International Payroll: Delivering Mass Payments Across the Globe

Implementing international payroll solutions is not without its challenges. Anil Sawrup, Head of Sales at moneycorp Americas, discusses everything you need to know about delivering mass payments for international employees. 

International Payroll: Delivering Mass Payments Across the Globe

Delivering Mass Payments with International Payroll

8 minute read

Written by Anil Sawrup

Head of Sales, moneycorp Americas

As technological advancements continue to cause shifts in the digital landscape, top executives are looking for new ways to optimize internal workflows, payroll in particular. Innovative features like real-time bank transfers or early access to wages have shaken the traditional layout of the bi-weekly paycheck and unlocked new value offered to employees. But payroll innovations are a slow burn, particularly among some of the largest enterprises, and as more companies are forced to consider global solutions to meet payroll needs, the challenges of delivering mass payments for international employees become even more amplified. 

The Rising Trends in Payroll

Employment Legislation Changes

As the global economic crisis continues to shift government regulations across borders, companies are being challenged to figure out how current legislation changes can be applied to their business. In the United States, for example, a recent news conference with the Secretary of Labor suggested that a shift in policy for the classification of employees was expected to expand worker's protections, particularly those of gig workers and foreign employees. 

With new programs and legislative changes constantly announced, teams across the world are finding it harder to stay on top of the latest updates. Complying with these regulatory updates can be difficult as minimal notice is often given before these new rules go into effect. With this in mind, certain human resources and payroll teams may benefit from seeking the advice of professional services that specialize in global compliance regulations. 

Accelerated Globalization

With remote work emerging as the newest operational business model, leaders across the board are re-evaluating office requirements for their workforce. According to Upwork Q4 2020 Pulse Report, 56.8% of teams are working remotely at least part of the time with more than 2 in 5 of those teams fully remote. With fewer employees traveling to physical offices, many leaders are making the executive decision to move across borders to lower-cost countries. 

As further economic pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic motivate companies to search for additional offshore locations, HR teams are tasked with ensuring that all employees are properly supported. This often means outsourcing to regional HR or payment service providers that can provide extensive knowledge on local laws and support international payments for a growing global team.

Flexible Payment Options

The economic shift away from traditional full-time employment has taken the payroll system for a spin. With a projection of 86.5 million people joining the gig economy in the United States by 2027 and many organizations moving to virtual environments, the need for flexible payout options has accelerated exponentially. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic reinforcing the desire for flexibility, businesses looking to retain top talent need to be leveraging flexible payment solutions. As new hires eagerly await their first paychecks after the economic downturn, being able to offer them faster and more secure ways to get paid becomes immeasurably valuable. 

The Challenges of Implementing Global Payroll

To this day, globalization remains at the core of business growth but paying international employees continues to be one of the top challenges that businesses face. From adapting to jurisdiction requirements to providing real-time payment reports, creating an international payroll solution is not without its challenges. 

Ensuring Compliance

Compliance and reporting are key responsibilities for any business, particularly those working in multiple foreign markets. With tax laws, labor regulations, and data rules varying from country to country, staying up-to-date with jurisdictional requirements is a major challenge for any organization. 

According to the 2021 Global Payroll Complexity Index, 45% of the top 40 countries ranked by payroll complexity sit in Europe, with France taking the lead as the most complex based on legislative and employment laws. Workforce laws in these areas are widely pro-employee with unions and collective work agreements notoriously rigorous. 

The U.S. also tops the list with compliance regulations varying significantly between all 52 states and territories. While the application of these regulations can be inconsistent, penalties for non-compliance remain high. 

Data Management and Security

With cybercrime at an all-time high in 2021, payroll databases have become a treasure trove for criminals looking to steal personal information. In response, many countries have tightened protections over employee information and these new regulations create massive penalties for employers who suffer a breach.

A recent update to the General Data Protection Regulation, for example, increased data security for citizens. Any company that processes the data of EU citizens, regardless of the company’s location, could be subject to fines as high as €20 million or 4% of their global revenue if they are found to have violated the privacy and security standards in place. 

Global workforces put immense amounts of pressure on HR teams as they must navigate the hurdles of storing and reporting data that is both secure and in sync with the other corresponding systems within an organization. With that in mind, some companies may find that working with a global payments provider can help centralize their data in a compliant and transparent manner.  

Cross-Cultural Differences

Global workforces provide employers with a unique set of challenges, particularly with paying international employees. But payroll challenges extend beyond just the dollars and cents. With so many organizations focused solely on navigating payroll laws, regulations, and updates, they leave out an increasingly important aspect of successful global payment solutions – the culture factor.  

In today's world, understanding the cross-cultural differences among your workforce staff is no longer a luxury. Without the proper knowledge, language barriers, time zones, currency fluctuates, and more create a barrier to entry that is almost impossible to overcome. 

Streamlining Mass Payments for International Employees

Companies around the world are finding it hard to keep pace with the changing workforce landscape. Though globalization is at the heart of many growth initiatives, the resources, and manpower needed to adopt an effective global payroll solution force many to an abrupt halt. But managing these mass payments for your international employees doesn’t have to be hard.

Using an international payments provider offers data and payment standardization that can be tailored to fit all your business needs. The combination of real-time tracking features, multinational compliance knowledge, and state-of-the-art software solutions ensure that every detail of traditional global payroll challenges is addressed. 

Through enhanced API integrations, moneycorp offers clients a seamless connection between their moneycorp accounts and existing payroll platforms, allowing them to instantly sync data, track multiple currencies payments, and edit beneficiary information all-in-one sleek payment ecosystem. While global payroll can be a massive undertaking, working with the right payments provider can facilitate a transition into globalization that is actually rather simple. 

International Payroll

About Anil Sawrup, Head of Sales at moneycorp Americas

Anil Sawrup is Head of Sales at moneycorp Americas, bringing over 22 years of experience in the global payments and hedging industry to his role with the company. As a growth-focused, dynamic executive with a track record for igniting successful change, Sawrup knows what it takes to devise and execute successful sales, market, and business development strategies. Over the course of his career, Sawrup has gained the skills needed to institute streamlined workflows and improved processes that amplify efficiency, increase productivity, and enable achievement of organizational objectives.

Anil Sawrup is a graduate from York University where he earned his Bachelor of Commerce. Since then, Sawrup spent 8 years at Cambridge Global Payments where he held multiple executive positions. Prior to that, he spent a combined 9 years at Travelex. Sawrup has a proven track record for successfully serving as an integral component to transforming sales and market penetration strategies all while strengthening a growing FX Payments-focused team.

Connect with Anil on LinkedIn!

 

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