Welcome to this month’s newsletter.
This month we cover:
- Employers of Record: The Case For And Against
- Countries Clamping Down on Digital Nomads
- Fireside Chat On Geo-Strategy For Global Mobility Leaders
- Product Updates
- In The News
- Mels Tip of the Day – Own your Compliance
Employers of Record: The Case For And Against
Employers of Record (EoR) have literally taken the world by storm in the last few years. Deel has raised over $675m to date, is valued at $12bn and has been experiencing rocket ship growth. Velocity Global and Remote have both raised circa $500m to date.
There are many more to add to this list, but what are Employers of Record? What do they do? And when is the right (and conversely wrong) time to use them?
In this article, we’re going to do a deep dive into the world of Employers of Record so that you know how to add Employers of Record to your global expansion and hire from anywhere toolbox, including taking you through the selection framework above to help you select the right Employer of Record for your organisation.
Countries Clamping Down on Digital Nomads
We have spoken about how governments will start to crack down on remote workers not declaring their residency and/or working illegally, and so we have been paying close attention to the countries that have started to clamp down on digital nomads. In recent weeks, Spain and Bali have come into sharp focus.
Spanish tax authorities have said they will step up their investigation into claims by digital nomads and other remote workers pretending to be non-residents.
In Bali, the local government announced that they will create a task force to crack down on tourists working illegally in Bali.
Spain and Bali are ones to watch very closely, as there are likely a lot of “hush” workations taking place there as we speak.
Do you have employees working remotely in Spain or Bali?
Fireside Chat On Geo-Strategy For Global & Mobility Leaders
How many of the candidates applying to your company get extremely frustrated when, at the very end of multiple interviews, they finally hear that your company doesn’t hire in the location they want to work remotely from?
If this is a problem you face, and you believe global mobility have a role to play here, then you might be curious to hear how companies can implement a hire from anywhere policy.
If so, feel free to register for a Fireside chat with John and Imelda on 12th April 2023.
Product Updates
For those of you who have been following our journey, some of the main features we have enhanced in the last few months include:
- Global Footprint Health Check: We just launched a new health check product which helps companies quickly figure out whether they have triggered any compliance risks through their current hiring footprint.
- Have you hired many employees via EOR?
- Are you absolutely sure you haven’t created a permanent establishment risk as a result? EOR’s only cover you for employee compliance related obligations. You need to take ownership of your corporate obligations.
- Do you hire many staff under an independent contractor arrangement?
- Are you sure you haven’t created contractor misclassification issues? The penalties can be significant.
Get in touch with imelda@wfa.team if you’re worried there may be a few skeletons in the closet!
- Free Business Case Calculator: We have added a simple business case calculator to the main website which you can access here.
- 50 countries now available on 7 day trial: We’ve decided to add all 50 countries to the free trial access. You can log on here to access this.
Current Trends
The current trends around hire and work from anywhere are the focus for two episodes below which you might find interesting.
John will be speaking on a panel on “Remote Work: Separating The Myth From The Reality” with Benivo on the View From The Top show on 5th April 2023.
John chatted with Connor Heaney of CXC Global, see here for this podcast episode.
Some of the topics Connor & John discussed include:
- What Challenges is WFA Solving?
- Most Common Risks Companies Face
- Permanent Establishment Risk
- Hiring Globally – DE&I
Mel’s Tip: Own Your Compliance
I mentioned Geo-Strategy in our January blog post, but I wanted to come back and focus it towards startups and scale ups as this is an area which is mostly remote companies, they also have a hire fast and anywhere approach.
For the scale ups and startups, the area which I want to highlight here is own your compliance! I see the Geo-Strategy as the foundation on which you can sustainably and compliantly grow your business.
Why is it important to own your compliance?
Imagine having to stop work in a country during an investigation for PE or contractor misclassification? Your people will feel discombobulated, they will be thinking how will I get paid, will I get paid, I haven’t done anything wrong, I was hired in good faith.
Yes it’s true you were hired in good faith, but that won’t stop the investigation. You didn’t know your risks therefore you didn’t see it coming, and now you are juggling unrest in the teams, your business operations are in question and you are dealing with legal authorities and potential penalties, fines and interest.
It is not to say this can’t happen to the multinational companies, of course it can , but they will have their compliance matrix and models, they may have even taken a calculated risk, the key thing is knowing your risks and owning your compliance, see Donal’s product section above about the Global Footprint Health Check product we have launched.
How do you see Geo-Strategy? Let us know or feel free to join our Geo-Strategy fireside chat taking place in April.
Thanks for tuning in!
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