Cross-border · First U.S. hires · San Antonio corridor

Hiring your first U.S. employees from Mexico

Your accountant got the entity and the tax structure right. Then you tried to give your first U.S. hire health insurance and found out no carrier writes a plan for one person — and that the state he lives in has rules your company has never heard of.

That’s the wall almost every Mexico-based company hits on the employment side, and it’s the piece we handle. We’re headquartered in San Antonio, on the corridor, and we recently placed exactly this case: an equipment manufacturer, one employee, three states, benefits on day one →

Talk before the first offer letter

Employee is enough for group health coverage through a PEO

Any state

Payroll, withholding, and unemployment registrations handled where the hire lives

Day one

Benefits, workers’ comp, I-9s, and onboarding from the first paycheck

The three problems, in the order you hit them

Benefits for a group of one

The open market won’t write a small-group plan for a single employee. Through a PEO, your hire joins a large existing group and gets a major-medical-carrier plan from the first day — which is what it takes to recruit the caliber of salesperson you want.

A state you’ve never operated in

Every state your hires live in means its own withholding, unemployment account, new-hire reporting, and leave rules. Three hires in three states is three sets of everything. A PEO that runs multi-state employment well does this under one payroll.

The structure question

A PEO requires a U.S. entity with an EIN. If you have one, a PEO is usually the right tool. If you don’t yet, an employer-of-record (EOR) arrangement is often the first step, and we’ll tell you honestly which one you need — including when it isn’t us.

Workers’ comp, handbook, I-9s

U.S. employment paperwork done by people who do it every day, so your team in Mexico isn’t learning I-9 verification from a search engine.

How the engagement runs

A 20-minute call: where the hires will sit, when, at what compensation, and whether the U.S. entity exists yet
We compare the PEOs that handle multi-state and first-hire situations well, on identical assumptions
You see the per-employee cost by state, the benefits plans your hire would actually be enrolled in, and who registers what
We work alongside your U.S. CPA or attorney; your relationship with them doesn’t change

Who we work with

Manufacturers, distributors, and service companies based in Mexico building a U.S. sales, service, or operations team. The CPAs and attorneys in San Antonio and along the border who advise them. And U.S. subsidiaries that have been improvising payroll for the first few hires and would like to stop.

They wanted top people with real benefits from day one. Nobody would write a group of one. A PEO did — and the company never had to become an expert in three states’ employment law.
Jeff Gibson, SHRM-CP · Founder & PEO Advisor

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Can we hire a U.S. employee without a U.S. entity?

Not through a PEO — co-employment requires a U.S. employer with an EIN. An employer-of-record arrangement can employ your hire on your behalf until the entity exists. We’ll tell you which you need for your timeline.

Is a PEO expensive for one employee?

PEO pricing is per employee per month, so one employee costs one employee’s fee. The alternative — no group plan, and registering in each state yourself — usually costs more in time and lost candidates than the fee.

Do you work with our CPA?

Yes, and we prefer it. Your CPA handles the entity and the tax structure; we handle the employment side; your client relationship with them stays exactly as it is.

Which states can you hire in?

Any state. The PEOs we compare operate nationally. We check your specific states — including the ones with their own workers’ comp funds — before you commit.