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15 October 2020 / Juliet Carp
Issue: 7906 / Categories: Features , Covid-19 , Employment , Profession
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Home (working) & Away

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Working at home from abroad—what should employers, employees & their lawyers know? Juliet Carp identifies some of the legal pitfalls & offers some practical suggestions

In brief

  • Challenges of homeworking abroad: first stop immigration.
  • What should a diligent employer do? Global mobility compliance.
  • Where do lawyers come in? Recognising limits.

A lot has been written about homeworking and most of it applies equally to people working ‘virtually’ from abroad. After all, if you are working from home via the internet does it really make a difference if your home happens to be somewhere sunnier or closer to family overseas? The short answer is ‘Yes, it does!’. Extra compliance challenges and costs can be very substantial indeed. While it may make sense to address these when making a strategic decision to move into new markets, it rarely makes commercial sense for one individual who would simply prefer to be somewhere different.

Challenges

So, what are these challenges? First stop immigration, because without immigration compliance, both employee and employer (and sometimes

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Winckworth Sherwood—Charlotte Coleman & Qaisar Sheikh

Winckworth Sherwood—Charlotte Coleman & Qaisar Sheikh

Two promoted to partner in property litigation and education teams

Dorsey & Whitney LLP—Peter Knust

Dorsey & Whitney LLP—Peter Knust

Cross-border finance and restructuring specialist joins as of counsel in London

Powell Gilbert—Callum Beamish-Lacey

Powell Gilbert—Callum Beamish-Lacey

IP firm promotes litigator to partnership

NEWS

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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