Managing people across national borders
We are a practical problem-solving service, geared to the needs of multinational HR departments.
Many day-to-day “people issues” do not merit a project, or justify calling in an employment lawyer. This is often because they must be resolved quickly and before more substantial problems arise. One FedEE Member put it this way.
“I do not have the time to brief outsiders and start worrying about professional fees before I can get a job done. I just need someone I can trust who will give me an honest second opinion and help me sort things out so that I can move onto other things. My company cannot carry all the expertise about international HR laws and practices it needs in-house – so the next best thing is FedEE. You have no equal and those who do not know about you do not know what they are missing.”
〠 POST-PANDEMIC HR WORLD: So what are the key things you need to think about now? What will be the barriers faced and what kind of world will it be like? Start your journey here.
〠 SHARING THE JOURNEY: FedEE is running a series of E-Meetings to examine, step by step, how companies are approaching a resumption of operations in EMEA and APAC.
〠 WORKPLACE RULES: FedEE has developed its own set of model back to work rules that Member companies may adopt and brand as their own.
〠 POSTING WORKERS: This revised EU Directive has huge implications for multinational employers. FedEE has the most detailed guide available on how to comply with it.
International HR Answers in Seconds
FedEE is designed to provide a “right hand” professional support service to those in multinational HR departments.
We focus on key developments so you can get on with your core day-to-day activities. You do not need a legal database containing 1000s of new laws and court cases to read every day, nor do you have the time to wait for a call-back from a law firm – but you do need to know if your company faces a new employer obligation in a particular country, if a key deadline is coming up on the radar, or how to resolve a difficult employee problem in real-time.
FedEE also produces news reports you would never receive from any other source. This is partly because we monitor changes in over 30 languages. We also have a tiered support system so that if you need to know more, you may go to our online knowledgebase, or simply call our multinational helpline. 85% of helpline enquiries are resolved within two hours, after just one direct call to an Advisor. Our service is also multi-user – so several colleagues may access it in their own right. Few lawyers have hands on HR experience and so their guidance is often rigid, obscure and off the mark. We go beyond the law and aim at finding practical, management solutions that stick and make good economic sense.
You could probably secure a near alternative to FedEE by hiring a talented HR professional with years of working in many jurisdictions and industry sectors, then by arming them with numerous costly online legal database subscriptions – or you could simply sign up to FedEE – at 2-3% the cost. That is perhaps why many HR departments around the World have relied on FedEE for over two decades.
FEDEE ALERTS
☞ The United States Attorney General has ordered all US attorney offices to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute any misuse of government funding provided to alleviate the impact of the health crisis on companies.
☞ UK employers should take note of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 – as it has been the principal way that those infected by HIV/AIDS have sought damages. Only COVID-19 is much easier to prosecute as it does not involve consent.
☞ Pawa-hara laws just coming into effect in Japan are going to make life very difficult for conventional employers.
☞ Do you know the occupational groups given special entry requirements this year under different country points systems?
☞ Why should employers in Azerbaijan be particularly concerned about making employees who own land redundant?
☞ What is the position of employees stranded in countries – whose visas have expired?
☞ What are the HR data retention periods around the World?
☞ May an employer force an employee to take annual leave?
The FedEE Story
FedEE was founded in June 1988 at a meeting of HR Directors at BP PLC’s Head Office in London. It was supported initially by the European Commission
FedEE Services
FedEE offers a range of “must have” services to the individual Multinational employer.
Persolicy
FedEE’s International HR Policy Updating Service, tackling those neglected handbooks.
Aftermath
FedEE’s frightening analysis concerning prospects for a post-pandemic World.
Maintaining company pay freedom
Unless EU employers do something soon they will all be locked into collective bargaining and have to face up to unions that have been given a huge new lease of life by the European Commission. This is not “crying wolf”, but a reality under current EU proposals.
For the last 20 years FedEE has been seeking to make the European Union institutions stick to Article 153 (5) of their own Treaty and not meddle in pay. They have no powers to do so – but MEPS and Officials keep knowingly ignoring their own Treaty obligations.
Now the Commission wants to impose a minimum wage system across EU Member States which is entirely determined by collective bargaining. Once around the table, however, unions will not stop there – and will want to spread their scope for negotiation to all levels in a company. This is in spite of unionization progressively declining across the EU and being as low as 8% in some EU countries. Moreover, sectoral and national CBAs are wage cartels and should be treated as such.
Although the minimum wage is a critical safeguard, the petty politics of collective bargaining is not the way to achieve it and the European Union has no legitimate role to play in this field.
HOW THINGS STAND
- Not all EU States – such as Austria, Finland and Italy – currently operate a national minimum wage.
- Article 153 (5) of the EU Treaty excludes any powers in respect to pay from the scope of the European Union.
- The European Commission has long wanted to take greater control of the wage and salary market.
- The Commission has ignored in the past the EU Treaty by introducing pay-related elements in Directives. Only FedEE has opposed them.
- The Commision began this year to consult “social partners” about an EU Minimum Wage Directive.
- The Commission’s current proposals are to ensure that collective bargaining is central to the new wage system.
- To sidestep the Treaty problem (and FedEE) the Commission wants to draw up an agreement on Article 155. This will do nothing to remove Article 153 (5).
- If allowed to go ahead, the Commission’s proposal will impose collective bargaining on employers in each Member State.
- Spain is also imposing new requirements on employers under their equal pay legislation. This means that employers will be forced into consultation with trade unions like the militant CCOO union.
- If your company opposes these moves – join FedEE.
