Research shows organisations are increasingly permitting employees to work outside of the UK to combat staffing challenges, but many are not aware of the potential risks
With a new study finding that a third of businesses allow existing employees to work abroad, organisations need to be aware of the tax and immigration risks this poses, legal experts have warned.
The research – undertaken by audit and tax consulting provider RSM, and published in their latest The Real Economy Report – found that the 33 per cent of organisations who allow employees to work remotely outside the UK are doing so in response to staffing challenges – with 88 per cent of businesses finding employee turnover an issue.
In response to a difficult recruitment and retention market, businesses are also looking overseas to source labour, with over half (52 per cent) of those that do this increasing the amount of overseas labour they’ve taken on over the past year.
While businesses might be happy that these approaches help them mitigate labour market challenges, lawyers and accountants warn that allowing staff to work remotely outside the UK creates a slew of taxation and legal questions.
Liz Cuthbertson, partner at Mercer and Hole, explained that due to rules around the length of residency, days spent working, family ties, and time physically spent in the UK, employees working remotely abroad could create issues such as double taxation.
“If a person leaves the UK to go abroad to work, in addition to the...
An Orange County man with multiple prior fraud convictions has been sentenced in California federal court to 30 years in prison for his role in a $270 million Medi-Cal prescription drug... To view ...