If you’re an HR manager, you’re probably well aware of localized and national talent shortages — remote, onsite, or hybrid — it doesn’t matter. Studies estimate that 85 million skilled jobs could go unfilled by 2030, simply due to a lack of qualified candidates.
The writing is on the wall.
To attract top talent, you need a competitive salary and benefits package. Beyond that, you need to expand your search to a global scale. However, the crossover of benefits to someone who works on the other side of the world may appear unfeasible, at least to the uninitiated.
The benefits gap between domestic and international employees is difficult to grasp, but not if you grasp the idea behind global employee benefits. With global employee benefits, you can extend non-wage compensation to a global workforce, no matter where they reside.
Learn how global employee benefits work, the advantages of such programs, and how to navigate the difficult task of implementing them.
What Are Global Employee Benefits?
Similar to traditional benefits, global employee benefits are non-wage compensation or remuneration employers offer workers around the world. As an employer, you offer these benefit plans to improve retention, attract top talent, and boast equity among employees on a multinational or global team.
However, unlike single-country benefits, global employee benefits must adhere to local laws and government-mandated benefits, including minimum requirements related to retirement, medical leave, insurance, and paid time off.
Types of Global Employee Benefits
The type of global employee benefits program you provide is a blend of voluntary and statutory benefits. Together, these benefits should meet local law requirements and entice the best candidates to work for your company. Again, the benefits you choose aren’t one-size-fits-all, and in fact, you frequently must break with a blanketed benefits plan to meet government requirements, local customs, and employee benefits trends.
Your global benefits program should or may include all of the following
Continued education: Professional development is a focal point of the employee experience and employee engagement. Through continued education, you foster a company culture that cares for its employees and bolsters the abilities of your staff — a win-win for any international team.
Gym memberships or health and wellness classes: Employee well-being is crucial in any organization. Healthier employees are often happier employees. Moreover, healthy employees become less of a burden on health insurance premiums, effectively lowering costs in the long run.
Parental leave: Maternity leave has been a popular benefit for years, allowing women to take care of themselves during pregnancy or shortly thereafter. In recent years, paternity leave has also gained traction as a popular benefit, one that you should consider as part of your global employment benefits package.
Paid time off (PTO): From Canada to Europe to Australia, paid time off is part of government-mandated labor laws. However, you can offer benefits beyond the minimum, such as unlimited paid time off or additional sick leave.
Retirement plans: Retirement plans are a tricky aspect of global employee benefits, but they’ve become the norm for many employers due to labor laws or tax benefits. European countries often require these plans, and the U.S. gives significant tax breaks for doing so. Adhering to these plans is advisable to attract the best global talent, and a contribution-matching program can further sweeten the deal.
Health insurance: In many countries, health insurance is a mandatory benefit, but you can improve healthcare for your staff by offering out-of-network providers or supplemental health insurance that covers more ailments or elective procedures.
Mental health services: Gym memberships and fitness classes are ideal for physical well-being, but mental health is an employee need that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Other types of insurance: Life insurance, dental insurance, and accidental death & dismemberment are all additional types of insurance plans that should be part of your comprehensive benefits package in many countries.
Meal vouchers: Popular in countries such as Belgium, meal vouchers are a global employee benefit that offsets the high cost of living and day-to-day expenses incurred by your staff
Childcare: Childcare costs have become a major expense for new parents, costing an average of $321 a week. By providing this fringe benefit, you can cut a major expense and give some peace of mind to your staff.
Flexible work schedules: Remote work popularized flexible work schedules, but you can improve job satisfaction and work-life balance with total working autonomy.
Again, what you include should consider who you’re trying to attract, including the talent level and the different countries you’re targeting for that talent or budget.
Why You Should Offer Global Employee Benefits
Recruiting top team members for your organization should always be a top priority. It’s the number one reason why you should offer global employee benefits. However, it’s certainly not the only reason. Offering global employee benefits also provides a plethora of other advantages:
Improved work-life balance, which can lead to happier employees, loyalty, and higher productivity
Upticks in mood and well-being translate into productivity, improved morale, and happiness
Meeting or exceeding the baseline requirements of top talent and filling your ranks with only the most qualified employees
Emphasis on transparency, which ensures equal treatment of employees, encourages two-way communication and feedback, all while eliminating subconscious bias
How To Implement a Global Employee Benefits Package
Benefits administration and management are two difficult aspects in your local market—even without adding a global tag to them. By expanding your search for new employees to a global level, you’ve increased the stress and workload of your HR teams — even if they know the change is coming.
Difficulties of Implementing Benefits
Every country has its own laws, customs, and other aspects that can make global benefits strategy execution burdensome. Difficulties that you must navigate include:
These are just some of the issues you may encounter, so immersing yourself in them or hiring a local consultant is integral to your success.
7 Steps To Implement Global Employee Benefits Solutions
Due to the variables you'll encounter, taking a singular approach to global employee benefits isn’t possible, so you’ll have to pivot and adjust as necessary. Take these basic steps to get your affairs in order and streamline the process.
Create a global employee benefits strategy: Global employee benefits management starts with a roadmap that determines the first steps of your benefits package and what you’ll offer. During this step, you need to consider local laws and compliance and research any laws that may pertain to your company.
Determine a budget: Budgetary constraints are a major part of any global employee benefits solution. The costs aren’t just the benefits themselves, but also the software used to implement them, whether you’ll need an employee of record, and if an outside consultant is warranted.
Know the law: Before you design a global employee benefits package, you must meet the labor laws outlined by each respective country. This isn’t always easy to navigate and will adversely affect your costs. Partnering with a benefits firm in the country is advisable for most companies.
Consider benchmarking: Benchmarking is an integral step that can help you design an adequate benefits package. In this step, look at the benefits other leading companies offer (international or domestic) and how you can match them — especially if it’s giving them a competitive advantage in hiring.
Shopping for the right price: You could always use a multinational company to implement your benefits strategy, but you can leave money on the table if you don’t shop around. Research benefits management companies that can reduce costs or the hassle of internal management.
Onboarding considerations: Once you’ve designed your benefits package, found the right software, and chosen vendors to roll out your program, you need a way to bring the benefits to your employees. Create a way to introduce these benefits to your employees and how to access them during onboarding to streamline the process.
Tweak as necessary: New programs never go off without a hitch. As a result, you will need to consistently fine-tune and tweak your program. Ask for feedback and make changes as necessary to streamline and improve your benefits process.
Perks on Top of Benefits: The Magic Formula
Competitive salaries and global employee benefits are excellent starting points for attracting top-tier talent. However, as competitors continue to expand their search for global candidates, some of these benefits may become ubiquitous. The only response is to expand your global employee benefits while also throwing in a few perks on the side.
On a global scale, perks are often difficult to distribute and lack scalability into multiple countries. Yet not all complex situations require equally as complicated solutions.
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