PoliciesStaff based overseas

The HEI’s recruitment and retention strategy should be considered, to decide whether moves overseas are to be encouraged and, if so, for whom. Care should be taken about setting unwanted precedents.

The contract might require staff to live a certain distance from campus and/or to inform the HEI of any change of address.

UUK guidance issued last month said that the number one priority for keeping your overseas Intellectual Property secure is to know where your staff are.

If employees are not (and have not in the past) paid into the country’s social security system, they may not be able to access healthcare in that country. This can be especially costly.

If the employee is not a national of the country they are working in, they will need to have appropriate visas in place to allow working in that country. Countries have the right to expel an individual working without a proper visa.

Principle rule to remember is you pay where you work. If you are working overseas without checking the tax position or getting prior agreement that you can continue to pay social security in your home country, the host country is going to want their share. The 183 day rule is often a myth...

An employee working from an overseas ‘home’ may inadvertently cause their university to create a permanent establishment in that country. Every country has different rules, but the university will have to register in that country and likely pay corporate, sales and payroll taxes.