International Payday Rules from A to Z

Author:
Jacque Vilet – Vilet International

Have you ever wondered about the legal requirements that impact how your employees are paid around the world?   Or, if you have an employee(s) in a start-up operation in a new country, do you know how they should be paid?

This article addresses a few facts about country payrolls that you might like to know.   We will focus on some basics:   legal rules affecting paydays and legal currency allowed for payment of wages.  These provisions are for local national staff, not expatriates.

Below is a table showing the requirements for one country from A to Z with the exception of “X” and  “W”.   There are no countries starting with those letters.

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Best Practices for Selecting International Assignees (Part 2)

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

New Category Navigation Feature

We’ve added a handy way to search the archives of the International HR Forum by category.

Now, for the most popular categories, you can simply click on “Posts by Category” in the Menu Bar, and then select the category of interest to you. When you click on the category of your choice, you will get a listing of all the posts in that category, beginning with the most recent.

We hope you find this feature useful.

Top Ten Posts of 2010

As many of you know, this blog was launched in April, 2009, and was envisioned as a destination for international human resources professionals, a place where international HR pros could learn best practices, participate in discussions and share their knowledge.  We never anticipated how popular the site would be, but as of today, December 26, 2010, we have over 500 regular subscribers, and average over 250 visitors per day, almost every day!

As we come to the close of the year, we decided once again to look back and celebrate what we have accomplished as a community, and share with you a summary of the most popular content from the International HR Forum during 2010.  We hope you find this list handy, and look forward to hearing from you in the new year.

Top Ten Posts of 2010:

  1. Why Culture is Important in International Business
  2. How Top Companies Manage Talent Development
  3. Everybody Hates Performance Appraisals — What To Do?
  4. International Employment Law “Quick Facts” – Brazil
  5. Delegation: Leadership Development in Africa – Part 2
  6. Ten Steps for Building A Salary Structure
  7. Creating High Performance Teams
  8. Base Salary – Not So Basic!
  9. International Employment Law “Quick Facts” – India
  10. Reverse Culture Shock (Or Why Do I Hate Being Home?)

The above posts are those which had the most views during 2010.  Most were published during 2010, but a few are actually from 2009.  We will be sharing some additional category summaries later in the week.

Happy holidays!

Who Dresses for Success Anymore?

Author:
Chuck Csizmar – CMC Compensation Group

It hasn’t been that many years ago that the term “business casual” was coined to describe a new flexibility in acceptable office attire .  To many business leaders though, the phrase meant no more than wearing a red tie, and perhaps only once a week.

Well, that was then.  Today, attitudes and customs are quite different, and typically much less conservative.  For example, it is not uncommon in some circles for male employees to forgo the use of socks within an office environment.  I know, because recently I visited such an office and saw for myself.

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Best Practices for Selecting International Assignees (Part 1)


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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Africa Compensation Update – 2010


Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

Back in April of 2009, I published a post entitled “A Glimpse of Pay and Benefits in Africa.”  A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to speak at an International Compensation and Benefits meeting in Houston, Texas, hosted by the National Foreign Trade Council, where my topic was also focused on Africa in general, and some information about pay practices there.  I thought it would be nice to share some highlights here.

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Employment in France – A Quick Checklist for Employers

Guest Author:
John Tinsley – Compandben.com

Editor’s Note:  This post is written by John Tinsley, Managing Director and Owner of Compandben.com, a Geneva-based HR consultancy.  John is an HR practitioner with over 25 years of experience in Europe and the Middle East.  John’s company offers assistance to employers in finding reliable local payroll partners in over 100 countries.  He also provides consulting services in areas such as labor contracts, employee handbooks, benefits, and compensation.

Employment in France has some unique requirements and challenges.  For employers establishing businesses in France for the first time, the following checklist is a handy guide of what to consider:

  1. All employees in France are notionally attached to a “Convention Collective” or Collective Agreement for their industry. The agreements are very similar but there are variations between industry in terms of vacation, social charges, and termination indemnities, so employers need to define what their business is. As an example,”Telecoms” wouldn’t be detailed enough. “Provision and implementation of routers for wide area networks” would be ok.
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Affirmative Action – A Global Issue

Author:
Jacque Vilet – Vilet International

MythAffirmative action is a U.S. policy that is particular to America.

Fact:  Affirmative action is an international phenomenon and is supported  by human rights principles, including the International Covenant for the Elimination of Race Discrimination.

Around the globe, historically and currently, many countries have pursued and embraced affirmative action  measures to address various forms of subordination and inequity that exclude or marginalize socially distinct groups.

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Are You Diligent with Your Due Diligence? (Part II)


Author:
Chuck Csizmar –
CMC Compensation Group

Anyone who has ever been involved in a merger or an acquisition team remembers their first time; how green they were, how much they didn’t know and how much of a challenge it was just getting up to speed.   They didn’t know what they didn’t know.  Most neophytes are shell-shocked by the complexities involved, the myriad moving parts – and when the business target is an international concern, or has a foreign footprint, then it’s often a case of “what do we do now”?

Provided below is Part II of a due diligence checklist for international M&A deals, one that I wish I had when I was thrown to the wolves for my first overseas acquisition.  Continue reading