When small and mid-sized companies expand internationally, HR administration can quickly become a stumbling block. Setting up fast in a new country is appealing, but with headcounts often below 30 per location (or even one or two employees per country), hiring a full HR team on the ground isn’t realistic. At the same time, HR leaders don’t want to get stuck in day-to-day admin—they need to focus on strategy. That’s where right-sized HR admin support makes the difference.
HSP’s HR Admin solutions are designed for exactly this situation. We take on the recurring, compliance-driven work—things like maintaining accurate employee records, coordinating time-off tracking, managing benefits updates, and supporting onboarding and exit processes—that would otherwise overwhelm a lean team. Because these tasks touch payroll, benefits providers, and local authorities, accuracy matters as much as efficiency. With HSP handling the details, HR leaders can focus on growth and policy design instead of paperwork and vendor follow-ups.
Beyond these core tasks, HR teams often encounter country-specific requirements that aren’t obvious until they become urgent—such as medical exam coordination, benefits updates tied to local practices, or compliance certificates for cross-border work. These are the kinds of details that can trip up a lean team. And they’re exactly where HSP adds value by stepping in before issues turn into roadblocks. Let’s take a look at some specific examples.
1. Mandatory Medical Examinations
In many countries, new employees must complete medical exams before starting work, and in some jurisdictions—such as Brazil and Poland—these checks are required for every hire. The purpose is to confirm fitness for duty, protect workplace safety, and comply with occupational health laws. This is especially true in industries like construction, transport, healthcare, and food handling. Exams may also be required later in the employee lifecycle, such as when returning to work after illness or at termination or retirement.
HSP’s role is twofold. First, our consulting team validates what’s legally required: is the exam mandated by law, by industry, or optional?
In some countries—including Singapore and Hong Kong—employers can require such exams in certain conditions. In the UK, these exams are restricted (and very tightly regulated in the US). Once the rules are clear, our HR admin team handles the heavy lifting: coordinating with approved clinics, scheduling appointments, communicating requirements to employees, tracking completion, and submitting certificates to payroll or social security authorities when needed.
This level of coordination takes time. Booking appointments, working with employees’ schedules, and following up to make sure nothing slips through the cracks can easily overwhelm a lean HR team. By outsourcing to HSP, companies stay compliant, employees are cleared to work on time, and HR leaders can keep their focus where it belongs.
2. Benefits Coordination Support
Benefits administration doesn’t stop once employees are enrolled. Throughout the employee lifecycle—onboarding, mid-career, and exit—benefits must be kept accurate and up to date. Qualifying life events like marriage, childbirth, or role changes often require immediate updates. At exit, employees must be disenrolled to avoid extra costs or compliance issues. For lean HR teams, staying on top of these routine but essential updates is a constant drain.
HSP supports benefits across the entire employee lifecycle:
- Onboarding: Ensuring new joiners are properly enrolled in statutory and supplemental plans.
- Mid-career: Managing updates when life or employment status changes.
- Exit: Making sure employees are disenrolled correctly to avoid extra costs or compliance issues.
Benefits also vary widely across countries. In Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Brazil, meal and transport vouchers are standard even when not mandated, while in markets like the U.S. and Australia, they are rare. HSP supports enrollment and disenrollment of these perks, manages monthly ordering and payment coordination, and helps clients define eligibility rules so benefits are applied consistently. This mix of compliance oversight and recurring admin frees HR leaders to focus on designing policies and aligning benefits with organizational goals, instead of chasing paperwork.
The consulting side comes first—we assess statutory requirements and sourcing providers for your jurisdiction. Then the admin side takes over—managing the ongoing updates, coordination with payroll, and communication with employees.
3. A1 Certificate Coordination
For employees traveling within the EU, the A1 certificate is a critical compliance document. Issued by government agencies, it proves which country’s social security system applies to employees working temporarily in another member state. Without it, companies may face duplicate contributions in both the home and host countries. Employees on assignment, self-employed individuals working across borders, and even short-term postings all require this proof of coverage.
Take a German employee sent to France for a six-week assignment. Without an A1 certificate, they could be asked by authorities to show proof of social coverage. If they can’t, the employer may end up owing contributions in France above what they already pay in Germany.
HSP coordinates the entire process—collecting required information, submitting applications through the correct portals, and tracking the validity of issued certificates, which typically last up to 24 months. By managing the details ahead of travel, we ensure employees are properly covered and companies avoid costly surprises.
4. Expense Checks
Expense management may sound straightforward, but local compliance can complicate things. HSP doesn’t process reimbursements directly, but we help companies put structure around expenses. That includes:
- Collecting receipts.
- Checking them against company policy (e.g., daily meal limits).
- Flagging issues before reimbursement.
The real value is in helping clients design and implement locally compliant expense policies. With clear rules in place, recurring checks run smoothly and consistently. Because our HR admin services are interconnected with payroll, we can spot inconsistencies others might miss. It’s a holistic approach that prevents compliance issues down the line.
HR for Globally Expanding SMEs: A More Holistic Picture
HR administration and payroll work hand in hand: HR administration manages employee data—like contracts, time off, and benefits—while payroll transforms that information into timely, accurate, and compliant salary payments. Together, they ensure employees are paid correctly and on time, benefits are applied, and organizations stay compliant with labor and tax laws.
And, while each of these services that we covered in this article—medical exams, benefits coordination, A1 certificates, and expense checks—might sound small in isolation, together, they form a crucial layer of HR admin that keeps global operations running smoothly. They’re also exactly the kind of tasks that can overwhelm small HR teams.
By combining consulting expertise (to set the rules) with day-to-day admin (to apply them consistently), HSP ensures compliance without distraction. For companies scaling globally with “right size” HR resources, that’s the kind of support that makes growth sustainable.
HSP is an end-to-end global expansion solutions provider focused on helping companies scale their operations overseas effectively and efficiently. We are the only global expansion expert to offer growing companies a full suite of end-to-end solutions designed to help them scale to any size and country.
Our in-country experts have delivered the full spectrum of global expansion solutions—from EoR to entity set-up and management—across more than 100 countries (and counting). HSP brings full payroll, accounting, tax, legal, compliance, and HR services to corporate teams, integrating with in-house staff to both guide and execute across every domain.
Contact us to discover how our full suite of global mobility services can help your company successfully operate overseas in any environment.
