Helping Milkline, an Italian agricultural technology company employ a local employee in Turkey
International companies don’t always need to establish a subsidiary when they want to have an employee in Turkey.
Sometimes the requirement is actually quite simple: the company needs somebody locally to develop or support its Turkish activities, but it doesn’t have the local employment structure to hire the person directly.
This was the situation when Azkan Group supported Milkline with an Employer of Record solution in Turkey.
The client: Milkline
Client: Milkline NG S.p.A.
Country: Italy
Industry: Agricultural technology / Dairy farming equipment
Employee location: Turkey
Service provided by Azkan Group: Employer of Record / Umbrella Company
Milkline is an Italian company specialised in conventional milking systems and technologies for dairy farming.
Founded in 1976, the company develops solutions for farmers and dealers, including milking parlours, milking equipment and technologies for herd management.
As an international industrial company, Milkline also develops its activities outside Italy.
For its needs in Turkey, the company required a local employment solution.
The challenge: having an employee in Turkey without managing local employment internally
Milkline needed to employ a person in Turkey.
This is a situation we see regularly with European industrial companies.
The company has business activities in Turkey and needs somebody locally, but its HR department is based in another country.
Then some very practical questions appear.
Who employs the person?
Who prepares the Turkish employment documentation?
Who manages payroll every month?
Who manages Turkish social security?
Who deals with annual leave and employee administration?
And who does the employee contact when he/she has a local HR or payroll question?
Milkline chose to manage this situation through Azkan Group’s Employer of Record / Umbrella Company solution.
The solution provided by Azkan Group
Azkan Group provided the local employment structure for Milkline’s employee in Turkey.
The principle was simple.
Milkline could continue to manage the employee’s daily work, objectives and business activities.
Azkan Group managed the local employment and payroll administration in Turkey.
Our Employer of Record support can include:
- local employment documentation;
- employee onboarding;
- payroll calculation;
- payslips;
- salary administration;
- SGK / Turkish social security administration;
- statutory payroll obligations;
- expenses where applicable;
- leave and absence administration;
- ongoing HR administration;
- and employee support in Turkey.
For Milkline’s international team, this meant having a local point of contact for the Turkish employment side.
Why EOR can be useful for industrial companies entering Turkey
Industrial companies often develop internationally in a very different way from software companies or startups.
They may already have customers, distributors or business partners in a country before having their own subsidiary there.
At some point, however, having somebody permanently based in the market becomes useful.
Maybe it is a Sales Manager.
Maybe a Business Development Manager.
Maybe a technical employee.
Maybe someone responsible for distributors or customers.
Creating a complete legal entity only to employ the first person may not always be the most practical option.
An Employer of Record can provide an alternative.
The international company manages the employee’s operational activity while the local EOR manages the employment administration.
A typical question: should we open a company in Turkey for one employee?
We hear this question regularly.
And there isn’t one answer for every company.
If an international company plans to build a large operation with many employees, opening its own Turkish subsidiary can obviously make sense.
But if the immediate requirement is to employ one person, creating an entire company just for that employee may create unnecessary administration.
Employer of Record can therefore be a way to start.
If the Turkish operation grows later, the company can reconsider its structure.
Employer of Record is not only a payroll service
Payroll is important.
But after onboarding, other questions will inevitably appear.
The employee may ask about a payslip.
Headquarters may want to change the salary.
There may be a bonus.
An expense.
A question about annual leave.
Or maybe a discussion about the employee’s compensation package.
This is why we don’t see Employer of Record as simply producing twelve payslips per year.
Our clients and their employees can contact our local team when questions appear during the employment relationship.
Local HR support for a company headquartered in Italy
For an Italian company employing somebody in Turkey, having a local HR partner can also reduce the amount of Turkish-specific administration that needs to be understood by headquarters.
The Italian HR or finance team doesn’t need to become an expert in Turkish payroll.
They need somebody locally who understands it.
And when there is a question, they need an answer they can understand.
This sounds quite basic.
But when you employ people internationally, it makes a big difference.
Suggested testimonial from Milkline
« Azkan Group supported Milkline with the employment and payroll administration of our employee in Turkey. Their local team manages the Turkish employment requirements and provides us with a local point of contact whenever we have questions regarding our employee. This allows our team to manage our activities in Turkey without having to handle the local payroll and employment administration internally. »
— Milkline
What we learned from this case
The Milkline case illustrates a situation we frequently encounter with European industrial companies developing business in Turkey.
Commercial presence and legal presence are two different things.
A company may need somebody permanently working in the Turkish market without necessarily being ready to establish a complete subsidiary.
This can be particularly relevant when the company is testing the market, managing distributors, developing customers or simply starting with its first local employee.
An Employer of Record can provide the employment infrastructure during this stage.
Employer of Record for agricultural and industrial companies in Turkey
Turkey has an important industrial and agricultural economy, which means international manufacturers and equipment suppliers may require local employees to support their Turkish market.
Depending on the organisation, these positions can include:
- Country Managers;
- Sales Managers;
- Business Development Managers;
- Technical Sales employees;
- Field Service Engineers;
- After-Sales employees;
- Product Specialists;
- Distributor Managers;
- and other commercial or technical positions.
When the foreign company does not have its own employment structure in Turkey, an Employer of Record can provide a solution for employing these local profiles.
Can an Italian company employ someone in Turkey without opening a Turkish subsidiary?
An Italian company that needs an employee in Turkey may consider using a local Employer of Record rather than immediately establishing its own Turkish entity.
The appropriate solution depends on the company’s activities, number of employees, expected duration and overall business structure.
For companies beginning with one or a small number of employees, EOR can provide a practical way to manage the local employment relationship.
The company can then reconsider whether to establish its own Turkish entity as the business develops.
One local partner for employment in Turkey
The Milkline project is a good example of a relatively straightforward Employer of Record requirement:
International Company → Employee in Turkey → Local Employment → Payroll → HR Administration → Ongoing Support
There was no reason to make the solution more complicated than necessary.
Milkline manages its business.
The employee performs his/her role in Turkey.
And Azkan Group takes care of the local employment administration covered by our service.
Sometimes a good EOR solution is simply about making international employment easier.
Need to employ someone in Turkey?
Azkan Group supports international companies with:
- Employer of Record (EOR) in Turkey
- Umbrella Company services
- Payroll in Turkey
- Recruitment in Turkey
- Work Permit applications
- HR administration
- Employee benefits and local HR support
Whether you are an Italian company hiring your first employee in Turkey or an international group developing an existing Turkish team, our company can help you determine the appropriate employment solution.
