Category Archives: Expatriates

Postings and discussions about expatriate programs and policies

Permanent Establishment and the International Assignee

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | 4 comments

Chris HallGuest Author:
Chris Hall – Global Tax Network, LLC

We are delighted to welcome Chris Hall as a Guest Author.  Chris is the Managing Director for Global Tax Network in New York.  GTN is an award-winning firm that assists clients with expatriate tax matters headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He is a Chartered Tax Advisor with over twelve years of experience.  Chris has worked in the UK, Canada and the US.  Before joining GTN, he held positions with Arthur Andersen and Deloitte.

The concept of Permanent Establishment (PE) is one of the fundamental principles used by taxing authorities to claim jurisdiction over a corporate entity deemed to be doing business in their location. When sending people to work in overseas locations it is important to consider the impact the PE concept might have on the company as a whole.

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Posted in Expatriate Taxation, Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, International Employment Law, International Payroll

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Holiday Gift Giving Around the World

Posted on December 20, 2011 by | 1 comment

Guest Author:
Dean Foster – DFA Intercultural Global Solutions

[Editor’s Note:  We are happy to welcome Dean Foster as a Guest Author.  Dean is a well-known expert on culture in business, is a frequent lecturer at various universities and conferences, and  is the author of many books on the topic of culture in business.  He is the Director of his own firm, DFA Intercultural Global Solutions.]

Gift giving can be a little tricky when giving gifts to
international colleagues. Cultural differences can make a terrific gift at home into a terrible no-no abroad. With the holiday season soon upon us, here are some important cross-cultural gift-giving considerations when sending gifts to your international friends and business associates.

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Posted in Cross Cultural Insights, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, General, Global HR Expertise

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Hey HR! Here’s What Employees and Families Really Need When Relocating Internationally

Posted on December 13, 2011 by | 4 comments

Guest Author:
Rachel Yates – Definingmoves.com

[Editor’s Note:  We are very excited to share with you the assignee’s spouse perspective on international relocation, from someone who has lived through five such moves.  Rachel Yates edits a website, Defining Moves, devoted to assisting relocating families around the world. ]

I read the post from May, 2011 by Warren Heaps about global mobility policies for the 21st century on this site, and found it to be fascinating, mainly because I am part of the changing demographics Warren described. On paper, we are the traditional relocating family; husband as assignee, spouse as the accompanying partner, and two dependent children. We have relocated through three continents over the last 10 years, and we have struggled. And we are most definitely not alone.

So what do relocating individuals and families really need from HR?

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4 Comments

Posted in Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, Policy Development, Relocation, Repatriation, Talent Management

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Ten Ways to Simplify Administration of Your International Assignment Program

Posted on December 8, 2011 by | 2 comments


Jennifer Stein – Global Tax Network

[Editor’s Note:  We are happy to welcome Jen Stein as a Guest Author.  Jen is the Managing Director of the Global Tax Network Chicago office.  She has more than 15 years of experience in expat and foreign national tax preparation and consulting, starting her career with Arthur Andersen, and then Ernst & Young, where she served for over 14 years.]

International assignment administration is complex. Sometimes it’s useful to take a step back and review basic components.  The list below, while not exhaustive, is a good starting point to help review your international assignment process and procedures.  Adopting one or all of these components may make your life easier when administering international assignments.

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Posted in Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, International Assignee Selection, Policy Development, Repatriation, Talent Management

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Is There a Crystal Ball for Talent Planning and Global Mobility?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by | 3 comments

Guest Author:
Nikki Goodstein – Cisco Systems

[Editor’s Note:  We are happy to welcome Nikki Goodstein as a Guest Author.  Nikki is a leader in Compensation & Benefits at Cisco Systems, Inc. and has a depth of experience designing and implementing global mobility programs. Before establishing the strategy and redesigning the program at Cisco, she led Global Mobility at The Coca-Cola Company. Nikki began her international HR career at Johnson & Johnson as part of their international compensation organization and has held HR roles in both the business as a generalist and in centers of excellence.]