Services Tailored for You
Your Employment Law Questions Answered – Practically and Fast
If a quick check of the FedEE Knowledgebase does not come up with all the details you are looking for then the FedEE legal helpline is just a phone call, or email message, away. We seek to answer all email questions raised within four working hours. In fact, over 90% of telephone enquiries about our core 35 countries are resolved during a 15-minute call.
Updating Your HR Policies to Comply with Statutes and Rulings
The most constant lament that arises in our periodic member surveys concerns the updating of HR policies. If a policy is out of date, and thus at variance with the law, or phrased in an ambiguous way a company can find itself being challenged by employees with whom they are in dispute, an ex-employee or a factory inspector. All policies should therefore ideally be reviewed on an annual basis. FedEE offers a policy review service called “Persolicy” that could be just for one policy in a single jurisdiction, a complete handbook or for multiple countries. This service is at a fraction of the cost charged by a conventional law firm.
Let FII-Legal provide you with the employment law assistance you need during the current crisis
FII-Legal is an independent spin off from the Federation and can offer expert advice, information and support at a fraction the cost – and many times the speed – you would be charged by an old-style legal firm. Our expertise is also based on a depth of international HR experience and is led by a former Advisor to The European Commission and the ICO who also has a track record in mining, electronics and engineering. We cover over 120+ country jurisdictions, plus federal laws, from a single international centre. FII-Legal is also open to non-members of the Federation. So call us today on (+1) 857 576 8452 or email enquiries@fedeeglobal.com.
Ask FII-Global’s legal research team to undertake an investigation into a difficult legal challenge, or brief you on a particular jurisdiction
We have undertaken numerous customised research exercises for major companies to assess the best jurisdiction and labour market for expansion into Eastern Europe, restructure the business as a Societas Europea (SE), or set out all the steps necessary for a major transfer of undertakings. We specialise in M&A HR legal strategy – and in 2019 we were a key player in one of the largest mergers in recent times.
Becoming a multinational for the first time? Let FedEE help reduce the delays and risks
During the last ten years the average size of multinationals has fallen from over 5000 employees to just 700 employees and many start to become multinational – especially in the service sector – when they have fewer than 100 employees.
Membership of FedEE will be an invaluable aid to successful growth in other countries. Not only can we show you how to avoid the legal pitfalls, but can put you in touch with local service providers and provide statistics to help you assess things like the size and nature of local labour markets.
We can also help you turn your HR services around – both to deal with global emergencies, such as those created by the coronavirus pandemic, but also put in place an HR Recovery Plan. We estimate the recovery in advanced economies outside China will begin by late July 2020. It may also, ironically, remove the threat of a recession by the end of 2020 – as demand bounces back with a new dynamic.
The FedEE Academy
Now there is an opportunity for HR professionals in multinational organisations to obtain a legal qualification that prepares them for a role as the departmental expert in employment law. FedEE’s Advanced Diploma in Multijurisdictional Employment Law (Adv Dip MELL) is a one-year part-time programme offered through our Academy and undertaken primarily through distance learning.
If you are a University graduate with at least three years relevant HR experience you may join the programme at any time. You do not have to possess a first degree in law and the programme will begin by preparing you to understand legal concepts and basic principles of law.
The programme focuses on ten principal jurisdictions – China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, UAE, UK and the USA. However, participants may also choose other jurisdictions for their personal research. There are a total of 24 modules to complete (two per month) and, as a graduate, you will possess greater knowledge of trans-border legal requirements than most conventional legal professionals.
The course is designed to fit in with a busy work schedule and if not completed within the year it may be extended for a further twelve months. The programme not only ends with a valuable qualification, but you will also be able to use the job title “HR Counsel”®
Please also note that this programme is currently being updated and extended and will be relaunched in the Autumn with several modules reflecting recent changes in HR perspectives – such a greater interest in distant working and contingency planning and management.
For further information, please download the programme brochure and, if you wish, speak to a qualified Barrister here at FedEE. Click here and sign up today to participate in the Programme.
For further details, please contact the Programme Director on Academy@fedee.com.
Press Releases and Newswires
White papers
FedEE Member companies gain access to a wealth of information and guidance.
Press Releases
Examples of past press releases distributed to media, newspapers and agencies.
Past Newswires
Examples of our fortnightly newswires sent to all FedEE Member organizations.
Join FedEE Today
Many of the world’s largest multinational companies already belong to The Federation of International Employers (FedEE®). We have a Worldwide Membership – with particular concentrations in North America, Western Europe, India and Japan. We were founded in 1988 and are regularly voted by our Members as an organisation they would recommend to other multinationals.
If your company has over 150 employees in two or more countries, has its own in-house HR department, and has been operating for two or more years then you really cannot afford to operate without being part of the Federation. The approval process takes less than a day and for immediate access to our services we have an online credit card payment facility. Membership costs as little as €995 a year. Please check here to view the table of our membership services. Sign up now.
Why not take a short tour of our knowledge-base before joining FedEE® to see the nature and extent of the employment law, HR data and support that we offer? Please contact our Membership Secretary on membershipservices@fedee.com to arrange for a one-to-one webinar for you and your colleagues, arranged without obligation and entirely at your own convenience.
Contact Us
Address, email, telephone numbers and on line payments so you can get in touch from anywhere around the world.
Senior Management Team
Introducing our key staff and Board Members.
Training and Events
The World’s advanced professional transnational law training course.
Clear Thinking
Most people are not taught to think and few realize that clear thinking originates in perceptions and personal identity.
