Balancing Cost in Global Mobility: Smart Cost Savings in a Difficult Time

While there are many steps to be taken to adapt to the emerging new normal created by COVID-19, there are two specific to global mobility policy that are important to address.

First, we must enhance our duty of care offerings for employees. Not only is it our responsibility to promote the wellbeing of our employees, if we don’t, employees may not be willing to relocate.

Second, many companies are facing a challenging financial environment. Costs are being scrutinized and global mobility programs at most companies will not be immune from pressures to cut costs.

Please CLICK HERE to find a paper written by one of our Global partners, AIRINC as they look at 3 case studies and how businesses can balance the costs of international mobility. 

How Coronavirus has affected Global Mobility

Will we start to see less air travel?

Will we start to see less air travel?

It began in China in December 2019, the first reported cases of a new virus.

What’s happened in the 3 months since then has impacted economies around the world and seen the World Health Organisation declare a global health emergency.

Everything from the automotive industry’s supply chain (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51548976 ) through to international sport tournaments (https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/51800564 ) and most recently an entire country being put into lockdown (https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-whole-of-italy-put-on-lockdown-11954097 )

With the biggest daily occurrence of people spending time in close proximity being in the workplace, companies have had to assess their role in limiting workforce impact.

Those with staff travelling internationally have to deal with governments imposing travel shutdowns, border screenings and quarantines. Advice to people who have been in a country or area with confirmed cases is to self-isolate for between 7 and 21 days.

Holiday makers and travellers are finding themselves stuck, cruise ships are being denied docking requests and the entire vessel is being quarantined.

Airlines are suffering heavily, with the largest regional carrier in Europe, Flybe, being forced into administration by a combination of the coronavirus and a subsequent fall in demand. Lufthansa has grounded it’s A380 fleet and cancelled half of all flights.

What long-term impact this will have on the Global Mobility industry remains to be seen, but with the dramatic increase in businesses enforcing remote working, could we be seeing a shift towards technological solutions?

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Hiring Domestic Staff in India

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Hiring Domestic Staff in India

In India hiring domestic staff is a common practice but this may be an unusual experience for employees who have relocated. In this post, Preeti Roongta looks at the topic in more detail.

It’s very common in India to have domestic helpers to assist you in your daily housekeeping tasks. Domestic helpers can be hired for practically everything – driving, cooking, cleaning, laundry, washing up, babysitting etc. You name it - India has skilled people for the task.

Domestic staff arrangements

When employing domestic staff in India, there is some flexibility based on the number of hours of work required each day:

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Do I Need to Register When Working in India?

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Do I Need to Register When Working in India?

Foreign nationals who wish to reside long-term in India (typically longer than 180 days) are required to visit the FRRO (Foreign Regional Registration Office) within 14 days of their arrival in India.

The FRRO's role includes issuing residence permits, visa conversions, and addressing matters related to visa extensions related to non-nationals. In short, FRRO deals with all the legal formalities that need to be completed by those intending to stay long term.

Indian bureaucracy has a reputation for being lengthy and onerous but automation and IT are being deployed to ease these issues. However, for relocating employees and their HR teams…

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Should Your Business Expand Into India?

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You may have read our recent post about India as a potential destination for businesses considering expanding overseas. If not, you can read it here.

And who should make front page news this week by setting up business in India? None other than global brand and the world's largest furniture retailer, IKEA.

The Hyderabad store is IKEA's first opening in India, followed by plans to open shops in all major cities over the coming years, with sites already purchased in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi.

IKEA's global chief executive Jesper Brodin said, "The market of India for us is a dream."

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India: Business Expansion Destination?

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India: Business Expansion Destination?

India is fast becoming an attractive destination for foreign investments.

The Indian Government has taken huge steps to ease the regulatory environment for foreign investment, catapulting India into the position of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

It has been ranked among the top attractive destinations for inbound investments in the world, according to Ernst and Young.

So, what has India got that is so attractive to foreign businesses?

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What You Need to Know Before You Relocate to India

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What You Need to Know Before You Relocate to India

India isn't just a country - it is an experience that may well overwhelm your senses if you are not prepared. To help mitigate culture shock and to help you make the most of your time in India, here are some great practical tips you should know before you move there, courtesy of Preeti Roongta.

1. Local Registration

If you plan to stay in India for more than 180 consecutive days, you are required to register at the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO) within the first 14 days of your arrival.

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The Ultimate Guide to Stamp Duty for Tenants in the UK

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The Ultimate Guide to Stamp Duty for Tenants in the UK

Do You Have to Pay Tax?

When renting a residential property in the UK, the tenant must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if the rent is over a certain rental amount in England and Northern Ireland, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in Scotland, or Land Transaction Tax (LTT) in Wales (as of 1st April 2018).

The value thresholds are £125,000 in England and Northern Ireland, £145,000 in Scotland, and £180,000 in Wales (as of 1st April 2018).

