Do your employees want to relocate to another country? Are you looking to hire someone who is moving across borders? Whatever challenges you face, this guide will help you understand more about relocation for international employees.

Relocation for international employees video guide

Prefer watching to reading? Check out Remote’s webinar on international relocation, hosted by Nadia Vatalidis (head of people), Filipa Matos (vice president of operations) and Roderick van Vliet (head of legal).

In this hour-long special session, these three international employment experts cover a host of questions on important topics and answer real questions from businesses and HR professionals.

[Webinar Recording] Relocation for International Employees

If you’re wondering whether you really need to know about international relocation, the answer is a resounding yes. According to our Global Workforce Revolution Report from last year, 81% of tech workers surveyed would move to a new region, state, or country if they could do so without jeopardizing their career prospects. To keep your best people, you need to be able to offer them the location flexibility they desire.

Now that most knowledge jobs can be done remotely, employees see remote work as a way to guard against recessions and financial difficulties. Sixty-three percent of respondents in our study said the ability to work remotely can protect workers from region-based financial challenges.

We found two-thirds of companies planned to increase remote work options, but that number is growing all the time. Employees have more options than ever as more companies go all-remote. Around a third of people would quit outright if they could not continue to work remotely. The lesson is: businesses need to offer remote work, and employees expect to be able to move anywhere they want if they work remotely. To meet that demand and stay compliant with international labor laws, companies have some work to do.

Unique relocation challenges with remote work

Companies should always seek to treat their employees equally. However, statutory requirements vary greatly from country to country. Overtime laws, minimum benefits, lengths of probationary periods, and hundreds of other details change when employees cross borders.

For example, take a person who leaves the US to work in Italy. In the US, employees usually work under “at-will” employment, a concept that does not exist in Italy. That change in location would require a whole new employment contract to reflect local laws. If that same person moved from Italy to Mexico, the employee would now be entitled to a 13th month’s salary, and the employee’s salary could only be deposited in a bank approved by the government.

Labor laws are mostly behind the times for remote workers. Employers are required to provide safe working conditions, but what happens when the place of work is the employee’s home? How does the employee’s right to privacy conflict with laws about workplace inspections? Is the employer required to cover certain expenses for employees working from home?

Relocation isn’t easy, but as the world becomes more connected, employers must be prepared to deal with the challenges that arise. 

Different types of international relocation

There are three major types of relocation: travel, short-term relocation, and long-term relocation. When your company is in one country and your employee plans to be in another country, you must first understand the type of relocation you are facing.

Travel may last for a few months or a year, but it always has a specific end date. Travelers must typically hold some kind of visa, such as a tourist visa or business visa. The type of work the employee may do is determined by the type of visa they hold.

Unlike travel, which always requires a specific visa, short-term relocation has the employee move to the country as a resident. Still though, the employee moves for a fixed period of time, which separates short-term relocation from long-term relocation. Things become more complicated when the employee becomes a resident.

Under long-term relocation, the employee moves somewhere for an extensive amount of time. This can be for a year or two, or even indefinitely. The main difference between short-term and long-term relocation is the lack of a fixed end date. Employees who relocate for the long term become residents, though the specific type of residence varies by country. Issues of long-term relocation may include immigration, international taxation, and compliance with local labor laws.

No matter how much time your employee plans to spend in another country, you need to be familiar with the laws that will apply to your continuing employment relationship. 

What to know when your employee wants to relocate

Any type of relocation can be a stressful process for both employee and employer. Visas, immigration, and other concerns often become complicated affairs. Each situation is different, but you can make life easier by understanding more about how relocation works, what to watch for, and how to do the paperwork.

(Psst! Remote can help you with visas, immigration, compliance, and more, including international payroll and benefits. Let us know about your situation and we’ll walk you through it from start to finish.)

1. Fulfilling requirements for immigration and visas

For your employee to move to another country without breaking the law, you need to understand the specific immigration rules in play. Employees must often meet minimum thresholds of residency, for example. Even if your employee takes the responsibility of staying compliant seriously, your business could still face issues if the employee breaks the law unknowingly.

Be careful not to hire someone who does not actually have the right to work in a specific country. Always confirm the employability of a candidate or current employee. It’s possible to have a work permit while still needing sponsorship from a company, for instance.

The concept of taxes is simple: the country where the business operates wants a cut of the business’s revenue. Things get complicated when the company operates with employees in multiple countries. Income taxes and corporate taxes can get messy, and physical residency and tax residency are not always the same thing. Tax treaties between countries dictate which taxes businesses pay and when.

Be wary of permanent establishment risk. Simply having workers in a country isn’t always enough to trigger permanent establishment, but certain actions by employees (or the type of role an employee fulfills) may be. Permanent establishment is not a one-and-done issue, so businesses must continuously reevaluate their risk factors.

