It's true, and that's how many companies do it. But in fact it is illegal to hire a person as a contractor when they are de facto an employee in many countries...
In my understanding, it's not that it's illegal to hire a person as a contractor, it's just that it can be re-qualified by a judge as an employee, if some working conditions are met.
For example in France, which is known for its labor code that protects employees much better than other countries, here are some conditions that can lead to this:
- Proven relationship of subordination
- The contractor is only working for your company
- Poorly written contract (specifically, obligation of means vs obligation of results)
Sham contracting is indeed illegal in the criminal sense in some countries. Either outright, or by consequences like failure to withhold tax according to law, or otherwise evading the burdens of employment law, if the facts indicate that was your intent.
only if the company in question has a legal presence in the country and is actually able to hire you as an employee. barring that, for international remote work, freelance or contracting is the only possible arrangement (aside from using some local service company that hires and then resells your work, or some treaties between the two countries to handle cross-country employment (like all EU countries))
