Plus Relocation

What should your company be doing to prepare for Brexit?

The UK’s withdrawal from the EU will have some big impacts on global mobility teams. Business Development Director Des McKell offers some guidance in this Relo Tip Tuesday.

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Complete transcript: “Hi, my name is Des McKell. I’m director of business development with Plus Relocation. One of the questions I’ve been asked many times since the historical Brexit vote is, ‘What actions should I be taking now?’

Well the simple answer is you should certainly be taking action, and we feel there are two primary things that any organization should undertake at this stage. Firstly, to establish your assignee workforce profile, and to focus on those employees who are likely to be most affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Conduct an audit of your EU nationals on assignment in the UK, and vice versa. And be sure to include the projected end date of each assignment, as this will help you to focus on those employees most likely to be remaining on assignment as of March 2019, the current targeted date for the UK’s earliest exit from the European Union.

And be sure to continue to add in new assignments to that list, because that will help you to evaluate the risk on an ongoing basis. You can also use that list to regularly assess your risk to compliance and the cost of potential immigration in helping employees to either repatriate early or indeed to gain the necessary immigration approvals, which could include permanent citizenship.

Secondly, we also feel there’s the opportunity for you to elevate your own strategic role within your wider organization. Be the person to raise the issue of potential tax compliance and cost with your reward, HR, talent and tax leadership. Be the person to suggest that if one hasn’t been created, that a cross-functional Brexit working party is established to meet and to create a strategy for the wider organization. And be sure to share the results of your assignee audit with your HR leadership team, and encourage them to undertake a similar audit for your overall workforce. And at the same time, consider those UK and Eu nationals who aren’t necessarily on a company-supported program, but currently benefit from the freedom of movement act and again will be hugely affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

By taking these steps, we feel that you’ll help to not only mitigate your risks to compliance and costs, but also help to elevate your own strategic role within your organization. Thanks for watching!”