Employment Counsel

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain employment templates, policies, and processes across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring Oyster's employment offering remains compliant, scalable, and operationally effective.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments globally, assess their impact on Oyster's products and operations, and drive implementation of required changes.
• Partner closely with Product, People team and other cross-functional stakeholders to design and implement compliant employment solutions that balance legal requirements with business objectives.
• Advise on a broad range of employment law and compliance matters across the employee lifecycle, including hiring, compensation, leave, performance management, terminations.
• Support strategic initiatives such as Direct Expansion, indirect-to-direct migrations, and the launch of new employment products and features.
• Research complex employment law issues and translate legal analysis into clear, practical, and business-focused recommendations.
• Develop and maintain employment guides, knowledge resources, and compliance documentation to support scalable operations across Oyster's global footprint.
• Support labor inspections, audits, regulatory inquiries, and other employment compliance initiatives.
• Use data, stakeholder feedback, and operational insights to identify risks, improve processes, and enhance the effectiveness of Oyster's employment compliance framework.
• Identify and champion opportunities to leverage AI, automation, and process innovation to improve team efficiency, reduce manual work, and enable the scalable delivery of employment compliance and legal support.
• Contribute to a highly collaborative, remote-first team culture and help drive continuous improvement across Employment Products.
• Core Requirements
• Law Degree (e.g. JD or equivalent) and admission to practice law in one or more jurisdi

Benefits

Additional Information

✨ One platform, a whole world of opportunity The best jobs are often restricted to a few wealthy cities, but talent exists everywhere. Oyster set out to change this by launching a global employment platform that enables companies to hire, pay, and support talent anywhere. We're proof that a strong, engaged culture doesn't require an office. Since January 2020, Oyster has: 🌏 Built a distributed team of 400+ across 60+ countries 👩💻 Featured in Forbes as #9 in FlexJobs Top 30 Companies for remote jobs 🌈 Formed a diverse leadership team and a workforce that's 60% female 🏆 Earned top employee engagement scores 🦄 Raised $286 million; valued at $1.2 billion 💚 Achieved B Corp status in 2023 Our momentum shows the power of global employment, and we're just getting started! If you want to help us drive change and work remotely, we'd love for you to apply! Location : While this position is posted in a specific location, all of Oyster's positions are fully remote and you can work from home. Forever. To create the best experience for our new hire, this role requires at least 3-4 hours of overlap with Central European Time (CET/CEST) business hours to support collaboration with the team. Role Summary Oyster is looking for a sharp, self-driven Employment Counsel to contribute to Oyster's growth and shape the future of global distributed work. As part of our Employment Law Team, you'll advise internal teams and external stakeholders on employment law matters across multiple jurisdictions, playing a direct role in how Oyster supports workers and companies around the world. A core part of the role is researching and staying current on employment laws and regulations across jurisdictions; managing employment templates, policies, and standard employment processes; liaising with outside counsel on local legal requirements; creating clear, accessible guidance on hiring, managing, and terminating workers globally; and advising Oyster's Platform and Product teams on building a scalable, compliant technology platform. You'll also contribute to the strategic development of our employment-as-a-platform model. Because Oyster operates as an Employer of Record (EOR), a solid understanding of how that model works, and the unique legal considerations it creates for Oyster, our customers, and their team members, is essential to this role. The right candidate brings extensive employment law experience, including multi-jurisdictional and cross-border matters, and a track record of advising HR and business partners. Knowledge of immigration rules and employee benefits is a plus. Beyond legal expertise, we're looking for someone who translates complex issues into clear, practical guidance for non-legal audiences, balancing compliance with pragmatic problem-solving, anticipating emerging risks, and partnering strategically with the business to deliver outcomes that are both legally sound and operationally effective. We also value candidates who embrace AI and other technology tools to enhance efficiency, streamline workflows, and scale the impact of their legal expertise.

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