Global Employment: Payroll Challenges & Employer Obligations
Operating a business in foreign markets comes with unique human resources challenges, unlike anything you may have encountered in your domestic markets. Factors such as national health care, work visas, work permits, compliant employment contracts, and risks of unfair dismissal claims can vary significantly from country to country. Having a sound understanding of these issues is critical to successfully expanding your business into new markets.
When expanding your business into overseas markets, you’ll need to consider your talent engagement strategy carefully. Depending on international and local regulations, you may use local hires, expats, independent contractors, full- and part-time employees, or a mix for your business. Different countries have different employment practices, so research what would work best for your company. Remember that your home country’s practices may not apply in other countries.
Challenge 1: Overseas Employment Contracts
Maintaining accurate employee documentation is critical, as the lack of it could result in unwittingly getting slapped with penalties and fees. When drafting employee contracts, it is crucial to seek legal advice to ensure that they comply with host-country labor laws. In many countries, an employment contract must be written in a language other than English. While a cost may be associated with having a translation, the contract written in the host country’s language will take precedence.
Challenge 2: Employee Misclassification Risk
As an employer, knowing the employment laws and regulations of the country you are doing business is crucial. This is especially true when classifying workers as independent contractors or employees. Independent contractors may seem like a cost-effective solution for businesses. Still, companies should be aware that local authorities in many countries may deem them de facto benefits-eligible employees. Misclassifying a worker can result in significant fines and damage your company’s reputation. This can result in significant fines and reputation damage, so it’s important to ensure you are clear on the legal distinctions between contractors and employees before hiring anyone and budget for full-time employees under host-country laws to avoid those penalties.
Challenge 3: Tax Protection Policies for Global Workforce
The costs of sending employees on overseas assignments can quickly add up, often totaling two to three times the employee’s salary in their home country. Many businesses establish tax protection policies to alleviate personal tax burdens and attract and retain top international talent. These policies can be complex and costly to manage.
Challenge 4: Budgeting Immigration Cost
International business travel can be an excellent opportunity for employees to broaden their horizons and gain new skills. However, it can also be a logistical nightmare for employers.
Cross-border employee relocation can be a costly and time-consuming process. Planning and budgeting for immigration, relocation expenses, and allowances are essential to ensuring a smooth transition for all involved.
Challenge 5: Budgeting Termination Cost
As an employer operating globally, you must know the laws and regulations regarding employee rights in different countries. Depending on the country, there may be different rules regarding termination of employment, severance pay, and collective bargaining agreements. In some Western European countries, for instance, terminating an employee can cost up to 12 to 18 months of severance. Global employers must plan for this possibility when budgeting for international talent acquisition.
Challenge 6: Budgeting Employee Payroll and Benefits
As more and more companies expand their operations overseas, they are often surprised to learn that the costs of employee benefits can be much higher in foreign countries than at home. Different countries have different laws regulating payroll, extending beyond the typical health insurance contributions, statutory withholdings, and other benefits that can take a big bite out of a company’s bottom line when operating in a new country.
In some cases, local labor, tax, and social security laws may also come into play. This can be a significant burden for companies operating in multiple countries.
Challenge 7: Budgeting Taxable Voluntary Benefits
As an overseas employer, you may be required to offer additional compensation in salary increases, profit sharing, holiday payments, bonuses, car allowances, and more. These voluntary benefits can significantly impact your employment contracts, compensation structure, and payroll operations. Depending on the country where you operate, these benefits may be taxed under different schemes than regular salary. Therefore, reviewing and understanding these benefits is essential to ensure compliance with local and international laws and regulations.
Challenge 8: Budgeting Paid Time Off
In today’s economy, being mindful of your company’s payroll budget is more important than ever. Unexpected costs can add up, such as employee vacation and overtime pay. In many countries, employees are entitled to several vacation days and paid time off each year. When you factor in public holidays, paid timeoff in some countries in Western Europe can come to nearly two months per year for each employee, plus additional time off for overtime worked. Sick leave benefits can also be a considerable cost for employers operating in multiple jurisdictions. In other countries, for example, employees can collect 70 percent of their salary for up to 105 weeks of sick leave.
Payroll Budgeting Solution: Global Payroll Calculator
How is your global talent compensation policy competitive, and how much will it cost? Global Payroll Calculator (GPC) is a SaaS tool that can help you do this.
Global Payroll Calculator provides a more intelligent way of global talent acquisition and compensation. With detailed data on employer and employee taxes and contributions in 190 countries, Global Payroll Calculator gives users a complete picture of total employment costs. With high accuracy, no hidden costs, and 100% compliance around the world guaranteed, the #GPC tool enables users to make intelligent, fast, and informed decisions about locating their businesses or acquiring talent.
So whether you are an employer with a foreign, local, or hybrid workforce that spans multiple countries, an Employer of Record, PEO, or an agency (service provider) assisting with international staffing and recruitment, you can use the Global Payroll Calculator to get accurate worldwide payroll budgeting data and cross-country comparisons in 190 countries. The Payroll Calculator is a valuable resource to get the job done right.
Global Payroll Calculator by Acumen International has been named the Payroll Innovation Award winner for 2022 by the Global Payroll Association. Don’t let the uncertainties of international tax compliance and exposure to foreign labor laws sidetrack your global expansion plans.
