In a new spotlight for us, we take some of the most common questions we’re asked by HR professionals ahead of working with our clients…and answer them for you.

1. I’ve been tasked with growing our team overseas, where do I even start?
   The most important consideration is “does the business need to have a permanent establishment in that particular country” or are you simply testing the market? If it means greater market share and penetration by having a local operation, then we are not the solution for you. However, this is a very expensive exercise if you are just setting up an operation to employ and pay staff. A Global PEO does not have to be your outsourced employment solution forever. It is an agile, compliant and cost-effective solution to employ and pay your staff, but there is a point where it simply makes sense to set up your own entity. We can help you with that also.
2. What are the first steps I need to take?
   Easy. Take a read of our website to understand our services and to make sure we tick a lot of the boxes. We work with HR professionals from all different sectors and there not a lot of questions asked during your due diligence that we can’t help you with. The Global PEO industry is in its infancy but it is a disruptor in every sense of the word. Many of our clients have the same reservation about how it works, is it legal, it’s expensive etc, etc but the reality is that if you are employing a remote workforce, there is a no more effective business solution.
3. I’ve not heard of a Global PEO. Is it legal or just a loophole?
   Good question. The answer is yes and no. Yes, it’s legal and no, it’s not a loophole. So many factors affect global expansion; which country? Where to source the candidate? Do I just hire long term contractors? How do we retain the IP? Culture and building a team are important but how do we do that? I have asked these questions in a prior life as well and now I know that the simple answer is to work with a Global PEO. In truth, ALL the risk is with the PEO because we are “simply” employing staff we did not recruit nor have ever met! We are just making sure they are employed compliantly in a country where you do not have a local presence. We employ them and you manage them, so we are in this together. BUT if it goes wrong, you’ll be glad you have us by your side.
4. How quickly can I get a team set up in a different country?
   Very. If the candidate isn’t currently working or serving a notice period, then it will be a matter of days if all the paperwork is completed promptly. Most candidates have notice periods to serve so four weeks is the timeframe we work to. Our operation is well established in all the countries where we employ so for us it is all very straightforward as you are operating under our infrastructure.
5. I don’t understand the laws of that country and the employment hurdles I need to jump through, what next?
   Being a HR professional is no mean feat but being a GLOBAL HR professional, wow, almost impossible. We work with local legal counsel to understand the compliance landscape in all the countries where we employ staff. Having one Head of Legal counsel is not going to work. They are only so good. Understanding the employment laws of a country is our job because ultimately it is our risk if we get it wrong. As our customer it is our role to ensure you comply with the day to day interpretation of that law in the workplace and avoid contentious HR disputes.
6. What can go wrong by using a Global PEO?
   A very expensive settlement agreement with an aggrieved employee. Ultimately, we are dealing with human interactions and if you employ staff internally or via a Global PEO there is always the risk something can go wrong if you don’t follow employment regulations or manage the expectations. The rise of the remote workforce presents many challenges to HR professionals because it is a relatively new talent management concept. Understanding that managing a remote worker entails many unique flexible employment guidelines will go along way to mitigating things going wrong. Dealing with a Global PEO partner will not be the issue, it will be the breakdown of the relationship with the candidate that YOU hired.
7. What’s the price of PEO and how does it work?
   Cheaper than setting up your own legal entity. No doubt about it.
   Consider the legal, tax, IT and technical consultation costs and then the peripheral costs of employment lawyers, local banking facilities and infrastructure costs as well as company registration fees and you are looking at anywhere from £25,000 to £250,000 especially if you need to provide a fiscal security bond with the local tax authorities to operate in that country. We charge a one-off employee registration fee, flat monthly management fee and the statutory employment cost applicable in that country. This is a fraction of the cost of doing it by yourself and gives you full transparency of costs to employ a remote worker.

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