Sorry, there is no talent planning “crystal ball,” but that does not mean you don’t need a plan!

Many companies with mature global mobility programs have evolved to measuring assignment success by leveraging available data across several key employment metrics:  performance over time, promotions/career opportunities, years with the company post repatriation, engagement scores reflecting manager performance, etc.  When consolidated into a dashboard, these metrics can help tell the story of success or challenges in your global mobility program.

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Posted in Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, Policy Development, Repatriation, Talent Management

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Global Mobility Policies for the 21st Century

Posted on May 26, 2011 by | 8 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

It’s now almost the middle of 2011, so the 21st century is well underway.  The new realities of global business are upon us:

  • Companies are expanding from developed countries into new, high-growth markets in the developing world in record numbers.
  • Global talent is being snatched up across borders on a regular basis.
  • Companies are sending expats to new locations, and breaking new ground with each assignment.
  • Companies headquartered in developing markets like India, China, Brazil and South Africa, to name a few, are expanding along with multi-nationals from more established markets.
  • Demographic shifts will result in an increasing number of workers being sought from developing countries to replace the ageing workforce in North America and Europe.  In fact, McKinsey predicts that by the year 2040, the largest working-age population in the world will reside in Africa.

So what does this have to do with global mobility?  A lot!

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8 Comments

Posted in Compensation, Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, General, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, International Expertise, Repatriation, Talent Management

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Localization: Impact on Children’s Education

Posted on March 22, 2011 by | 5 comments

Author:
Liz Perelstein – School Choice International

Localization of expatriates is becoming more and more common, as companies try to reduce the numbers of assignees and control costs.  Many companies wrestle with the question of dependent education when dealing with localization.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of localization policies oversimplify the issues and therefore do not adequately address employee or employer needs.

Most often, there is either an immediate cut-off of education assistance, or a phasing out of tuition assistance; in either case, the family either has to fund the private school themselves or transition their children into local public or state-funded schools.  Both approaches assume that the local alternative will be adequate for the needs of the family, but there can often be complicating factors.

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5 Comments

Posted in Expatriates, Global Mobility Services

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Managing International Assignees During a Crisis

Posted on February 1, 2011 by | 7 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

With the recent events unfolding in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere around the world, a common question we’ve been hearing a lot lately is, “What do we do about the expats we have there?”  The simple answer is that you need  a plan.

In Egypt specifically, the recent events evolved quickly and after more than a week, there are no signs of the crisis abating.   Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, International Expertise

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Best Practices for Selecting International Assignees (Part 2)

Posted on January 11, 2011 by | 1 comment

Author:
Alan Freeman – LOF International HR Solutions

This is the second of two installments on the topic of assignee selection.

In our last posting, we began to list a number of proven best practices for selecting candidates for international assignments.  Here are several more:

Provide an overview of the your company’s applicable policies and processes. You and the candidate need to know early on if there are any “show-stopper” issues or you run the risk of wasting everyone’s time. Be sure, by the way, that your policy and administrative processes are well thought through and developed. You don’t want to be caught building an ad hoc “package” through negotiations. One-off deals frequently lead to lots of ongoing problems. Continue reading →

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Posted in Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Selection, Relocation, Talent Management

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Best Practices for Selecting International Assignees (Part 1)

Posted on December 9, 2010 by | 6 comments


Author:
Alan Freeman – LOF International HR Solutions

This is the first of two installments on the subject of assignee selection.

A recent question, “Please share ideas on best practices for hiring candidates for an immediate international assignment” triggers a few thoughts.

First and foremost, the organization must definitively establish that it is not possible to recruit local nationals in the location where the job is based. Hence sending a foreigner as an International Assignee is both necessary and can be sufficiently justified to obtain assignment country work and residency permits. If so, then…

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6 Comments

Posted in Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Selection, Relocation, Talent Management

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