www.morganlewis.com global employer: implementing employment contracts, employee handbooks and work...
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www.morganlewis.com
Global Employer: Implementing Employment Contracts, Employee Handbooks and Work
Policies
Matthew Howse, Partner, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Nick Thomas, Partner, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
October 1, 2014
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Overview
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• Why have a global policy?• Challenges of implementing a global policy• What sort of polices should be “global”?• Practical tips• Case study
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Why have a global policy, contract or handbook?
• Promote and protect an organization’s culture• Enshrine key values• Promote and protect an organization’s internal and external
brand image• Regulate employee behaviors across all parts of the business• Ensure administrative simplicity/efficiency• Ensure consistency
– Standards of employee conduct and performance
– Employee management
– Appraisals and employee rewards
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Challenges of implementing a global policy, contract or handbook
• Diverse local custom and practice– “That’s not the way we do it here”
– Entrenched behaviors
• Local laws– Minimum rights, e.g. working hours, rest break, holiday
– Differences in anti-discrimination legislation
– Data privacy
– Compulsory procedures
• Employee engagement– Works councils
– Trade unions
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Challenges of implementing a global policy,contract or handbook (cont.)
• Local culture– Workplace
– Regional/national
– Differences in “acceptable” behavior
• Communication– Translation
– Promotion
• Enforcement
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What sort of polices should be “global”?
• Aspirational– Ethics
– Equal opportunities/diversity
– Bullying
– Corporate responsibility
• Extra-territorial– Bribery and corruption
– Regulatory
– Data privacy
• International– Social media
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Global Employee Handbooks
• US-style employee handbooks are uncommon in many other countries
• Risks attached to having an employee handbook in some countries
• Employment contracts, collective agreements and statutes deal with many issues covered by an employee handbook
• Is a single global employee handbook even possible?• Series of aligned but locally tailored documents
– Local handbooks
– Local appendices to a master handbook
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Global Employment Contract
• Employment contracts for rank and file employees rare in the US
• Most other countries – no concept of employment at will – and employees benefit from written employment contracts
• Contracts cover many of the issues covered by a US employee handbook
• Style, form and content vary considerably from country to country
• Global employment contract template forms basis of a local contract for each country
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Practical tips
• Proper planning essential• Timing
– Internal soundings
– Local legal advice
– Local consultation obligations
– Translations
• Effective communication– Form of communication
– Timing
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Practical tips (cont.)
• Identify senior “responsible” individuals – Centrally
– Locally
• Take local concerns seriously but do not accept “no” without exploring why
• Identify individuals to monitor impact and feedback• Conduct regular reviews/updates
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Case study
• D-BIT Inc. is a large company which manufactures and sells high-tech mining equipment
• From its small beginnings in Texas, D-BIT has expanded significantly and now has operations in the EU, Eastern Europe and South America
• Following a recent piece of unfortunate litigation that did not end well, D-BIT has decided to review some of its employment policies and procedures
• As a consequence of this review, the HR Director, based in Texas, has decided that the company needs to introduce new policies in respect of “Whistleblowing”
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Case study (cont.)
• Under the Whistleblowing policy:– Any employee who has a concern regarding the conduct of any
co-worker, including his or her own management, must report that concern to an internal “Complaints Ombudsman” (CO)
– The CO, who is based in Texas, will then be responsible for investigating the complaint and concluding what further action, if any, should be taken
– Only complaints that are made in accordance with the requirements of the policy will be investigated
– To ensure that the policy is effective, the CO’s findings will be final and not subject to further challenge
– The CO will also be given unlimited access to any information considered relevant to the investigation
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Planning – legal issues
• Is there local whistleblowing legislation that differs from that in the United States?
• Is there any other local legislation that may be relevant (for example, in the UK complaints could amount to “grievances” under UK law, which trigger a two-stage process under the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinaries and Grievances)
• Important to think about how the policy will operate in practice and what other legal issues may arise– potential transfer of personal data, including sensitive personal
data, to the United States
– will policy permit delegation to local investigators?
– how will confidentiality be preserved?
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Planning – employee engagement
• What are the local information and consultation requirements?• in relation to policies generally• given the potential issues regarding data privacy?
• Is there a need to consult with third parties in any jurisdiction (for example, in Poland the transfer of personal data to outside of the EU requires permission of the Polish data privacy authority in many situations)
• Do you need to produce translated versions of the policy? • for the purpose of informing/consulting• before implementation
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Planning – practical issues
• 8-hour time difference – will European employees ever be able to speak with Texas-based CO?
• Who will be responsible for implementing centrally and locally?
• Do you want the roll out to take place simultaneously across the globe or on a staged basis
• Will training be required?– for all employees
– for HR function
– for central/local managers
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Preparing a plan
• Information gathering– Local business
– Local HR
– Local counsel
• Produce a realistic timeline that takes into account:– local information/consultation obligations
– translations
– third party engagement
• Identify key individuals to deliver the project centrally and locally
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Speakers
Matthew [email protected]
@HowseHRlaw
Nicholas [email protected]
@NickThomasHRlaw
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