Amidst all the continued uncertainty around - say it with us - “the new normal”, one thing is pretty clear: remote working is here to stay (in fact, 97% of US employees don’t want to go back to the office full-time).
Many teams are staying remote or hybrid to stay competitive, bolster team morale and increase productivity - all while lowering their overheads. So whether you’re well-seasoned in the world of remote and fancy a refresher or just starting to dip your toe in the as-yet unexplored ocean - here are some things to keep in mind when hiring remote employees.
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- Paying & rewarding your remote worker
What’s the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to pay your remote workers? There are myriad ways, from opening a local entity and bank account in their place of residence to working with a third-party EOR to make the process as smooth as possible (they’ll have done most of the paperwork for you)! Make sure they can access the same level of perks and benefits you offer the rest of your team (we can help with that) - and if they’re a contractor, there’s a totally different set of rules you need to follow.
- Think about tax
Regardless of whether you hire them as a contractor or on the payroll, don’t let taxing be taxing. Check the obligations for withholding payroll (it differs from country to country), see if you’ll need to pay corporate tax in their country of residence - and don’t forget to check if the benefits you offer your remote worker are taxable too - nobody wants a nasty surprise!
- Check all the rules for where they’re based
Is your remote worker eligible to work in their jurisdiction and are you following the laws and regulations there? Think about working hours, payments, holidays and paternity leave - because employment contract requirements vary widely by country, for example:
- In Spain, you need a totally separate remote agreement
- In France, you’ll need to give a stipend to cover working from home costs
- In Brazil, your remote worker can’t take holiday for the first 12 months of their employment
- And in the UK, parental leave can be shared between parents
- Then get them set up!
Setting your team up for success is critically important. Whether it’s keeping your team up to date with powerful communication tools like Loom and Slack, using Miro for live whiteboards or keeping projects flowing with Notion - if any of these are sounding foreign, it might be time to think about upgrading your tech stack!
Think about your company infrastructure too - everything from your internal company documentation to how you’ll manage different time zones. How will you keep your company secure? From using a VPN to securely sending equipment across borders, as well as keeping your data protection policy watertight.
So that’s the basics on supporting a remote workforce. Now you know it doesn’t need to be a minefield to recruit and retain a top team from all around the world. And when you’re ready to reward them properly, fairly and in a way that works for them, it’s time to think about using Ben.
Lastly, a special thank you to our friends at Oyster for their contributions to this post.