insurance coverage might tick the compliance box.
But offering private health insurance? That’s how you tick the retention box.
What other perks do competitive employers offer?
Statutory benefits might keep you legal. But they won’t keep your team.
If you're hiring in Eastern Europe and wondering why your offer isn’t getting bites—or why your top engineer just jumped ship to a fintech across the street—it’s probably not about salary. It’s about everything else.
Let’s talk perks.
What the cool employers are offering in 2025:
1. Private health, plus wellness
Not just basic coverage. We’re talking:
Top-up private insurance (often with dental, vision, mental health)
Therapy sessions covered
Wellness stipends that go toward gym memberships, yoga, or even dance classes (Hint: Eastern European tech workers love to work out)
2. Growth isn’t optional
Smart employers pay for:
Certifications
Udemy, Coursera, or local bootcamps
English classes or even DE/FR/PL lessons
Conference passes in Berlin, Lisbon, or wherever your people want to go
3. Remote support that actually supports
Flexible hours aren’t a benefit, they’re the default. The bar is higher now:
Internet and phone bill reimbursement
Meal vouchers or Sodexo cards
Top-tier laptops and second screens sent to their door
Coworking memberships in cities like Tallinn, Vilnius, Sofia, and Kraków
4. Cash perks that speak louder than words
Quarterly bonuses tied to team or personal KPIs
Profit-sharing in fast-growth startups
Stock options in scale-ups with real exits on the horizon
5. Lifestyle and life-stage benefits
Extra days off for birthdays, weddings, mental health, or life admin
Baby bonuses, childcare help, or flexible return-to-work after parental leave
Pension top-ups for Gen X and elder care support for millennials with aging parents
6. The “culture” benefits that don’t feel fake
Retreats in the mountains or beach coworking weeks
Volunteering time off and donation matching
Bike-to-work programs and yes, sometimes…pet-friendly offices
Workspace support for remote employees
Let’s be real, remote work isn’t a perk anymore. It’s the baseline. But a laptop and a Zoom link won’t cut it if you’re serious about building a distributed team in Eastern Europe that actually performs (and sticks around).
So, what does workspace support actually look like when done right?
Your legal (and human) obligations
Remote doesn’t mean “figure it out yourself.” In 2025, across countries like Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and the Czech Republic, the employer, or their EOR, is on the hook for more than just a pay slip.
1. You provide the tools.
Yes, the literal tools. Laptops, monitors, chargers, and even ergonomic chairs. If employees use their own stuff, you usually have to reimburse them for:
Internet
Electricity
Maintenance and wear
2. You document everything.
The remote setup isn’t casual anymore. Labor codes now require you to:
Put remote terms in writing
Define cost reimbursements
Outline work hours and communication policies
3. You’re still responsible for safety.
Even if your developer is working from their kitchen in Sofia, you’re on the hook for ensuring safe work conditions. That means:
Risk assessments (yep, even remotely)
Ergonomic guidance
Mental health support
What the best employers do
The legal stuff is just the start. Here’s what companies that actually care about retention provide:
Monthly home office stipends to cover workspace setup or recurring costs
Coworking passes in cities like Vilnius, Budapest, or Zagreb
Reimbursed high-speed internet, with tech support if needed
Ergonomic bundles (think chairs, standing desks, or wellness top-ups)
Digital productivity suites—not just Slack and GDrive, but smart systems that enable async work and reduce burnout
Why this matters
You’re not just paying someone in another country. You’re building a team. And the tools you provide are part of how they experience their job.
Want a remote employee who feels supported, not stranded?
An EOR like Team Up helps you:
Comply with local remote work laws
Offer perks that match the talent market
Avoid the admin hell of tracking expenses or managing reimbursements
Who provides the equipment and tools?
Here’s a simple rule of thumb: if your team needs it to do their job remotely, you should be the one providing it.
In Eastern Europe, that’s not just a nice gesture, it’s how you stay compliant.
It’s not optional
Labor codes across the region (Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, you name it) make one thing clear:
Remote work still means real work.
And real work requires real equipment.
If you’re hiring through an Employer of Record (EOR), that responsibility still lands on you, just without the legal and logistical gymnastics of managing it solo.
What typically needs to be covered:
Laptops, phones, monitors, and accessories
Licensed software and collaboration tools
Internet connection fees
Electricity and maintenance reimbursements (when personal equipment is used)
You break it, you fix it
Employers are also expected to handle maintenance and tech support, not passing the buck to IT YouTube tutorials.
Some companies even throw in equipment insurance for peace of mind.