3. Staying compliant with local employment laws

No two countries are alike in employment laws. Noncompliance with local laws can lead to major fines and penalties related to the misclassification of workers and more. Further, companies cannot legally employ someone in another country without having that person employed by a legal entity within that country.

If you have multiple employees in a country and plan to have a long-term presence there, you may want to open a legal entity yourself. Doing so usually costs a lot of money and takes several months, and you will need to manage your own payroll, benefits, legal work, but owning your own business does have its advantages.

Most companies choose to use an employer of record to employ full-time workers in another country. This is what Remote does. We help you employ team members in other countries legally and easily.

We only offer services in countries where we own our own legal entities, so you never have to worry about third parties handling your data or providing a bad experience for your employees. Whichever employer of record you choose, make sure your employer of record owns a legal entity in the country and does not outsource to a third party provider.

Mastering international relocation to grow your business

The world has permanently embraced remote work, and many employees will never go back to full-time office roles. Choosing to limit your business to local candidates will cut you off from some of the best talent the world has to offer. To stay competitive, businesses must allow their employees the flexibility to relocate, even internationally.

Remote is here to make this transition easy. With our self-serve platform, you can onboard international employees in minutes. If you have questions about immigration, visas, or other specifics, we are always here to help — just reach out! We look forward to helping you grow your global team and providing the best experience for your relocating employees.

How to handle international employee relocation

Your remote workforce needs an advocate, and a head of remote role could be the answer.

But who should own that role? What responsibilities will that person have? How will you measure success?

To answer these questions, we put together an all-star cast of remote work leaders: Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote; Laurel Farrer, CEO of Distribute Consulting; and Darren Murph, head of remote at GitLab.

In this exclusive webinar, our trio of remote experts share their insights on the head of remote role, which organizations need one, and how a head of remote should operate. Watch now to learn:

Who should be the advocate for your remote workers?

Is this a function of HR, operations, marketing, or something else?

Should this role focus more internally on the employee experience or externally on attracting talent?

How can you create an asynchronous, remote-first team, no matter where people work?

How does the head of remote role promote diversity and inclusion?

When does your company need a head of remote?

Where in the world do your employees work?

What percentage of your company is remote?

What challenges are your remote employees experiencing?

How do you measure success as a head of remote?

How well does your company recruit and retain talent?

Are your managers equipped and trained to lead remote teams?

Is your company receiving press for your remote leadership?

This recording also includes a Q&A session, with real questions from business leaders on the importance, structure, and duties of the head of remote.

Click here to watch now! For more information, you can also download the Head of Remote Whitepaper from Remote and Distribute Consulting.

[Webinar Recording] Does your company need a head of remote?

Remote_Country_Celebration

The year is half over, but we’re just getting started. Remote is pleased to announce that we have opened fully owned entities in 12 new countries.

We’re excited to welcome these new nations to our ever-expanding global HR management map:

Remote never operates through third parties. In every country where we offer our global employment services, we own and operate our own local legal entity. That means we run your payroll, protect your intellectual property, and provide a great experience for your employees. Third parties never enter the picture.

We work through all the unique local regulations and requirements to open our own local legal entities in each new market so you don’t have to. Doing it this way is doing it the right way — it’s the best way to provide our customers and their employees with the best experience. 

Of course, opening these entities takes time. We don’t take shortcuts or provide half-baked services anywhere. Remote is the only global HR provider with a fully owned international infrastructure, and we won’t compromise. We do it for you, your team, and your peace of mind. 

Following this model allows us to guarantee the best-in-class global employment service in each new area. Our teams of local experts eliminate the need for third parties, so we understand local laws better than anyone else. We never compromise on compliance, and our unique Remote IP Guard offers the highest level of security in the industry for your intellectual property and invention rights.

Why do it this way? Because you and your team deserve reliable flat-rate pricing, a superior experience, and the most powerful payroll and benefits platform in the business.

Our country availability roadmap is constantly updated in our Country Explorer. Remember, we can also help you with contractor payments and management in almost every country around the world.

If Remote isn’t in the country you’re looking for yet, don’t worry: we are on the way! Select any country page to be notified when we open our local entity in that country. Once we launch, you can begin onboarding new employees there in minutes.

Our own globally distributed team is working around the clock to help you hire anywhere in the world. As of today, Remote’s own team spans more than 40 countries across six continents, so we know a few things about building a global business. No matter where you expand, Remote is eager to bring you the new standard in global payroll, benefits, and HR. 

Want to get up-to-the-minute updates on our expansion plans? Make sure you keep tabs on our Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Each time we launch in a new market, we’ll announce on all our social media channels.

If you have questions about country availability or your global employment plans, we’re happy to help. Chat with us online, send an email to hello@remote.com, or reach out on social media. No matter where you live and work, we are ready to help you grow.

[Webinar Recording] Does your company need a head of remote?

Watch now!

What is covered in the webinar?

What is a head of remote?

What does a head of remote do?

When does your company need a head of remote?

How do you measure success as a head of remote?

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