International mobility
Development of international business, creation of subsidiaries, know-how transfer, project management, international mobility is developing under various forms : international jobs, trips, short term assignments, expatriation, impatriation, commuting. International mobility is a major challenge for a company : for its development and its performance, financially and humanly speaking.
Making a success out of an international transfer requires the know-how of many various and complex disciplines (tax system, living cost, social benefits, insurance and pension issues, work contract, work permit, family issues, security…). Without a professional approach, international mobility can reach excessive costs, and can be the potential source of major risks.
Thanks to our capacity to handle all issues related to international mobility, and our expertise in cost control, we have tailored solutions to your particular needs, in order to satisfy your executives and employees, and to make your international transfer a success, both professionally and personally.
To optimize your international mobility, we recommend that you consider the outsourcing, partial or total, of this activity. We offer you :
- Tailored individual packages ;
- A professional and reliable service to both your company and your expatriates ;
- A strict cost control ;
- A permanent survey on the market's best practise ;
- The opportunity to focus yourself on your core business and on human resources management.
International mobility policy
How to integrate an ever growing number of international transfers into a coherent framework ?
How to motivate the mobility of executives and key individuals ?
What are the potential human and business risks ? How to manage them ?
How to control the costs ?
How to identify the required international profiles, to develop international careers, and to anticipate return to the country of origin ?
How to value your international mobility's practises ?
We help you
- To build or to modify your international mobility policy, with respect to your company’s objectives and practises ;
- To benchmark your current practises with the market's best practises ;
- To offer adapted and attractive solutions to executives and key individuals ;
- To set up adapted tools and processes to manage all types of international mobility, taking into account tax, social and legal issues ;
- To enhance the development of competences of expatriates, and to value those acquired competences when returning to their countries of origin ;
- To build an effective communication with the company management, and with expatriates and their families, in order to promote your image, to develop a mobility culture, and therefore to enhance your attractiveness.
Determination of the individual package
How to determine a local remuneration in order to maximize the net income, taking into account the differences of living costs, local tax and social issues, while at the same time being competitive with local market conditions ?
How to preserve or to set up the essential components in terms of social benefits (pension, insurance plan, breach of employment contract) ?
What type of status to apply (secondment, expatriation, local status) ?
We help you
- To elaborate adapted and attractive compensation packages ;
- To optimize tax wise the expatriate package, both locally and internationally ;
- To optimize the social benefits program (pension, insurance plan, repatriation, unemployment, personal security) ;
- To make the right choice between the multiple statuses, and to draw up contract terms.
Transfer operator service
Assistance before departure
- Visa, tax issue,
- Medical check-up,
- Property management advice,
- Country information,
- Introductory trip,
Installation
- Accommodation, school search,
- Selection of doctor and hospital,
- Moving, furniture storage,
- Advice on daily life,
- Sale of residence,
Training for the expatriate and spouse
- Languages,
- Intercultural,
- Initiation to expatriation,
Outplacement for spouse.
We help you
- By taking in charge the whole transfer operator service ;
- By selecting the best partners (moving, relocation, training, medical services, property management, housing…) in terms of quality and costs ;
- By raising your efficiency, by having only one accountable interlocutor to deal with ;
- By offering different solutions designed to answer your specific needs.
Management and administration
Contract and implementation
- Modification and update of the individual package,
- Tax declaration support,
- Renewal of work permit,
Compensation and benefits
- Applying to various benefits (pension, insurance plan, unemployment, assistance),
- Coordination with local remuneration system,
- Follow-up of expatriation expenses,
Communication
- Structured reporting to the company,
- Hotline for expatriates,
- Alert in case of emergency.
We help you
- By taking in charge the whole management and administration ;
- By selecting the best partners in social benefits, pension, unemployment, assistance…in terms of quality and costs ;
- By setting up a regular follow-up, and an efficient communication towards the company and its expatriates.
Mastering the international mobility costs
Development of international business, creation of subsidiaries, know-how transfer, project management, international mobility is developing under various forms : international jobs, trips, short term assignments, expatriation, impatriation, commuting.
This trivialization of mobility has therefore led companies to change their practices.
Today, their major concern is cost control.
Given the practices and the quality of the persons concerned, evolutions in this field are difficult to implement ; but they are necessary. Below are some suggestions that we believe should be considered :
Choice of status
The relevant status takes into account various criteria : duration of mission, level of responsibility, geographical area, individual expectations and cost control. The choice must therefore be made on a case-by-case basis.
- Detachment is suitable for short-term missions (a few months, or even up to 24 months under certain conditions). The employee remains, in principle, attached to the social system of the origin country. This protective status is generally the most expensive ;
- Expatriation is suitable for long-term missions. The employee is attached to the social system of the host country. This status is advantageous ; however, if the assignment country does not deliver adequate social protection, it may be necessary to provide supplementary social protection, even if it is necessary to cover a double contribution. This policy is particularly appropriate for executives whose level of responsibility justifies the amount of expenses incurred ;
- Commuting is a form of mobility that has developed considerably in recent years (the person works during the week in another country and returns at weekends to his country of origin ; it meets the expectations of the employee whose family wishes to remain in their country of origin. The cost for the company is favorable (no additional cost related to the status, no compensation for the spouse's loss of employment, no relocation costs for the person and his / her family), notwithstanding the dual residence and travel expenses which may be important ;
- Local status is increasingly privileged by companies : low-cost since employees are subject to local practices (sometimes with some specific conditions), more likely to be envisaged because of the improvement in the level of social protection in many countries and simple to implement ;
- The short-term mission is the most widely used form of international mobility, as it is particularly flexible to use and does not generate any additional costs outside of travel costs.
International mobility policy
An international mobility policy makes it possible to have a coherent and motivating framework for multiple international movements, taking into account the company management practices.
In order to keep costs under control, the trends are twofold :
- On the one hand, in Europe, we see the disappearance of expatriation allowances and, more and more, the adaptation of the remuneration to the local market ;
- On the other hand, the increasing development of differentiated package policies, with benefits and costs adapted to the various levels of responsibilities : executives, managers, others (engineers, technicians and workers).
Tax optimization
Tax optimization options exist and are not always exploited, regardless of the company size. These deserve to be analyzed upstream, when choosing the status.
For example
- The CGI Article 81 AII (French law), which concerns employees engaged in short or long-term travel abroad on behalf of their company ;
- The split payroll for people paid in both the assignment country and their origin country.
Social optimization
The social protection level in the assignment country is often decisive : if it meets the company policy, additional protection in the origin country should be avoided.
Another source of concern and optimization for the company and for the employee : the period of validation for pension concerning international careers. It makes it possible to extend the career insurance period used to calculate the full retirement benefit, to increase the amount of the pension, and possibly to get an early retirement.
Services professionalization
Services (relocation, training, pre / post moving assistance) are one of the cost items. It is therefore necessary to manage the services professionally, by selecting the best providers in terms of quality and cost control.
The optimization sources are therefore multiple.
We can help you
- To build or reorient your international mobility policy ;
- To achieve an audit of your costs ;
- To fix the individual packages ;
- To optimize your packages.