Market Entry HR Setup for US Biotech Startups
Your First European Hires Need a Compliant Setup Before Day One. We Build It, Country by Country.
A clinical program starting in Germany, a medical affairs lead in France, the first commercial hires after a funding round: a US biotech’s first European team usually arrives sooner than its HR setup. Employment in Europe is national. Contracts, payroll registration, social security, paid leave and the hiring process itself follow the law of the country you hire in, not your US playbook.
Europe HR Solutions sets up the employment and HR side before your first hire: the country and employment route, employer registrations, local contracts and policies, payroll setup and a compliant hiring process. We set up and support HR; we do not employ your staff. Your team starts on time, on your own contracts.
WHO WE ARE
The European HR Team Your First Hires Will Have, Before You Have One
Your first European hires get an HR team before you have built one. For over 15 years we have set up the employment side for US and UK companies opening their first European countries: one senior EHRS team that coordinates your setup from the first call, and independent specialists who know each country’s rules, registrations and providers. Your Head of People gets one partner for Europe, not a new adviser in every country.
When Acumen, a US pharmaceutical startup, hired its first Medical Directors in Germany and France, we compared employer of record with direct hiring in both countries, advised on the contracts and set up the HR documents, and the hires started compliantly and on time. Read the Acumen story.
FROM DECISION TO DAY ONE
From the Decision to Hire in Europe to Day One, and the Support After It
Opening a country for your first hires is a fixed sequence of decisions and setups. We run it with you, in the order that keeps the start date, and stay on once the team is in.
- 01Step 1
Pick the country
Where the program or the first roles sit, and what that country requires before you can employ anyone there.
- 02Step 2
Choose the employment route
Subsidiary, branch or foreign-employer registration, matched to headcount, timing and how much control you want.
- 03Step 3
Contracts and policies
A local employment contract, offer documents and the policies your first team needs, in the local language where the law requires it.
- 04Step 4
Payroll setup
Payroll provider selected, employer registrations filed, social security and benefits in place before the first payday.
- 05Day one
First hire starts
Day one with the contract signed, payroll live and onboarding ready. The same path then repeats for the next hire and the next country.
- 06After day one
Support
Ongoing HR support as the team grows, from the same partner: contracts for the next hires, payroll questions, leave, performance, and the next country when it comes onto the roadmap.
The sequence is the same in every country. What changes is the route, the registrations and the lead times, which we map for your country in the first call.
WHAT US TEAMS DO NOT EXPECT
Four Rules That Change How You Hire the Moment You Cross the Atlantic
EU-wide minimums that apply in every Member State, before any national rule is added on top. They shape the contract, the offer and the policies of your very first hire.
Core terms in writing
The parties, job, start date, pay and working pattern must reach your new hire in writing within seven calendar days of the first working day, and the rest within a month. A US offer letter does not cover it; a local contract does.
Directive (EU) 2019/1152, Article 5
The probation cap
Probation periods cannot run longer than six months, with longer periods only where national law allows them on an exceptional basis. Plan the review earlier than you would at home.
Directive (EU) 2019/1152, Article 8
Paid annual leave, minimum
Every worker gets at least four weeks of paid annual leave by law, and several countries set more. A US PTO policy needs a European version before the first contract is signed.
Directive 2003/88/EC, Article 7
The pay range, before anyone negotiates
Candidates must receive the starting pay or its range in time to negotiate, and employers cannot ask about pay history, as each country’s law takes effect. Your job ads and offer process need it built in.
Directive (EU) 2023/970, Article 5
YOUR FIRST COUNTRY
Start With the Country on Your Roadmap
Our country pages cover 24 European markets, each set up the same way. Pick the one where your first roles sit.
Pick your first country
Each country page shows how employment contracts, payroll, benefits and hiring work there, and what your first hires will expect. Choose the market on your roadmap; the setup follows the same path wherever your team sits.
WHAT EUROPE HR SOLUTIONS HANDLES
Six Workstreams That Put Your First European Team on a Compliant Footing
Each one is done to the rules of the country you hire in, by people who open countries for US companies routinely.
