Guide to building a global benefits plan
Remote's experts outline how to provide benefits that are locally relevant yet competitive worldwide, how to secure compliance when expanding overseas, and how to promote fairness and strengthen trust across your multinational team.
- Steps to develop an equitable global benefits programme
- Practical steps to ensure compliance with local employment laws
- How cultural differences and expectations shape your benefits plans
- Attracting and retaining top talent through strong benefits for global workers
- Timing and approach for offering benefits to contractors
Download the guide · research/permanent-establishment-risk-guide
Download the guide
Keen to offer the best global benefits but not sure where to begin?
Providing competitive benefits and ensuring parity across your workforce need not be complex. Remote hires in 70+ countries worldwide. In our free Global Benefits Guide, our experts explain what offering global benefits involves and set out how to implement them so they suit your company’s particular needs and objectives.
The current landscape of remote and flexible working
The value of remote and flexible working is clear in today’s environment, yet which groups of employees value these arrangements most?
Our survey of 10,000 full-time employees in 2022 – covering various genders, industries, job functions, countries and parental statuses – revealed which employee benefits are most sought after. The highlights below provide an indication of the insights included in the full research report:
- Our research indicates private medical insurance is most important in the USA
- Parents of one child rate additional parental leave as the benefit they value most
- Employees in the Netherlands prioritise employer contributions for home office setup
Key research highlights
The Remote Global Benefits Guide shows which benefits employees value most.
Parents with one child place higher value on remote work than those with multiple children
Remote work is most important to parents of a single child, although most employees—regardless of family status or future plans—agree that remote work matters. Remote work and flexible hours let parents organise working patterns around their family circumstances.
Employers should recognise that many staff are most productive outside the traditional 09:00–17:00 window, frequently because of childcare or other external commitments.
Permitting staff to select hours that suit them can reduce the risk of stress and burnout, lower employee absences and improve job satisfaction.
Offering remote work and flexible hours improves an employer’s chances of attracting highly skilled professionals with young children who are actively seeking roles that include these provisions.
Employees in the Netherlands place the highest value on remote work
Employers in the Netherlands are accustomed to staff working fully remote or in hybrid models. The country had a flexible working culture before the pandemic, which may explain why Dutch respondents are more likely than those in the other surveyed countries to regard remote work as an important benefit. Organisations hiring in the Netherlands should enable remote work to attract and retain top talent.
The UK, Germany and the USA rank behind the Netherlands, while employees in France are least likely to say remote work is important, whether offered part-time or full-time.
Remote work matters most for employees in advertising and IT roles
Employees in advertising prioritise full-time remote work, whereas IT employees place greater importance on part-time remote arrangements.
Regardless of part-time or full-time status, employees in production and sales roles desire remote work far less than those in other functions. Employers should explore ways to make remote options more accessible for these roles so those workers can experience the benefits remote work provides.
This underlines the importance of offering remote work at least on a part-time basis when it aligns with the role’s function. The most effective benefits packages consider the types of employees they will serve and are tailored accordingly.
Most important employee benefits when considering a job move
We surveyed 10,000 full-time employees in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US to identify which benefits are most desirable when evaluating a job change across genders, parental statuses, job roles and industries. When weighing a move, workers typically compare their current benefits with those on offer elsewhere; that comparison influences whether they stay and, if they decide to leave, which positions they will apply for.
Whether an employer’s primary aim is to attract top talent or retain it, flexible working hours, company-sponsored retirement plans or pensions, and early finishes on Fridays are the top three perks to include, according to our survey of 10,000 full-time employees in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US. From a health-related benefits perspective, employees in the US view annual leave for self-care/mental health and private and family private medical insurance as more important than respondents in any European country we surveyed. Residents of France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK all have access to universal healthcare, whereas in the US medical fees are an individual cost.
Therefore, employers must develop customised benefits packages tailored to what is most valued in each business region. Offering medical insurance to support US employees with healthcare expenses will demonstrate care and help maintain equity across a global team.
In almost every job function, employees want flexible work hours – especially HR
Flexible working is the top benefit across every job function except production and other roles. Employers with large numbers of staff in production roles or in roles not specifically listed in our survey may be better served by incorporating company-sponsored retirement plans or pensions into their benefit packages.
Further findings show that access to dedicated breastfeeding rooms in the office matters most to employees in advertising roles.
Regardless of industry, employers should consider providing dedicated private spaces for parents to breastfeed. In addition to promoting inclusion, these facilities help welcome and support new parents returning to the workplace and are likely to attract a more diverse pool of high-quality candidates.
