Global expansion drives expatriate benefits review

A growing focus on emerging markets means many UK employers are looking to expand internationally while ensuring that benefits provision for expatriates is up to scratch.

Lloyds Register, for example, is developing a centralised global mobility service across its international locations, which includes reviewing and benchmarking its HR services and benefits provision, such as its international private medical insurance and relocation package.

Doug Rice, director of Jelf International, said: “A number of independent organisations provide benefits benchmarking activities in various countries. If a particular client of Jelf’s wanted to know what the benefits structure would be in Singapore, we could refer them to one of these organisations or refer them to the network that we are part of.”

Lloyds Register’s centralisation process, which will be finalised by June 2014, is the first time many of these policies have been reviewed for eight years.

But Beverly Cook, managing director at Expacare, said flexible policies should be reviewed every year. “As workforces change, employers can change the benefits to suit the group of employees they have,” she said.

Other employers that are focusing on aligning HR and benefits globally include GFK Group, which is to launch a global online HR, compensation and performance management tool, and BT Group, which has expanded the reach of its global pay review process to include 38,000 staff across 60 countries.

Global mobility issues will be one of the focuses at Employee Benefits Connect 2014, which takes place on 27 February in London.

Employers focused on global alignment:

  • Lloyds Register is developing a centralised global mobility service across its international locations.
  • GFK Group is to launch a global online HR, compensation and performance management tool.
  • BT Group has expanded the reach of its global pay review process to include 38,000 staff across 60 countries.