The digital age has resulted in a few novel issues being considered when companies expand globally. In this article, we examine several key areas.

Know Where Your Remote Workforce Employees Are

This sounds simple, but when your remote workforce employee is attending a virtual meeting, how do you know where he or she is located? Numerous cases have arisen where the remote workforce employee has moved from a state or province or even moved frmo a country and not told the employer.

Not tracking this for an intra-state or intra-province move can result in the wrong payrolls being run.  In the case of a move from Country A to Country B, the situation is even worse because; (i) payrolls for A are being run and taxes are overpaid to A when payrolls should have been run for B and taxed paid to B which are now owed with interest and penalties, and (ii) even worse the employing company could now risk itself being taxed in B and penalized for having an employee there.

While the residency rules vary by country, generally a person is not considered a tax resident if he/she spends less than 183 days in a financial year in a country, albeit this criterion can be as low as 90 days in certain cases.  It is therefore incumbent on the employer to track and record their employee locations in real-time and manage this process tightly

Cyber Security & Data Privacy

With increasing volumes of sensitive information being stored in the cloud comes an enhanced risk of a data breach or a hack. It must be recognized that there is no such thing as a totally secure medium — not even in the Pentagon. The trick, for employer and employee alike, is to assess the level of security required, be cognizant with the sensitivity of the information being protected and to record, then, all of the policies, procedures and work instructions underpinning this setup.

The EU was the first to enact data privacy laws, but an increasing number of countries are introducing similar but all different legislation. China has its Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), and India has enacted a Digital Protection Information Bill (DPDP,) which has, however, not yet come into force.

Even in the U.S., states have enacted privacy laws of varying degrees of rigor. It is important therefore for businesses to have a clearly worded data privacy policy and procedures that need to interlace with its cybersecurity operating processes.

Managing the above requires the IT, legal, and HR departments to work closely together to ensure the degree of protection required for the business is met.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policies

In some cases, employees, whether remote or not, use their cellphones for business purposes. In these cases, the employer must develop a BYOD policy and supporting procedures to ensure the company’s confidential information is kept secure. The policy would, for example, control the use of personal cellphones for business purposes, with the control software underpinning this type of use, and the monitoring processes in place.

In doing so, once again, IT, HR, and legal impact on each other with the added complication that the laws governing monitoring vary greatly by country.

Similar considerations govern the use of cameras for physical security reasons where again what is permitted varies considerably by country.

Global expansion is vital to the success of many businesses.  However, the digital age has created additional challenges. It is vital, therefore, that businesses take expert advice to help them manage both opportunities and risks in a controlled and balanced manner.

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Shan Nair is the president of Nucleus, a one-stop global expansion solution for businesses, and a consultant on international expansion.