Addressing Employee Requests to Work Remotely Abroad

Patty Shapiro | Ogletree Deakins

Patty Shapiro is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins’ Cross-Border Group, providing advice and counsel to companies of all sizes expanding their global workforces. Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins, Patty served as VP of International Compliance & Legal for a global contingent workforce management company. Her experience includes localizing employment contracts and policies, establishing new entities, advising on the legalities of termination and defending local employment disputes.

Patty is a graduate of the University of San Diego, School of Law. There, she competed in Vienna as a member of the university’s international commercial arbitration moot court team, studied international law in Copenhagen, and served as the Chief Executive Editor for the San Diego International Law Journal. Patty graduated magna cum laude from California State University San Marcos where she studied business administration with an emphasis on entrepreneurship.

I. Immigration laws – employees are legally required to have local work authorization, whether by citizenship/permanent residence or via a work visa | 2:00pm – 2:20pm

II. Payroll tax – income tax withholding and social security contribution obligations vary by country and the applicable treaty, if any | 2:20pm – 2:40pm

III. Employment law – employees could argue that local employment law applies, which typically offer far more extensive benefits and protections than they would have in the U.S | 2:40pm – 3:00pm

Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm

IV. Intellectual property – an employee’s creating IP abroad could jeopardize an employer’s rights in that IP | 3:10pm – 3:25pm

V. Permanent establishment/corporate tax – the employee’s activities/length of stay could cause a U.S. company to create a permanent establishment locally and, in turn, have business registration and corporate tax obligations there | 3:25pm – 3:40pm