[jeromie]

I've spent a good chunk of my career as a hiring eng. manager at Fortune 500 companies. IANAL, and I don't work in HR, but I'm getting old, am American, and have managed a lot of individual contributors. :D

There are some details missing, like what your country of residence is, but most large US-based multinationals use HR vendors that make international hiring straightforward. In my experience, that usually translates to being hired as an employee of a regional subsidiary of the parent company, operating in your country.

If it's a small company, that's probably way too expensive and they would need to set up the appropriate operating entities, etc. The contracting offer makes sense in that scenario, but it's a contract and you should negotiate comparable terms.

IMHO, it's okay to be polite and direct with the hiring manager or recruiter. You promised me <x> but offered me <y>. I understand that this might be a result of complexity hiring in <home country>, can you help me understand the detail and work with me to make this new offer equitable? My concerns are that I am no longer guaranteed <x>, <x> or <x>. What can we do?

If they're not willing to have that conversation or resolve those gaps in compensation or equity (totally agree with other folks here that US-employment is generally at-will on the part of both the employer and employee -- your rights as a worker here generally suck compared to other places, and let's not even start on the topic of healthcare and insurance), then I agree with the "this is a bait-and-switch" sentiment.

At that point, you get to choose to take the role under the offered terms (you've got money coming in, and you can keep looking for a better opportunity while performing that role), or you can pass and find a less shady employer.

[maybecontractor]

This is great advice. Thanks for offering it.

The company is small (sub 30 people) and I don't think they are acting in bad faith. I just went back with this:

---

Hey <CEO>,

Thanks for getting me the paperwork and for working to accommodate my pre-existing condition (of being a <COUNTRY>ian)!

A little confused though? In my conversation with <CTO> I was offered full-time employment @ $XXX,XXX USD with benefits, vacation, and an equity package.

While I understand that it might not be possible to employ me as an FTE, I hope that we might be able to come to terms that are closer to what was originally offered.

I'm free after <TIME> if you'd like to chat!

<SIGN OFF> <PHONE>

[x0x0]

Maybe look in your country for PEOs and suggest one (ideally their HR would do this, but small company). They should cost about $1k/month, plus whatever benefits they're giving you.

The equity may be entirely impossible though; depending on your country, that can be a landmine of laws.

[kjaftaedi]

It's definitely not legal to employ you as an FTE

Just like if someone from the US came to your country, your country will 100% prevent you from hiring them without significant life-changing effort.

Hopefully your negotiation for additional pay goes in your favor.

Good luck!

[jeromie]

How did this work out for you? Super curious about how your experience went in practice.

[jeromie]

As an aside, I stumbled across these guys earlier today. They seem like they're trying to make global HR practices more accessible to smaller companies.

https://remote.com/