Global HR & Payroll Outsourcing Questions
See below some recent HR and Accounting related questions which will we hope give you an idea of how we can help. If you have a query, please feel free to contact our free advice service by emailing your query to info@lecheminantinternational.com.
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Can you recommend a subscription service for research for international payroll and payroll tax? I'm thinking of something like CCH AnswerConnect or Thompson Reuters Checkpoint.
Has anyone used these for non-US research? I use several of the free resources like Papaya and Boundless, particularly for LATAM, but they are often very broad and contradict each other.
Answer from Le Cheminant:
We send out every few months a spreadsheet on Employer social charges to clients and potential clients. I will send one to you via your Linked In address.
KPMG produce an excellent guide too "Highest Employer social security rates tax table."
Highest employer social security rates tax table - KPMG British Virgin Islands
My org is US based but has employees overseas in different countries. We give New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day off company wide, however, we are considering changing this since not all employees overseas celebrate these holidays.
We do offer unlimited PTO, so someone had suggested removing MLK day, Veterans Day, etc. and just letting employees know if they'd like those holidays off to use unlimited PTO. Similar to how employees overseas use their unlimited PTO for other holidays they need off.
However, we are afraid this will come off as punitive. I don't feel this is the best approach, but I wanted to get an idea of what other global orgs do. I appreciate any info, feedback, advice anyone can share.
Has anyone used these for non-US research? I use several of the free resources like Papaya and Boundless, particularly for LATAM, but they are often very broad and contradict each other.
Answer from Le Cheminant:
In all the companies where I was an HR Manager -France, Switzerland, UK, we always ensured that all employees in all locations followed the local vacation and holiday rules.
Their nationality or the fact that they were expats didn't matter. There was no question of American employees in Paris getting a paid day off for Thanksgiving or Labor Dat etc. Nor would French employees in NYC get Bastille Day off. They would all have to give up a vacation day if they wanted to take the day off.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for a reputable and effective online training program/course/video on GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)?
We are a small global company headquartered in the US. Our data management team has requested some training on the EU and Canadian GDPR. They specifically wanted training that provides an overview of these laws, provides implications for a company, and provides ways to stay in compliance with it. Hoping for any recommendations on reputable and effective online training programs/courses/videos that would take less than a day to complete. No certifications are necessary.
Answer from Le Cheminant:
Re the EU GDPR, it would be best to get country specific GDPR training rather than "EU". The EU isn’t as uniform as you might think...!
I contacted some lawyers in France, Germany and Sweden. One of those in France is a chap named Lionel Paraire. He is a partner in a French law firm called Galion. We have used him in the past for employment contracts.
You can find him on Linked In perhaps. He said:
" in order to learn about French data protection regulation, there are several options:
- Videos
- a great course created by the French data protection authority the “CNIL”: it is free, it takes 5 hours to follow it but it is only available in French:
- different videos created by the CNIL accessible on Youtube, some of which are in English:
- online trainings in English organized by the IAPP. (International Association of Privacy Professionals). It is quite expensive and it takes 13 hours : for example, there are trainings for the European Data Protection and the Canadian Data Protection. The attendee can obtain a certification of attendance:
- Readings
- different information available in French or in English on the CNIL website:
- a summarize in English of the French data protection regulation : Click link
If it is not enough, Galion can assist you in connection with Behring law firm which specializes notably in French data protection and provide training courses in French or in English."
Lionel
We are looking to streamline the types of severance packages we offer to involuntary terminations. I wondered if anyone has any examples of packages you may offer to employees based in UK/AUS or Singapore. I am looking for examples but also benchmark information if anyone has anything they could share.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for a reputable and effective online training program/course/video on GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)?
Answer from Le Cheminant:
When I was an HR Manager in UK, we used to give substantially greater termination settlements than the levels of statutory redundancy pay. The calculation we made was what was the minimum we would need to give to the employee to make it not worthwhile for him to go to a tribunal claiming unfair dismissal.
The same reasoning applied in all countries, except a couple like Belgium and Spain where the generous statutory provisions were always applied. In most countries we applied a variant of a "month of salary per year of service" rule. But remember the statutory notice periods in European countries can also be substantial - 3 months for instance.
One tip concerns company cars. These become like "life support machines" for employees: they cannot imagine life without a company car. So, if in a termination negotiation the employee DOESNT bring up the question of the car fairly early in the discussions then you can be fairly sure that he already another job lined up or reckons another job will not be difficult to find. So, you can toughen your negotiating stance accordingly.
Is it customary to have an employee handbook in Portugal? If so, are there any free templates to build an employee handbook?
Answer from Le Cheminant:
I noticed your question about employee handbooks for Portugal. I enclose a couple of handbook templates that can be customized. I don’t think it is worth doing the long one unless you have 50+ employees. Generally, the firms I deal with don’t have handbooks but insert as much as possible into the employment contract.
If you want to have handbooks customized for Portugal. I’d recommend a lady called Patrícia Dias, Email: patricia.dias@valmannconsulting.com or Amilcar Montez Email: AmilCarmontez@gmail.com who runs an accountancy company
I recently became responsible for our UK group which was small and is fast growing. I got a request for manager training.
I do manager training for US employees and s know there will be some basic compliance areas that need to be covered. Does anyone mind sharing a deck they use to do manager training for UK employees?
Answer from Le Cheminant:
I would recommend a chap called Kevin Parker, Email: Kevin.Parker@intpay.co.uk, or you might like to contact Emma Parker - (not related to Kevin Parker above). She is a British HR Manager and will be happy to help: ecg.parker@btinternet.comHello, I am looking for a PEO recommendation in India. HR, Benefits, payroll would all be needed for around 70 employees. Any recommendations are appreciated!
Answer from Le Cheminant:
With 70 employees it would make sense to either set up a branch or subsidiary, or just register as an employer in India. You can then just have a payroll administration service. It would be a fraction of the cost of a PEO service.
I recommend meghraj.poojari@vipanyglobal.com . His firm will provide either payroll administration OR PEO services.
We are a USA based company that does work overseas. We hired someone in Italy, who is claiming that there are no international locations listed to do drug testing. I am not familiar with how to onboard oversees.
What do you recommend for drug testing a highly compensated employee in Italy?
Answer from Le Cheminant:
I contacted several people either in Italy or covering Italy in their company.
Source 1 - a reference checking company
Dear John,
Drug testing is not popular in Europe. 99% of drug/alcohol tests happen only when you have a reasonable suspicion that a person is under the influence.
There also is a legal debate whether an employer can perform such tests prior to employing someone.
What I can advise, under the condition that the applicant is OK with this, is that the applicant performs the test at a private laboratory and shares login details to his results with the employer.
Source 2 - The head of an accounting firm in Rome.
Hi John
I've no idea, it isn't common to have this kind of test while recruiting in Italy.
Source 3 -a manager of an EOR company
Drug testing in Italy is only permitted for certain types of jobs, such as those operating machinery etc, so first the employer would have to ascertain whether they are allowed to request drug testing for the employee in question.
Source 4 - a reference checking firm that essentially says the same thing.
"Hi John, drug testing an employee in Italy would be unusual and not something I have ever had requested by an Italian company. Drug testing in Europe as a whole is unusual, I appreciate as a company in Colorado it is more common practice but not so in Europe. "
