1. Understand Which Benefits Are Required
Failure to comply with local benefits law at any time comes with a variety of punishments. That fact makes the complex task of effectively implementing and managing compliant, global employee benefits even more important.
Not only can fines be significant, ranging anywhere from $100 to $1,000,000 (or potentially more), but there can be severe consequences outside of monetary punishments that could greatly impact your business. These include:
- Strict audits and investigations from local government.
- Denial of benefits plans in the future.
- Reputational damage and loss of trust.
Simply put, people don’t want to work for a company that is in legal trouble for not offering the bare minimum as required by local governments.
2. Understand Which Benefits Your People Expect
Implementing a legally compliant benefits strategy is your bare minimum requirement as an employer – and doing the bare minimum isn’t attractive.
To compete for the best talent in each market, you should offer best-practice international benefits, global employee benefits that are culturally expected and benefits that your competition is likely to offer.
Typically, there are five areas of international employee benefits that people around the world will expect to be offered by their employers. In certain locations, some of these are legally required:
- Medical: Access to subsidized and/or private healthcare, depending on the country.
- Life: A lump sum to support the families of employees who pass away.
- Disability: Either a lump sum or monthly allowance that supports people if an illness or accident prevents them from working.
- Pension/Retirement: Helps employees save for life after work and potentially feel more secure about their financial future.
- Leaves: Work absences, long-term or short-term, that relate to a specific reason. Commonly split into parental leave, vacation (holiday) and sickness leave.
3. Identify Benefits and Perks that Stand Out
The best global employee benefits can be the ones that set you apart from the competition and communicate why someone should choose a role at your company over a similar role with a competitor.
Some of the supplemental perks, allowances, and stipends that our clients have used to enhance their employee benefits strategy are:
- Employee assistance programs (EAPs): A telephone hotline that provides counseling and support to employees and their families.
- Meal vouchers: Free or subsidized lunches for your people (usually at least 50%).
- Travel: Free or subsidized travel costs and public transport season tickets.
As you evaluate each benefit, consider your employee populations, demographics, compensation, lifestyle and needs to determine where to invest. This can help you develop an overall package that could be highly valued by all your people, no matter where they are in the world.
NFP’s Guide to International Benefits
If you run an international business, it can be challenging to manage your global employee benefits strategy in all your locations. From navigating legal and tax legislation to understanding local cultures, creating compliant and competitive benefits packages in multiple countries is no easy task.
In our latest guide, our global employee benefits specialists outline how you can help your business thrive internationally, implement new benefits and, importantly, ensure your people can utilize these benefits to their full extent.
In this comprehensive guide, you will learn:
- What to consider when designing your global benefits strategy.
- How to identify the right benefits and provider(s) to deliver them in all your locations.
- How to efficiently administer and run your global benefits program.
- How to effectively review and maintain oversight of your strategy.
