Global Mobility

In a world where you can use your watch to browse the internet or make phone calls, it is hardly surprising the world is becoming smaller. The challenge now for many HR professionals is that they have to advise across multiple jurisdictions for a range of people who are located outside the UK, operating in a country with a different ethos and different laws.

Our experienced employment lawyers can work with your team to ensure a seamless approach that has been carefully planned and meets all your objectives.

Businesses considering expansion are increasingly looking at the opportunities that international markets can provide. Our team of experts can assist businesses to take this next step to achieve a market presence abroad, ensuring that all arrangements tie in with our commercial and competition law advice.

Whether it’s setting up a route to market, recruiting senior leadership to manage your business abroad or relocating your management to an overseas location, Square One Law can assist. We have significant experience of managing cross-border business set up, recruitment and expatriation of staff.

Careful planning at the outset of the project can avoid issues down the line. From providing strategic advice on the most efficient form of legal incorporation for your business to managing the payroll, we can oversee the entire assignment to ensure your initiative is legally compliant and meets your commercial goals.

When establishing an overseas presence businesses should seek legal and immigration advice. Our employment lawyers can help you manage the country specific compliance issues such as taxes and social security. Alongside our team of foreign counsel, we will work with you directly as the sole point of contact to provide the most cost and tax effective solution to employing or relocating your executive management abroad and assist you structure your assignee compensation packages and global mobility policies.

Our team has a strong international background with experience working in Asia, Africa and the EU.

For businesses which have already begun expanding overseas, our team can help you to manage your global presence through resolving conduct issues, performance management, making redundancies and implementing executive terminations.

We regularly advise businesses on:

implementing the appropriate route to market whether that is through a Foreign Representative Office, Agency, Distribution or Joint Venture arrangements or incorporating a legal entity
managing a global workforce including working with you to find the correct strategy for successful movement of employees whether it is a short-term, long-term, commuter, secondment or a repatriation programme
visas, sponsoring migrant workers and the UK Border Agency’s Points Based System
home country, host country and offshore compensation, benefits, pension, housing and logistical aspects of global assignment
prevention of illegal working-advice on your legal obligations and systems you can put in place to ensure that you do not incur liability
amending policies and procedures to incorporate international assignments
implementing individual and collective exit/termination arrangements

We have been and continue to be impressed with Square One Law’s professionalism and commercially practical approach in enabling us to manage any legal issues domestically and internationally facing the business. Square One Law has a wealth of knowledge and a personal and efficient communication style with us as a client. They understand the importance and urgency of the issues facing our business. We would highly recommend working with them.

Chloe Hopper, SMD

Our Work

Some examples of the projects we’ve been involved with during the last 12 months:

Europe

Project managed a large pharmaceutical company’s commercial expansion across Europe including the establishment of Foreign Representative Offices and the recruitment of country heads in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Holland. Complexities included:
- Advising on director level private three tier pensions in Switzerland;
- Advising on the 30% tax ruling and visa for a senior manager recruited from a non – EEA country to head European marketing operations in Holland;
- Advising on the terms and employer contributions required in Italy to an executive’s private membership to a senior executive commerce union

Relocating a director of a private limited German company to its newly incorporated UK subsidiary on a two year assignment. Advice consisted of drafting the assignment documentation and co-ordinating double taxation and social security advice including advice on Form A1’s. We assisted on structuring the director’s compensation package including ensuring continuation of the private healthcare benefit in his home state

Advised a US software management group on terms for top tier and middle tier management in Sweden including advising and drafting the compensation and bonus packages

Advising and project managing collective redundancy processes for a Global Brand affecting staff in the USA, Germany, the UK, Holland, Italy and Spain

Advising and managing the exit of country managers based in France and Germany for a global electronics company

Americas

Advised a Canadian manufacturing company on their global recruitment terms and contractual documentation and advising on process and additional post termination restrictions and releases upon the exit of the Vice President of Business Development
Advising a Chinese corporation group on the setting up of a pension scheme and its liability to provide contractual pension entitlements in the United States including advising on the terms to be made available for mid to senior level management
Advising on changes to senior executive’s benefit entitlements in various states within the United States based on recent changes to state legislation

Asia & UAE

Advising a UK oil and gas firm on contractual terms and preparing employment documentation for a Regional Manager covering South East Asia with an operational base in South Korea
Advising an engineering firm on the placement of a Head of Business Development in Indonesia including advising on visa requirements, contractual documentation and structuring the relationship to ensure the employee was placed in situ within three weeks, initially to provide services under a subcontractor agreement before converting to full time employment status contingent on successful incorporation of a Foreign Representative Office.
Advising a UAE registered entity on the terms and conditions for their recruitment of a Regional Manager for the Middle East and Africa and preparing the contractual documentation including harmonising benefits to be offered in line with the UK parent company’s existing schemes

Africa

A Global Pharmaceutical Company on the terms and conditions of their appointment of Regional Managers placed in Egypt and Nigeria, including advising on contractual documentation, social security and other compliance requirements.

Global Mobility

Clients

Our Work