Employment Hero has launched HeroForce in the UK, a fully managed employment model designed to centralise recruitment, payroll, and compliance for small and mid-sized businesses. The company said the product is intended to help employers take on staff without carrying the full administrative and regulatory load attached to direct employment.
HeroForce is based on the Employer of Record model, which has traditionally been used to help companies hire internationally without setting up local entities. Employment Hero is applying that structure to domestic UK hiring. Under the model, Employment Hero becomes the legal employer and manages payroll and statutory responsibilities on behalf of the client business, including PAYE, National Insurance contributions, auto-enrolment pensions, holiday pay, Statutory Sick Pay, and Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay.
Employment Hero said the launch follows growing concern among SMEs over the cost and complexity of employment in the UK. Research commissioned by the company found that one in five SMEs have already planned to increase their use of contractors or temporary staff in response to the Employment Rights Act. The company also cited figures showing annual compliance costs for SMEs at £36bn, consuming 379 million working hours each year.
“Employment is one of the world’s oldest and most common legal contracts used by businesses. We all depend on it, yet the infrastructure behind it remains highly manual and fragmented. The EOR model transformed international hiring by simplifying complexity. HeroForce helps bring that same clarity to UK employment. Today, compliance and cost risks – especially in light of the Employment Rights Act – are the number one concern for SMEs. Many are so worried about getting it wrong that they’re resorting to workarounds or avoiding traditional employment altogether. HeroForce is built to help restore confidence and backed by Employment Hero’s team of experts in payroll and employment law, so SMEs never have to navigate employment alone,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, UK Managing Director at Employment Hero.
HeroForce is powered by Hero AI, Employment Hero’s native artificial intelligence capability built on the company’s payroll infrastructure, regulatory integrations, and employment law expertise. Employment Hero said the system automates compliance checks, payroll calculations, and administrative work across the employment lifecycle, while AI-assisted screening tools help managers rank candidates against defined criteria. More information on HeroForce is available on the company’s website.
