During a recent High Street Partners panel presentation on best practices for creating overseas entities and getting key staff in-country, my colleague Bill Peiffer was asked for tips on managing expatriate employees. Still a hot topic in the world of global mobility, assigning key professionals to work overseas requires some planning. View Bill's response in this short video excerpt where he wisely recommends creating a written expat policy.
Hiring, compensating, relocating and managing expatriates is more complicated than it may seem at the outset. A thorough review of issues that typically arise, and smart upfront planning, can help ensure you manage your costs, risks, and legal compliance issues ahead of time. Good planning and HR management can also help ensure that you retain these valuable employees.
There are four major areas for consideration when creating a policy for your globally mobile expatriate employees:
1) General policy considerations around determining who will do what, when, and how. These can include total cost projection, relocation, legal employment relationships, expense management , repatriation, etc.
2) HR and benefit considerations such as local "State" benefits, insurance, medical care and medication abroad, and personal security planning.
3) Legal and compliance considerations like visas and the right to work in the host country, compliance with destination specific business laws, and compliance with local country employment laws.
4) Tax (both employee and corporate) and compensation planning including an overarching expat tax policy, social security, and pension plans.
This post was written by William Kirwan, Senior Director, Advisory Services.