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The Tax Rules You Need to Know When Relocating Employees to the UK

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The Tax Rules You Need to Know When Relocating Employees to the UK

Are you relocating employees to the UK? Here we try to make the subject of relocation taxation a little clearer for you to understand.

If your organisation is considering relocating an employee to the UK or is already contributing towards employee relocation costs, the organisation will incur certain tax, National Insurance and reporting obligations, so you need to be aware of which relocation costs incur tax and what needs to be reported to HMRC. 

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6 reasons why you need an employee relocation policy

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6 reasons why you need an employee relocation policy

The purpose of an employee relocation policy is to relocate talented employees for the benefit of both the employee and the organisation.

If you don't have an employee relocation policy that provides an adequate level of support for corporate transfers, the employee is very unlikely to dig into his or her own pocket to pay for relocation.

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How To Avoid Unexpected Relocation Costs

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How To Avoid Unexpected Relocation Costs

Investing a little time and effort during the early stages will pay dividends and ensure your employees are relocated with the minimum of anxiety and without unexpected surprises for the company.

We have previously written about 5 key areas you should consider before embarking on a relocation journey abroad, but in this piece, we will look at the element of cost in a little more detail.

If managed incorrectly, unexpected costs can make a relocation more expensive than you first anticipated, both for the company and the employee. Make sure you have all bases covered and work out exactly what costs you are likely to incur when sending employees overseas. Choose to partner with a relocation company that provides cost estimates for your various scenarios.

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The Tax Rules You Need to Know for Domestic UK Employee Relocation Costs

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The Tax Rules You Need to Know for Domestic UK Employee Relocation Costs

The Government adverts tell us that "tax needn't be taxing".  Well it is and UK domestic employee relocation costs are no exception. The subject of tax is almost as confusing as the British electorate but here we will try to make the subject a little clearer to understand.

If your organisation contributes towards employee relocation costs, the organisation has certain tax, National Insurance and reporting obligations, so you need to be aware of which relocation costs incur tax and what needs to be reported to HMRC. In terms of the technicalities of reporting, you can very happily leave that to your accounts department to deal with.

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Why recruit from overseas?

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Why recruit from overseas?

There has been much coverage in the press of late about the challenges many employers across a range of industries face when trying to recruit skilled workers locally. What effects can this have on a business and are there any solutions?

The impacts of skill shortages

Skill shortages can cause noticeable problems within an organisation, affecting productivity and growth, delaying or cancelling projects, creating continuous gaps in the team and subsequently endless recruitment programmes...

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The good, the bad and the ugly of scrapping letting agents' fees

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The good, the bad and the ugly of scrapping letting agents' fees

Landlords rather than tenants are to be liable for the costs of letting a property. 

In his first Autumn Statement under May's government, Philip Hammond said, "We’ve seen these fees spiral despite attempts to regulate them." He went on to say that, "Landlords appoint letting agents and landlords should meet their fees."

This has caused a bit of stir for various reasons and the debate will continue long after the legislation is implemented, but what are the implications of this for tenants?

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Help! I haven't got a tenancy agreement...

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Help! I haven't got a tenancy agreement...

In the UK, most tenancies are created when both parties to the agreement, the landlord and the tenant, sign a tenancy agreement before the start of the tenancy.

However, there are some instances where a tenancy agreement does not exist, for various reasons. We recently helped a customer who relocated to the UK and found a property to rent from a private landlord who had chosen not to use the services of a letting agent in order to save a few quid. We wold usually only recommend taking a property through a letting agent but due to a dire lack of availability in the area, the customer had little choice.

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Cost of living index 2016

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Cost of living index 2016

To calculate each city's Cost of Living Index value, Expatistan starts by assigning a value of 100 to a central reference city (that happens to be Prague). Once the reference point has been established, the Price Index value of every other city in the database is calculated by comparing their cost of living to the cost of living in Prague.

Therefore, if a city has a Price Index of 134, that means that living there is 34% more expensive than living in Prague.

Enable your overseas talent to shine in the UK

Enable your overseas talent to shine in the UK

For superlative immigration application processing in the UK, Celsium partners with Dearson Winyard International, the centre of excellence in UK immigration support.

Dearson Winyard International is an award winning specialist UK immigration consultancy, with a wealth of knowledge in the interpretation and implementation of the very latest UK immigration policies and practices.

Expert advisors specialise in guiding clients through the complexities of UK immigration, including:

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Creating a diverse workforce

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Creating a diverse workforce

DESIblitz.com proudly announces the launch of its new subsidiary website, DESIblitz Jobs.

The UK is considered to be one of the most diverse nations in the world and yet this rich diversity is not always reflected in the workplace within the companies of the nation.

We have all read the reports which are backed up with extensive research on how and why we should embrace the business benefits of diversity, inclusion and equality but why do we still struggle to put this into real action?

In these challenging economic times, it is more important than ever to harness the potential of the communities all around us which lead to enhanced business outcomes.