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Papaya Global

Papaya Global: International PEO Solution

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Papaya Global: International PEO Solution

Updated: October 12, 2023

Papaya Global is a renowned fintech company and global payroll provider that was founded in 2016, with a US office in New York City, New York. They deploy their services via a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that simplifies hiring people in more than 160 different nations, thus allowing clients to have access to a worldwide workforce. Although they are primarily known as a global Employer of Record (EOR), Papaya Global also functions as a global PEO that provides services to companies looking to hire overseas without opening a local entity.

With this review, we seek to explore whether they can suit your company's needs by discussing their service features, perks, costs, and user experiences. Keep reading to learn more.

Pros

Excellent global payment automations
Free demo available on request
Serves you in most countries as a global PEO
Support from various international industry experts

Cons

May be pricey
Lack of PEO credentials
Flawed and limited integrations

Quick Stats

Business Size
Small and medium-sized (SMB)
Cost
Quote-based for PEO
Customer Experience
Good
IRS-Certified
Not Available
Expert HR Guidance
Available
BBB Rating
NA
Trustpilot Score
2.6 out of 5
NAPEO Member
Not Available
ESAC Accreditation
Not Available

About Papaya Global's PEO

Papaya Global's Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is not limited to the United States, but is a global PEO that enables businesses to employ abroad without setting up a local presence. The client oversees the worker's professional tasks, while the global PEO serves as the worker's legal employer in their country. If you're looking to manage your worldwide workforce and payroll administration on a single global platform and connect to a network of trusted local vendors, your business may get a lot of value out of Papaya Global's comprehensive workforce solution. Keep in mind that Papaya Global also operates as an EOR, which completely takes over the employment of workers in countries where your business does not have proper registration. You can find out more about the difference between EORs and PEOs in this post.

The company provides payroll, benefits, employer of record, contractor management, and IC compliance in 160 countries. Papaya Global helps business owners who need assistance navigating international payroll, immigration processes for employees, and local benefits packages. Papaya Global is a great PEO solution for companies that want to expand their business in other countries and need help recruiting, hiring, training, paying, and sustaining international top talent.

They do have their fair share of accolades for their corporate and social actions, including being put on top company and innovator lists by Time magazine, Inc., and Forbes. However, they do not hold any PEO industry credentials, which set apart most of the top PEOs. Specifically, they are not members of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), don't hold IRS certification, nor are they accredited by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC). They also are not accredited or rated by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and, in fact, don't seem to be registered at all with that organization.

Industries & Business Sizes Served by Papaya Global

Papaya Global does not advertise to any specific business demographics on their website and blog. They state that they serve businesses of all sizes, from startups all the way to large enterprises. That being said, they do say that their global PEO is ideal for small or medium-sized companies looking to expand overseas, although they don't specify the optimal total employee numbers that those SMBs should have.

On the other hand, they don't speak at all about the industries that they serve, and it is implied that their services are designed to help businesses across a wide range of industries.

Papaya Global's PEO Features

Papaya Global hosts all their services in one technological solution. Their main focus is employee and contractor management for international companies who operate in multiple countries, whether your business has a legal entity in all the countries you operate in or not. As such, many of their features are specially tailored for their EOR services, but are also highly applicable if you employ them as a global PEO. The features are:

  • Platform: Their global workforce payroll platform is where all their services may be accessed. Users may be able to access reports, implement human resources information system (HRIS) integrations, and add new workers to projects. The platform also allows customizations to user permissions, approval chains, and event notifications
  • Payroll and payments: They support payments for your entire workforce, as well as international contractors, in over 160 countries and in local currency, which can be automated and sent directly to bank accounts. Their payroll features also include payslip production and emailing, equity management, and payments to third parties like pension plans, national insurance, IRS, and so on
  • Compliance: They will ensure compliance with local workplace laws and payroll regulations, and they specifically ensure compliance with GDPR, SOC2, and contract management practices
  • Integrations: They offer many integrations with many HRIS systems, like NetSuite or BambooHR, and offer customized integration to platforms they don't already support
  • Expert support: If you should have location-specific inquiries, they provide expert guidance that can aid you through your employment or payroll issues. They also offer technical support that can aid with platform use issues and ensure you stay on top of all necessary operations
  • Employee app: The mobile app functions as a self-service employee portal, where you can access personal reviews, payslips, track schedules, and access necessary documents

Papaya Global's Costs & Plans

Papaya Global boasts that they offer a straightforward fee structure: a set-up fee per location, a cycle fee per employee, and a year-end fee for tax filing. They have multiple packages and plans for their various services, all of which specify introductory prices. For example, their costs start at $12 monthly per employee for their full-service payroll package and from $650 per employee monthly for their EOR services. However, none of those plans even mention PEO services, much less serve as dedicated co-employment packages.

To get a general idea of what you'd be paying, they do have an online price calculator on their pricing webpage, which breaks down the costs and presents them monthly and yearly. To get a more personalized quote that takes into account all your required services, however, you have to fill out a quote request form.

