The rise of global hiring represents a huge opportunity for recruiters, but legal and jurisdictional complexities can introduce challenges for HR. Use these tips to optimise your strategy for recruiting and managing overseas workers.
With Australia’s ongoing skills gaps hampering productivity for over half of employers (57 per cent), many organisations are turning to global hiring to plug skills gaps.
According to AHRI’s June 2024 Quarterly Work Outlook report, more than two in five employers (41 per cent) report employing overseas workers to meet their skills needs. Moreover, over a third (37 per cent) say they plan to increase efforts to hire workers from overseas in the next 12 months.
This intent is especially high in the public sector, where more than half (58 per cent) of employers plan to increase overseas recruitment.
Casting the recruitment net wider to overseas-based workers can offer a wealth of benefits for HR, including diverse skills and perspectives, global market expertise and increased scalability.
However, with these opportunities come important legal considerations that HR practitioners must navigate to ensure compliance and protect their business.
The infographic below serves as a practical guide for recruiters considering hiring overseas talent, outlining critical factors to consider such as understanding local employment laws and safeguarding data privacy.
4 tips when hiring overseas workers
Legal considerations when hiring global talent
In the age of remote and hybrid work, many employers are more set up to hire global talent than ever before.
However, according to Charles Power, Partner and National Practice Chair of the Workplace Relations and Safety Group at Holding Redlich, workplace law has yet to catch up with the shift towards borderless workforces.
“The common law is very slow to evolve,” Power told HRM. “While, inevitably, as a result of increasing globalisation, there is an increasing convergence around what international labour law is, a lot of that’s often not reflected in laws in a domestic jurisdiction.”
As a result, it’s important for employers to ensure their employment contracts contain the right provisions to cover their backs in cases like this.
“Ideally, the contract itself would specify where the employer’s place of business is, so there’s no doubt about that,” says Power. “It should also specify which laws govern the employment relationship that it regulates.”
Whether or not a global employee is subject to local entitlements, such as paid leave or termination rights, as well as Australian entitlements, will depend on the location of the employee and the nature of the organisation. As a result, it’s advisable to seek advice from a local third party about whether they are covered by the local law.
“Sometimes, I’ve [also] seen provisions that deal with services for employees to get tax advice, because you need to turn your mind to whether or not superannuation contributions need to be made when they’re overseas, and what kind of income protection insurance applies for work-related injuries,” says Power.
To simplify the process, employers might consider using an Employer of Record – a third-party company operating in the global employee’s local jurisdiction which hires workers on behalf of your company and takes on legal responsibility for aspects such as payroll, tax and more.
By carefully considering these factors before engaging overseas employees, HR and recruiters can open up their organisations to the massive skills potential of a borderless workforce while minimising the legal risks attached to it.
Elements of this article were first published in April 2024. Click here to view the original article.
All information, content and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
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