Understanding Global Leave Policies and Remote Employee Benefits

Employees are entitled to take time off during the calendar year to rest, recharge and stay healthy to ensure that they are focused and productive when at work. That being said,  employee leave can be challenging to manage, especially when international remote working employees need to be considered. Due to the differences in leave policies for each country, it makes implementing and standardizing a global leave policy quite tricky. We look at some of the most common differences in international leave policies and delve into how to navigate these differences with examples from certain countries and general best practices.

Complying with Local Regulations

When managing a diverse workforce with employees from multiple countries, it is important to always consider the legal requirements and regulations in each country. There are a variety of types of leave an employee can take and every country and organization has their own policy or requirements. Organizations typically set a standard leave policy and make adjustments and special considerations on a case-by-case basis depending on the regulations of the country the employee resides in. Although this can still be complex, it is easier to manage when there is an organization standard.

Different Types of Leave Policies

There are many different types of employee leave and these generally vary in each country, however the most common types of leave that are adopted across the globe include annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave and family responsibility or bereavement leave.

Annual Leave
Annual leave refers to a leave entitlement that employees can use within the calendar year or over a period of 12 months from the date that they joined the company. Annual leave policies vary country to country. As an example, employees who work in Italy are entitled to at least 26 days of annual leave, whereas employees working in Singapore are entitled to 7-14 days of annual leave after a period of 3 months of work. Some countries, like the United States of America, do not have legal annual leave requirements, therefore leaving the decision of paid time off entirely to the employer or organization.

For a full list of minimum annual leave entitlements per country, please refer to this list.

Sick Leave
Sick leave refers to a leave entitlement that employees can use if they are unwell or need to take time off for health-related purposes, whilst still being paid. Much like annual leave policies vary from country to country, sick leave policies also differ. In the United Kingdom for example, there is no limit to the amount of sick days an employee can take whilst still being paid, whereas in the United States of America, employees are not entitled to any paid sick leave. In other countries like South Africa and Singapore, employees are entitled to 30 days every 36 months and 14 days (outpatient sick leave) or 60 days (paid hospitalization leave) respectively.

Maternity Leave
Maternity leave refers to either a paid or unpaid leave entitlement for pregnant or expectant mothers. Maternity leave entitlements differ per country, with some countries providing leave on full pay, no pay and others paying a percentage of the employees salary whilst on maternity leave. For example, pregnant employees in New Zealand are entitled to 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, whereas employees in Italy are entitled to 20 weeks of maternity leave at 80% of their salary and employees in Australia are entitled to 12 months unpaid maternity leave, plus 20 weeks of leave at the national minimum wage.

Paternity Leave
Paternity leave refers to leave entitlement for new fathers that allows them to stay home from work for either a period of days or weeks. Similar to maternity leave, paternity leave entitlements differ depending on which country the employee lives in. Some countries, like the United States of America, do not offer paternity leave benefits to new fathers, which can be argued to be counter productive in terms of employee engagement and workplace productivity. Although countries like Spain, France and Portugal offer generous paternity leave entitlements ranging from 112 days, 28 days and 15 days respectively.

Family Responsibility or Bereavement Leave
Family responsibility or bereavement leave refers to either a paid or unpaid leave allowance for employees who have experienced a death in the family. Not all countries mandate bereavement leave, so it is often up to the employee and employer to come to an agreement in these circumstances. Countries like South Africa and Canada offer paid bereavement leave, from 3-10 days which can either be paid or unpaid.

Navigating Public Holidays for Remote International Employees

Like the ambiguity associated with previously mentioned leave entitlements, public holidays differ from country to country, due to the celebrations associated with the country itself. Managing public holiday leave for employees can be a complex task, but it can be made easy by implementing a standard amount of public holidays per employee that they can choose to take either on the public holiday or other working day of the year. For example, let’s say your organization has a public holiday leave allocation of 12 days per year, the employee can choose when to take those 12 days, whether they fall on the actual public holidays or not. This may be an advantage to some and disadvantage to others if employees typically have less or more public holidays in their country of residence. Another solution is to allow employees to take the allocated public holidays in their country. This way you might have some employees who have 15 public holidays and others who only have 5.

Accrual and carry-over of leave

Another topic that is fairly complex to manage when it comes to employee leave is the accrual and carry-over of leave. Regulations around the accrual and carry-over of leave are once again dependent on the country that the employee resides in. Some countries allow employees to accrue and carry-over a set amount of days, some allow for all leave to accrue and carry-over and others don’t allow accrual and carry-over of leave.

For a better understanding of the accrual and carry-over of leave regulations per country, refer to this article.

Tips for managing global leave policies:

1. Make use of HR tech software to automate the process as much as possible.
2. Create an organization standard and work from there.
3. Obtain legal advice to ensure your organization is compliant with local regulations.
4. Bear in mind cultural differences.
5. Clearly communicate leave policies with employees.
6. Effectively train managers and HR staff on the leave policies used in the organization.

Conclusion

In conclusion, global employee leave policies can be difficult to manage, especially when having to consider employees who work remotely in countries other than the organizations head headquarters. It is crucial to ensure that your organization complies with the necessary regulations in the residing country of the employee when determining leave benefits. By making use of appropriate HR software, clearly communicating organizational leave policies to employees and effectively training managers and HR staff on the leave policies in the organization, the process of managing global leave will be a lot more seamless and effective.

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