Country & Employment Route
Which country, and whether to employ through a subsidiary, a branch or a foreign-employer registration, with what each means for timing, cost and control of your first hires.
Employer Registrations
Tax, social security and insurance registrations filed in the right order, so your company can employ people lawfully from the first contract.
Employment Contracts & Offers
Local employment contracts and offer documents with the written terms, probation, notice, confidentiality and IP clauses that hold in that country.
HR Policies & Handbook
Working time, leave, remote work, expenses, data protection and conduct: the handful of policies a first European team needs, written to local law.
Payroll & Benefits Setup
A local payroll provider selected and set up, with pension, health and other benefits the country requires or the market expects, live before the first payday.
Hiring Process & Onboarding
Job ads with the pay range, interviews, offers and day-one onboarding run to local rules, so your first clinical, regulatory or commercial hire starts cleanly.
RELATED PAGES
Setup First, Documents and Support Next
Market Entry HR Setup in Europe →
The service behind this page: employment route, registrations, contracts, policies and payroll setup for a new country, for any sector.
Setup first, documents nextEmployment Documentation Package →
Contracts, policies and handbooks for each country, ready for the hires that follow the first one.
IndustryHR for Pharmaceutical Startups →
How we support pharma and life sciences startups in Europe beyond the first country: compliance, recruitment and ongoing HR.
QUESTIONS US PEOPLE LEADERS ASK US
Hiring Your First European Team From the US: Your Questions Answered
1. Do we need a legal entity in Europe before we can hire?
Not always. Depending on the country, you can employ through a subsidiary, a branch, or by registering your US company as a foreign employer for payroll and social security. Each route has different lead times, costs and obligations. We lay out the options for your country and headcount, and set up the one you choose.
2. Are you an Employer of Record?
No. An Employer of Record employs your people on its own contracts and leases them to you. We set up and support HR for your own company: the employment route, registrations, contracts, policies, payroll setup and hiring process. Your team is employed by you, on your contracts. If you are on an EOR today, we plan the move onto your own setup without a gap for the employee.
3. We are a US company with no European HR. Who handles day-to-day HR after the setup?
We can. After the setup, the same senior team and in-country specialists support your European team on an ongoing basis: contracts for the next hires, payroll questions, leave, performance and terminations, in the local language where needed. Your US Head of People keeps one contact for all of Europe.
4. Can we use our US offer letter, handbook and PTO policy?
As a starting point for intent, not as documents. Core terms must reach the employee in writing within seven calendar days of the first working day, probation is capped at six months, and every worker gets at least four weeks of paid leave, before any national rule is added. We draft the local contract and the policies your first team needs, and keep your culture in them.
5. How long does it take from decision to the first hire starting?
It depends on the country and the employment route. Entity and employer registrations usually set the pace, and some countries move faster than others. In the first call we map the lead times for your country and the earliest realistic start date for your first hire, so your program plan rests on real dates.
6. Our first hires are clinical and medical affairs roles in two countries. Can you set up both at once?
Yes. Each country gets its own route, registrations, contract and payroll, and we run them in parallel with one plan and one point of contact. The second country reuses most of the method, so it goes faster than the first.
7. What do we have to put in a European job ad?
The starting pay or its range. The EU Pay Transparency Directive says candidates get it early enough to negotiate, whether in the ad or before the interview, and that you cannot ask what they earn now or earned before. Each country brings these rules in through its own law, on its own timeline, so we build your hiring country’s version into the ad, the interview and the offer.
8. Can we send someone from the US to open the office?
Often, yes, and it usually needs a work permit, a local employment contract or assignment letter, and a decision on social security. We coordinate the employment side with immigration counsel so that the person who opens the country is employed and paid correctly from day one.
Your First European Hire Should Start on Time, on a Compliant Setup.
Know what your first country needs before the first offer goes out
Tell us which country your first roles sit in, what they are, and when they should start: a clinical program, a medical affairs lead, the first commercial hires.
You receive the employment routes open to you, the registrations and documents the country requires, and a realistic timeline to day one.
No commitment required. Bring your roadmap, and we map the setup behind it.