Local knowledge
on tap
on tap
Guidance from our People Ops and employment counsel in the market you are actually hiring in.
Ready to move a contractor onto payroll?
It is a short, well-worn path when you run it through Cairnway. Weigh up misclassification exposure, agree the terms, and convert contractors to full-time employees — one platform, start to finish.
Specialists beside you from first question to first payslip
Whether you are pressure-testing a misclassification risk, converting one contractor, or running a team of 40 across nine countries, it happens in the same place with the same people.
Conversions,
handled
handled
We manage the whole transition and every stakeholder in it — notice periods, offers, start dates.
Compliance
you can see
you can see
Plain-language tools for reading legal risk and comparing contractor cost against a salaried offer.
Benefits worth
staying for
staying for
Pay in local currency with health cover and statutory benefits that keep good people in place.
Weigh the risk first — at no cost
Treating an employee as a contractor is the kind of mistake that surfaces two years later, in a letter from a labour authority, with back taxes attached.
Run your roster through the analyser to see where exposure sits and what a salaried offer would actually cost. Then talk it through with someone who has done this in that market before.
Try the risk analyserEnter contractor details
Annual fee in USDContractor location
Contractor #1
78,400.00
Portugal
Contractor #2
43,150.00
Chile
Add another contractor
Start the analysis
Contractor #2Needs attention
Chile · 43,150.00 USD · 19 months engaged
Risk based on nature of work
Low risk of misclassificationThis engagement reads as properly classified.
Wondering how a conversion actually runs?
Three stages, one named team. You get a dedicated specialist who stays with the case from the first call until the new starter is on payroll.
Stage 01
Map the situation
We go through your contractors, the work they actually do, and the employment models open to you in each country — with costs attached.
Stage 02
Run the transition
We align the stakeholders, including the contractor, then build a dated plan and take it through legal review before anything is signed.
Stage 03
Land it properly
Weekly check-ins until onboarding closes out, with the whole trail visible to you in the platform rather than in someone’s inbox.
Without something like Cairnway you end up talking yourself out of it — “we’re not going to hire there.” That quietly cuts you off from most of the talent pool. Cairnway takes the excuse away.
We’ve hired and onboarded 38 people across 10 countries through Cairnway. There is no version of the last two years where we grow that fast on our own.
Once the paperwork is done, every step is described and documented, so you always know what’s next. Onboarding could not be quicker.
Worth reading next
Talent acquisitionThe 18 best countries to hire freelancers from
Where the depth of the talent pool, the time-zone overlap and the paperwork all line up.
Read more
Hiring contractorsHiring independent contractors in Europe: what actually changes at the border
A country-by-country read on contracts, notice, and the tests that decide classification.
Read more
ComplianceWhy classification comes up in every funding round
What diligence teams look for, and the four records that make the question go away quickly.
Read moreDon’t sweat it — this part is ours
You’re perfectly capable of running a conversion yourself. You just have better things to do with the next six weeks. Hand it over.
Book a free consultation