Papaya Global Perks

There are many perks to choosing Papaya Global. Some of those include:

  • Well-Rounded Services: They offer many options for global employment that cater to different corporate statuses or requirements in other countries, most of which are transparently and separately priced. That means that if your criteria should change, you can still make use of their global payroll, contractor management, or EOR services, among others
  • Global compliance and uniformity: Because they fully operate in most countries, they can ensure workplace regulation compliance while giving you simultaneous, automated payment schedules
  • High-end payroll: Papaya uses high-end software, as well as local experts, to ensure that its payroll follows each country's rules. They process payments in local currency and provide paystubs in local languages. Payroll may be processed by in-country affiliates who are knowledgeable about the taxes, levies, and withholdings necessary in that nation. Also, the platform's AI engine ensures compliance with local laws, with a specific focus on tax rates, social withholdings, and payroll data accuracy
  • High-tech global platform: Its SaaS-based worldwide payroll technology does not need any on-site installation. It features automated workflows that take the place of manual international payroll processes
  • Business Intelligence (BI): Papaya's analytics platform gathers information about payroll from around the world and turns it into useful business insights right away
  • Data Security: Their platform possesses audit reports with SOC 1, Type 2, and SOC 2, Type 2 ratings and is certified by ISO 27001 and ISO 27701. It's also accredited by the ASC and GDPR
  • Integrations: The platform works with many workforce management solutions, and comes with HRIS integration capabilities right out of the box. ERP, VMS, time and attendance, or expense management system integrations can also be made available, all in one platform
  • Global Benefits: Through its regional partners, they are able to offer national non-mandatory benefits. Its internal benefit specialists advise businesses on the most suitable sorts of programs for each area. This makes it easier for companies to relocate talent around the world while competing for top applicants wherever they choose to set up locations
  • Global immigration and equity: Their experts help businesses find and keep the best employees around the world by giving advice on global equity programs, and can advise on global immigration to help you follow local immigration laws and get proper Visas

Drawbacks to Papaya Global

This company may not suit your criteria for a few reasons, which are:

  • Difficult integrations: Aside from HRIS integrations that they advertise, the platform does not support many third-party applications. Users report having a lot of difficulty getting those to work in conjunction with the platform
  • HR capabilities not as robust: With their focus being on global employment and payment, their advanced HR service offerings suffer. That means that if you need full-featured training or performance management tools, you might need to look elsewhere
  • May get costly: Their pricing model, though transparent, means that your costs can become quite high the more employees and services you add
  • Limited support times: Their customer service is not available 24/7, so they may not be able to assist you immediately if you have issues after-hours

Client Perceptions for Papaya Global

Given the young age of the company, it isn't surprising that there isn't a lot of feedback from actual Papaya Global clients online, but only a few reviews specifically relate to their PEO services. That being said, they seem to enjoy high review scores among users, getting 4.4 stars out of 5 on G2 and 4.5 out of 5 on Software Advice. However, they received a lower score of 2.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot.

Usability

Reviewers seem to find the Papaya Global platform to be easy to use and well-organized and praise it for the ability to submit payroll expenses and adjustments simultaneously for several countries, and for its easy onboarding process. In general, users had positive experiences with the platform, finding it sufficiently scalable and user-friendly.

However, some users were less impressed by the platform, saying they had difficulty finding necessary information or records. A few reviewers thought that having separate invoicing processes across their business locations would cause them a lot of trouble, while others disliked the system layout for being clunky and not recalling their last function requests. A few users said that third-party integrations, though functional, require a difficult and time-consuming process.

Support

Users liked that this company's representatives would thoroughly train them on the system's features during the implementation phase, and for their patience in answering questions. One reviewer was especially happy to have a direct contact person who takes part in meetings and acts as part of their business, while another specifically praised the onboarding manager assigned to them for being knowledgeable and responsive.

One critical reviewer suggested that the company's team could be better at providing pointed recommendations for such things as initiating projects or navigating the different types of expenses in new markets.

Is it worth it?

Even otherwise satisfied customers found Papaya Global's prices to be too high, and a few say that they have been charged hidden fees. That being said, many of them find a lot of value in Papaya's efficient service and support to their workforces in multiple countries.

Papaya does not have any public complaints lodged against them, as they do not have a BBB page devoted to them. As such, we cannot comment on the quality of their responses to feedback. That being said, they seem to display high satisfaction from current clients and present as a worthwhile PEO option.

Customer Support at Papaya Global

To get in touch with Papaya, you can simply fill out the form on their Contact Us page and wait for a call, or you may also set up a direct call to the support team through the live chat box. You can also find many articles on their support page that address your specific inquiry. Alternatively, you can send them an email to [email protected].

Final Words on Papaya Global PEO

Papaya Global PEO is built on an easy-to-use modern platform that simplifies global employment tasks, be they related to HR, payroll, compliance, or benefits. They boast a high level of satisfaction from current clients, especially regarding their hassle-free onboarding and simultaneous global payment solutions. Thus, they are a compelling choice for customers who need a reliable international co-employment option.

On the other hand, some clients have found Papaya's platform to be cumbersome because of unrefined third-party integrations and difficulties with invoicing and reporting. Also, companies with offices in only one nation may not find Papaya's services comprehensive enough because they focus their energies more on global employment matters. So, if you aren't seeking to add employees or expand globally, Papaya Global may not be a fit.

Even if you can make use of their global PEO services and are enticed by their expert customer service track record, we recommend you look at other companies and compare. But, if your business is based in the US and you are more worried about the payroll and HR concerns of local teams, then check out other top PEOs on our reviews page. We think you'll find one that closely meets your needs.

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