It all goes in writing
Remote work agreements are legally required in many countries. These should spell out:
What you provide vs. what the employee uses
What’s reimbursable (and how)
Maintenance, return, and liability terms
Get it wrong, and you’re opening yourself up to tax penalties, labor violations, or simply frustrated employees.
Get it right, and you’ve just solved one of the most important (and underrated) parts of building a remote team that stays productive.
Why these perks matter for retention
Let’s be honest, no one dreams of working a job that feels like a shortcut.
When remote employees in Eastern Europe receive no support, no perks, and no clarity, they don’t feel like part of a team.
They feel like outsourced labor. Disposable. Forgettable.
And that’s when they leave.
Perks = permanence
When you offer private health insurance, internet stipends, ergonomic equipment, and access to learning opportunities, you’re not just checking boxes. You’re sending a signal:
“We’re not cutting corners. We’re investing in you like we would any full-time team member.”
That one shift from transactional gig to professional career makes all the difference in retention.
What serious candidates expect
In 2025, top candidates in Eastern Europe aren’t just asking about salary. They’re asking:
Do you provide equipment?
Can I work from a coworking space?
What does your health plan cover?
Do you offer stipends for training or wellness?
If your offer can’t stand next to what they’d get from a Berlin or London startup hiring remotely, they’ll walk.
Retention data doesn’t lie
We’ve seen it play out again and again:
Teams with clear benefits + workspace support = 30–50% longer average tenure
Teams without these = high churn, expensive rehiring, poor engagement scores
And it’s not just a “nice to have.”
If you’re hiring in a market with strong statutory protections and rising expectations, under-delivering can also hurt your brand or raise compliance red flags.
This is where a good EOR earns its keep
A solid Employer of Record doesn’t just keep you compliant on paper.
They help you craft a setup that makes people stay.
That means:
Plug-and-play benefits packages aligned with local expectations
Hardware delivery, reimbursements, and workspace options
One monthly invoice that covers it all
Final Comparison: EOR vs building your own HR setup
Let’s cut through the “depends on your goals” fluff.
Here’s what hiring in Eastern Europe really looks like when you stack EOR against setting up your own entity—from someone who’s seen both go right (and very wrong).
EOR in Eastern Europe: Plug-and-play HR infrastructure
What it actually does:
Hires employees on your behalf under local law.
Issue compliant contracts in local languages.
Runs payroll, files taxes, pays benefits, and keeps you legal.
Handles onboarding, leave, insurance, pension, severance, and offboarding—so you don’t have to.
Keeps you 100% above board with local labor authorities.
Why companies use it:
No entity needed → skip the 3–6 months of paperwork, lawyers, and bank accounts.
Hire in 1–3 weeks, not quarters.
Pay one monthly invoice that covers salaries, taxes, benefits, and the EOR fee.
Stay compliant without needing to learn the Slovak labor code or Romanian tax forms.
Leave when you want → just offboard the employee. No bureaucracy funeral.
When it’s not ideal:
You want full control over HR policies, branding, or super-custom benefits.
You plan to scale a 50+ person team in-market permanently (in which case, entity setup can become cheaper per head).
You want your local employees to have your company name on their contracts (not the EORs).
Building your own HR ops: Full control, full complexity
What it actually involves:
Incorporating a local company or branch.
Registering with tax, labor, and social insurance authorities.
Setting up local payroll systems, HR policies, contracts, and banking.
Hiring lawyers, accountants, and possibly an HR team just to stay afloat.
Why companies do it:
Full control → over hiring, benefits, contracts, and culture.
Cheaper at scale → if you're running a 50+ person office for 5+ years.
Local presence → makes you look serious and invested.
IP/tax planning → sometimes useful if you're optimizing for more than payroll.
But here’s the fine print:
$10K–$50K upfront setup costs (and that’s being conservative).
2–4 months minimum to launch, sometimes more.
Ongoing legal exposure if you misstep on anything—benefits, terminations, tax filings.
Hard to unwind → closing a company is its own project.
Conclusion
You can offer competitive salaries in Eastern Europe.
You can highlight global projects and remote flexibility.
But if you skip the benefits, insurance, and workspace support, don’t be surprised when top talent walks.
Hiring isn’t just a legal checkbox.
It’s a signal.
The difference between “you’re a real part of this team” and “you’re just a cheaper option somewhere far away.”
That’s why EORs matter.
They don’t just handle payroll, they help you deliver the full employment experience.
They know what benefits matter, what perks retain people, and how to stay compliant across countries you don’t live in.
If you’re hiring in Eastern Europe and want to actually keep the people you hire?
Book a call with Team Up.
Let’s make sure your offer is as serious as your expansion.