New-Country Start-Up HR Toolkit: What You Need to Know When Launching Employment Operations In Some New Overseas Jurisdiction
Donald C. Dowling, Jr.

DOWNLOAD PDF: New-Country Start-Up HR Toolkit

Almost invariably, when a multinational branches out internationally that means employing people in a new country abroad. Doing this is always complex. Getting it right can be confounding. Whether we are talking about a domestic US business exploring how to set up its first foreign outpost in Canada, or a multinational conglomerate already operating across 56 countries and now planning to launch a new office in its 57th, identifying and following the local "rules of the road" in a new country, as to human resources and employment law compliance, is always daunting.

This discussion is designed as a toolkit for an employer (either a business or nonprofit) branching out operations into a new country and planning to employ people in that new jurisdiction for its first time ever. Our discussion breaks into three parts:

Part 1.
"Floating" Employees Working in Overseas "Permanent Establishments"
(addressing how to set up an employer presence abroad, with a focus on small start-ups without a lot of in-country infrastructure)

Part 2.
Checklist of Issues for Launching HR Operations in a New Country
(listing the human resources issues to address in a new overseas employer operation)

Part 3.
Expatriate Checklist
(listing the discrete issues that apply to any expatriate employees who will be posted or "seconded" from a home country to the new hostcountry start-up operation)