Treba supports two distinct operating models. In Employer of Record (EOR), Treba is the local legal employer and the client directs the individual’s day-to-day work. In Managed Services, Treba manages delivery against an agreed scope, service levels, and quality measures. The right choice is mainly about control, accountability, and the shape of the work—not headcount alone.
01.The models at a glance
Comparison
| Decision area | Employer of Record | Managed Services |
|---|---|---|
| What the client buys | Dedicated people | A defined service or outcome |
| Day-to-day direction | Client | Treba delivery lead |
| Priorities and workflow | Client can reprioritise directly | Managed through the agreed scope and change process |
| Quality control | Client-led, with agreed support | Treba-led against agreed measures |
| Commercial basis | Usually recurring per person | Usually recurring service, capacity or unit-based |
| Best fit | Embedded roles and changing priorities | Repeatable processes and measurable outputs |
02.What EOR means in practice
Treba employs the professional in Kenya and administers local employment obligations. The professional can work as a dedicated member of the client’s team, using the client’s tools, meetings, priorities, and management rhythm.
The client should expect to provide a manager, onboarding, access, role objectives, feedback, performance input, and operational supervision. The contract should clearly allocate employment decisions, health and safety, confidentiality, intellectual property, data access, and termination responsibilities.
Choose EOR when
- The role is embedded in a UK team and priorities change frequently.
- The client wants direct access to the individual and has management capacity.
- Success is better measured through role objectives than transaction volumes.
03.What Managed Services means in practice
The client defines the service boundary, inputs, outputs, controls, service levels, and escalation rules. Treba organises the people, daily workflow, quality assurance, and reporting needed to deliver that service.
The client still owns vendor governance. It must provide complete requirements, review management information, approve material changes, and act on risks or poor outcomes. Managed Services reduces day-to-day people management; it does not remove the client’s accountability for the outsourced activity.
Choose Managed Services when
- The work is repeatable and can be described through inputs, outputs, and acceptance criteria.
- Volumes fluctuate and capacity is better managed at service level.
- The client wants the provider to own workflow, staffing, QA, and operational reporting.
04.How cost differs
EOR pricing is normally easier to express per person, but the client must include its own management and quality-control time. Managed Services includes more delivery management and QA in the provider price, so a direct per-person comparison can be misleading.
Compare total cost at the expected workload. Include onboarding, tools, client management, provider management, quality assurance, rework, change control, and exit. Neither model is automatically cheaper; the better model is the one that assigns work to the party best placed to manage it.
05.Data protection and compliance
Both models need a clear data map, access design, retention rules, incident process, and contract. If UK personal data is made available in Kenya, the UK organisation must determine whether the arrangement is a restricted transfer and put an appropriate mechanism and assessment in place.
Use the ICO’s current international-transfer guidance rather than relying on a generic statement that an IDTA is always sufficient.
For regulated UK firms, outsourcing does not transfer regulatory accountability to the provider. The firm should classify the arrangement, apply the rules that cover its sector and activity, complete proportionate due diligence, maintain oversight, and preserve access, audit, continuity, and exit rights where required.
See the FCA’s outsourcing and operational-resilience guidance.
06.Can you start with one model and move later?
Yes, if both parties agree. A dedicated team can help document a process before it moves to a managed service; a managed process can also move to a more embedded model. Treat the change as a new operating design: document scope, roles, controls, service levels, data flows, staffing, commercial terms, and transition acceptance criteria.
07.The decision rule
Choose EOR when you want to manage people. Choose Managed Services when you want Treba to manage a defined service. If the answer is unclear, map one real workflow and identify who should own prioritisation, supervision, quality, exceptions, and customer outcomes.
