Exclusive: Deel launches a compliance hub

Deel, a startup that helps employers handle onboarding, local payroll, and compliance for global workforces, is launching a tool that tracks regulatory changes across more than 150 countries.

The tool, called Compliance Hub, is intended to help employers “navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape,” and flag any potential compliance issues, according to a statement from the company provided exclusively to HR Brew. Such issues may include expiring visas, worker misclassification, or noncompliance with minimum wage and benefits laws.

The current regulatory environment demands constant monitoring of new laws and regulations, Deel posits, citing recent changes to employment law in Thailand, Luxembourg, and Australia as evidence of the complex environment global employers face. The company is seeking to provide “a new level of constant proactive monitoring” that’s not currently available to employers, who may be relying on a mix of sources—ranging from regulatory agency websites to newsletters to webinars—to stay up to date, Deel said.

“Data at your fingertips.” Deel is highlighting three features in the new Compliance Hub: A newsfeed that tracks regulatory changes across 150 countries, a monthly report flagging any potential issues with an employer’s workforce, and an AI-powered tool that draws on legal research to classify workers according to local laws and precedent cases.

Alex Bouaziz, Deel’s CEO, told HR Brew the hub has been in the works for about a year. The first version has already been rolled out to the company’s 20,000 customers, and is free of additional charge for now. He said data in the Compliance Hub draws in part from the expertise of Deel’s 3,000 employees, who are based in more than 100 countries and specialize in areas like law, HR, finance, and payroll.

Bouaziz said the hope is to provide customers with compliance data at their fingertips, as well as recommendations unique to their own workforces. If an employer is preparing performance reviews for employees in Belgium, for example, they can factor in how pay raises could be affected by a salary increase the country mandated earlier this year.

Zoom out. Deel benefited from pandemic-related hiring trends, as more companies started looking outside of their home borders to source talent. The company saw its valuation more than double to $12 billion from October 2021 to May 2022, when it closed a $50 million fundraising round with investors including Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, bringing its total funding to $680 million. Other HR tech companies, such as Gusto and ADP, have recently deepened their investments in tools to support employers with international workforces. 

Investing further in compliance signals a “big change” to Deel’s go-to-market strategy, Bouaziz said, as the company seeks to work in closer partnership with its clients, and draw upon the “in-house” knowledge of its employees. Deel itself has grown precipitously since launching in 2019, when it employed just Bouaziz and his co-founder.

“Now that we’re a bigger company, and now that we have more responsibility in terms of how we work…pushing the relationship forward and switching from being just a vendor to being a trusted partner [is] something we’re very excited about.”