Remote work can create a real headache for companies. Managing employee benefits across borders is often a fragmented, complex, broker-led challenge for multinational companies. HR leaders often have to deal with the arduous task of managing globally competitive benefits across many jurisdictions, each with different regulations and laws, while also synchronising benefits with payroll.
Today HR platform and payroll provider Remote has unveiled Remote Global Benefits, allowing companies to access and manage multi-country health insurance plans without leaving the Remote platform.
Powered by Kota’s infrastructure and insurer network, it makes it easy for companies to handle the selection, enrollment, and administration of high-quality, compliant local health benefits for their distributed teams without navigating complex international benefits landscapes.
I spoke to Job van der Voort, CEO and co-founder of Remote and Luke Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Kota to learn more.According to van der Voort: Remote Global Benefits represents a significant leap forward in managing international employee benefits.
Empowering global companies
“Unlike traditional solutions that often involve fragmented processes and multiple intermediaries, our integration with Kota provides a unified, digital-first approach for companies with employees in multiple countries, or those expanding into new regions.”
This means companies can manage their global benefits directly through the Remote platform, eliminating the need for multiple systems or brokers.
The solution streamlines the entire process – from selecting plans to employee enrollment and ongoing administration. By automating many of these tasks and integrating them seamlessly with payroll, we’re not just saving companies time and money; we’re fundamentally changing how companies approach global benefits management.
Mackey estimates that in a 50-person company with just one entity, HR can spend up to 30 hours per month administering benefits.
He further asserts that existing solutions tend to be global insurance brokers, which typically means segregated processes, offline administration, timely set-up, and, ultimately, high costs.
“As Kota has connections with insurance carriers, it means one flow and process per market, where employee data is synced back and forth between Remote and the insurance carrier and then straight into payroll.”
Remote Global Benefits provides companies with teams across multiple countries, or those expanding into new regions, an efficient way to offer the competitive, localised benefits that are essential for attracting and retaining talent.
As companies compete globally, strong employee benefits are critical to recruiting and retaining top talent. According to Remote’s Global Benefits Report, 60 per cent of employees consider benefits a deciding factor when choosing between job offers, and nearly 80 per cent of companies see improved retention after enhancing their benefits packages.
Local regulatory compliance simplified
I was interested in how Remote Global Benefits ensures compliance with local regulations across different jurisdictions. For example, as a remote worker myself, I am required to register locally as a freelancer because of the lack of a local company entity.
van der Voort detailed that its solution is designed to automatically adapt to local requirements, ensuring that the benefits offered are always compliant with local laws – which vary by region.
“This removes a significant burden from HR teams, who no longer need to navigate the complexities of multi-jurisdictional compliance on their own. “
Keep it simple, keep it flexible
Mackey advises companies looking to improve their global benefits offerings to start simple:
“Look for comprehensive local health insurance coverage that allows employees to add family members– whether you cover them or not.
Local health insurance offerings are designed to dovetail into loca health systems, schemes that are individually designed for the country they are operating in, providing health insurance options like this removes policies that may over insure or under insure your employees.”
He stressed that health and life insurance will always be a high priority for employees. “Beyond that, don’t overcomplicate too much. Listen to your team and give them the flexibility to choose more day-to-day benefits, such as employee assistance programs, wellness, and fitness.”
Job van der Voort emphasised the importance of flexibility and scalability in your benefits strategy:
“As companies expand globally, their benefits needs will evolve. It’s crucial to have a system in place that can grow and adapt with your organisation – this is where solutions like Remote Global Benefits can be particularly valuable.”
Solutions also need to be easy to use, or risk low adoption rates and underutilised benefits.
He further prioritises companies to prioritise integration:
“The ability to manage benefits alongside other HR functions like payroll can significantly streamline operations and improve the employee experience.
Ultimately, a well-integrated, flexible benefits strategy can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent in a competitive global market.”
According to van der Voort, while Remote initially focuses on key European markets, its roadmap for 2025 includes expansion beyond Europe.
“This phased approach allows us to refine our scope and ensure we’re delivering a best-in-class solution in each market we enter.”
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