Global hiring gets complicated fast — IP ownership, data security, employment law, liability. Edge was built to handle all of it. Your talent are real employees under real employment law, with NDAs, IP assignment, HIPAA-grade security, and a fully compliant employer-of-record structure. You get the global talent. None of the exposure.
Compliance gaps in global hiring are well-documented. Here's where they typically emerge, and how Edge is structured to eliminate them.
Freelancers work on personal laptops, home Wi-Fi, and shared devices. There's no security infrastructure, no DLP, and no way to enforce data handling policies after the project ends.
Independent contractor agreements often have weak or unenforceable IP clauses. Work-for-hire doctrine varies by country. If a freelancer copies your process, good luck enforcing anything.
With no formal employment contract, no local entity, and no legal jurisdiction — you have virtually zero enforceable recourse if something goes wrong.
Offshore BPOs cycle through interchangeable agents with no investment in your specific workflows. High turnover, zero continuity, and your work is treated as a commodity.
Misclassifying a worker as a contractor when they should be an employee creates tax liability, fines, and legal exposure — and most freelancer platforms leave that risk entirely with you.
If a freelancer ghosts or a BPO swaps your person, there's no SLA, no guarantee, and no one whose job it is to fix it. You absorb the cost and start over.
Edge is a fully compliant employer of record. That means your talent are real employees — under real employment law, with real contracts, real benefits, and real legal protections. Edge is the legal employer. You have zero employer liability, zero co-employment risk, and full legal coverage. Here's what that actually looks like:
Healthcare, dental, insurance, accounting — your industries handle sensitive data every day. Edge doesn't bolt security on as an afterthought. It's built into the infrastructure from the ground up.
Edge campuses, networks, hardware, and VPNs are built to meet HIPAA requirements. Talent handling protected health information work within a fully compliant environment — not a home office on shared Wi-Fi.
Edge holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications — the same security standards used by enterprise SaaS companies and financial institutions.
All Edge-issued hardware has USB ports disabled by policy. No data leaves the device via external media. Period.
Every campus workstation connects through encrypted HIPAA-grade VPN tunnels. Data in transit is protected to the same standard as US healthcare networks.
Biometric access, clean desk policy, dedicated workstations, and physical security controls. This isn't a co-working space — it's a purpose-built facility.
Every campus runs on redundant internet and backup generators. No downtime because of local infrastructure failure.
Edge provides structured HR processes for every hire — onboarding, performance reviews, conflict resolution, and offboarding — so nothing falls through the cracks and everything is documented.
Day 1 setup, tool access, role orientation, manager introductions, and a tailored onboarding plan. Your hire isn't just thrown in — they're prepared.
Formal performance check-ins with structured feedback, goal tracking, and documented outcomes — coordinated by your Relationship Manager and shared with you.
Standardized evaluations combining your feedback, productivity data, and assessments into actionable reviews. Documented and on file.
If performance dips, Edge implements structured PIPs with clear milestones, timelines, and coaching. Documented outcomes protect both sides.
Communication issues, workplace friction, or misalignment? Your Relationship Manager mediates between both sides with a documented resolution process.
Structured offboarding: access revocation, knowledge transfer, equipment return, and replacement coordination through the Edge marketplace.
The compliance gap between Edge and the alternatives isn't marginal — it's structural. Here's what you actually get with each model.
| Edge | Freelancer Platforms | Offshore BPOs | Local Hire (US) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment model | ✓ W-2 equivalent, EOR | ✗ Independent contractor | ~ BPO's employee | ✓ Your W-2 employee |
| Legal employer | ✓ Edge (zero liability for you) | ✗ Nobody / you assume risk | ~ BPO entity | ✗ You (full liability) |
| Employment contracts | ✓ Full, jurisdiction-specific | ✗ Terms of service only | ~ BPO's contract | ✓ You draft & manage |
| NDA coverage | ✓ Binding, survives termination | ✗ Optional, unenforceable | ~ Varies widely | ✓ You draft & enforce |
| IP assignment | ✓ Automatic, contractual | ✗ Weak / unclear | ✗ BPO may retain | ✓ You draft & enforce |
| HIPAA compliance | ✓ Infrastructure & BAAs | ✗ Not possible | ✗ Rarely | ✓ You build & maintain |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | ✓ Certified | ✗ No | ~ Some | ~ You implement |
| Data security infrastructure | ✓ Campus, VPN, USB-disabled | ✗ Personal device, home WiFi | ~ Varies by BPO | ~ You provide |
| Worker misclassification risk | ✓ Zero — Edge is employer | ✗ High risk | ✓ Low | ✓ None |
| Performance management | ✓ Structured reviews & PIPs | ✗ None | ✗ BPO's problem | ✗ You manage alone |
| Conflict resolution | ✓ RM mediates both sides | ✗ You handle it | ~ BPO's process | ✗ You handle it |
| Audit-ready documentation | ✓ Always available | ✗ Not applicable | ~ Varies | ~ You maintain |
| Cost vs. local hire | ✓ 60-70% lower | ✓ 50-80% lower | ✓ 40-60% lower | — Baseline |
That's the line most platforms can't walk. Freelancer marketplaces give you low cost but zero compliance. Local hiring gives you full compliance but full cost. Offshore BPOs give you low cost but you lose control. Edge gives you 60-70% cost savings and full legal compliance, HIPAA-grade security, structured HR, and zero employer liability. You don't have to choose between affordable and compliant.
Edge Legal generates employment agreements, NDAs, IP assignments, and non-competes — specific to the role and jurisdiction. Reviewed, executed, and filed.
Your hire is assigned to a secured campus with enterprise hardware, HIPAA VPN, biometric access, and USB-disabled workstations. Ready on Day 1.
Structured onboarding, tool access, role orientation, and 30/60/90-day performance reviews — coordinated by your Relationship Manager.
Contract renewals, tax filings, labor law updates, security audits, and performance documentation — all handled continuously by Edge.
Your data is safer with Edge than with most US office setups. SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA VPN, USB-disabled hardware, biometric campus access, encrypted connections, and clean desk policy. Your talent works in a purpose-built secured facility — not a coffee shop.
Every Edge hire signs a binding IP assignment clause and NDA — enforceable under local employment law, not a generic terms-of-service checkbox. All work product is legally yours. This is fundamentally different from freelancer platforms.
No. Edge is the legal employer of record. You carry zero employer liability, zero co-employment risk, and zero exposure to local labor law claims. Taxes, benefits, termination — all Edge's responsibility.
Yes. Edge campuses, networks, hardware, and VPNs are built to meet HIPAA requirements. If your hire handles PHI, they work within a fully compliant environment with BAA coverage.
Other remote hiring options often connect businesses with independent contractors on personal devices, with limited security and variable employment protections. Edge professionals are full employees with complete legal coverage, enterprise security, and structured HR — at comparable cost savings.
Edge provides structured performance reviews, PIPs, and conflict resolution. If a replacement is needed, our guarantee covers it — $0 cost, 7-day average turnaround, structured knowledge transfer. With a local hire, you'd start from scratch.
When you hire locally, yes — you have full compliance. But you're also the one responsible for every piece of it. Employment contracts, labor law compliance, benefits administration, tax filings, workplace safety, anti-discrimination policies, performance documentation, and termination procedures. With Edge, all of that is handled. You get the compliance without the burden.
Full employment contracts. Binding NDAs. IP assignment. HIPAA-grade security. SOC 2 & ISO 27001. Structured HR. Zero employer liability. And 60-70% cost savings. The compliance of a US employer — without the cost or the burden.