Sense out of uncertainty, HR without borders
Welcome to the leading organisation for multinational employers.
Global employers belong to FedEE because we provide the kind of fast, practical, affordable, high quality and far-sighted service that gives HR professionals in multinationals the edge they require to stay ahead of the game. An illustration of this is the fact that we have predicted not only 9/11, the 2007/8 meltdown, the Brexit result, the pandemic (six months before it happened) – as well as the latest surge of hyperinflation, back in May 2020. 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.”
〠 Join our top Multinationals: We are Chaired by the Ford Motor Company, whilst Latham and Watkins – the world’s second largest law firm – is on our board. In fact, 40% of the top global companies are FedEE corporate members.
〠 Legal Counsel: FedEE Members have access to our legal knowledgebase, helpline and customised legal services.
〠 Monitoring Developments: FedEE differs significantly from others in how we communicate complex laws, court decisions, HR practices and key developments.
〠 Our powerful predictive indices help us see well ahead of others – including the IMF, World Bank and HR institutions. Our experience over the years since we were founded in 1988 is that HR is often the last to see critical future trends and that they are kept in a fog by over-parochial professional bodies and the HR press. The truth can seem painfull at first, but is much easier when confronted head on.
International HR Answers in Seconds
FedEE was developed 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 fraction of the cost. That is perhaps why many HR departments around the World have relied on FedEE for over three decades.
Examples of Issues We Review:
☞ A recent landmark court decision in Malaysia has been the first to challenge the country’s Islamic laws concerning sexual orientation.
☞ We chart the COVID-19 travel restrictions and lockdown requirements as they happen. Our expertise in Epidemiology allows us to track and evaluate emerging threats.
☞ How many US States now ban the use of non-compete clauses and which is the latest?
☞ Are casual workers unlawful in Australia? We show you why not.
☞ What are the latest changes to Singapore’s Child Development Co-Savings Act? What do they mean?
☞ What has happened to the legal loophole in Belgium that allowed employers to hire workers on a succession of alternating temporary and replacement contracts?
☞ May an employer in Kenya dismiss an employee serving a probationary period “at will”?
☞ What are the HR data retention periods around the World?
☞ Which multinational companies are leading the way in introducing hybrid work practices?
The FedEE Story
FedEE was supported initially by the European Commission.
FedEE Services
FedEE offers a range of “must have” services to the Multinational employers.
FedEE Achievements
Some achievements since foundation in 1988.
Aftermath
FedEE’s frightening analysis concerning prospects for a post-pandemic World.
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 concern 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 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 FedEE-Legal provide you with the employment law assistance you need during the current crisis
FedEE Legal are Legal Counsel to the Federation. We offer expert advice, information and support at less cost and much faster than 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. For statutory reasons FedEE Legal is not open to non-members of the Federation. Call us today on (+44) 203 807 9205 or email enquiries@fedee.com.
Ask FedEE Legal’s 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 public and private organisations to assess, for instance, the best jurisdiction and labour market for expansion into Eastern Europe, restructure the business, convert independent advisors into permanent employees, 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
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.
FedEE Guidance: The War in Ukraine
How to handle the displacement of your Ukrainian employees
Although the EU already operated relaxed visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens before the war began this has now been enhanced by a right to stay order. This gives Ukrainians freedom to travel within EU borders, work in any EU country and gain access to social services for a period of one year. Of course, the state of martial law operating in Ukraine means that the majority of adult men are not allowed to leave the country. However, once across the border women, children and the elderly are generally being well treated and even allowed to travel free on many railway systems.
Employers in the rest of Europe are currently receiving requests from the Ukraine diaspora on their payrolls to take time off to return to their home country and enlist in the armed forces. So far 60,000, mainly men, have returned.
Many measures have been taken by bordering countries to assist Ukrainian refugees. The Polish parliament, for instance has passed a Special Act to address the crisis. This allows Ukrainians to remain in the country for 18 months (extendable to 3 years), access healthcare, social services (including unemployment benefit), schooling for children and gain special tax benefits.
Foreign employers with staff in Ukraine, or forced to flee the country, should keep closely in touch with them, guarantee their jobs/salaries and assist them, where possible, to find alternative accommodation.
For those men not able to leave the country there should be the opportunity given to stay in temporary accommodation near the western border or in the mountains on the southern borders. However, hotels should be avoided if possible as these are being searched by the Ukrainian military authorities and conscription orders applied – even if an individual is gainfully employed. Ukrainian employees should also be warned that a number of criminal gangs are exploiting the upheaval to steal, exploit and even hold professionals hostage.
Policy Priorities
FedEE recommends the following steps that should be taken by multinationals to deal with the conflict at a more global level:
- The establishment of a special corporate executive group to review developments and advise the Group Board on what urgent actions should be taken – especially if the conflict escalates.
- Immediate evacuation of key expatriate personnel and their families from affected areas (Western Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, plus border areas in the Baltics, Finland, and Poland).
- Freezing of planned visits by personnel and contractors to the countries involved in the conflict and urgent repatriation of those on training and exchange visits from Russia and Belarus.
- Support for ongoing operations in Ukraine and maintaining staff through distance working, where possible.
- Suspension of trade with Russia, Belarus and their allies in the conflict + any investment in the region.
- Increased vigilance against cyberattacks and industrial espionage.
- Stockpiling of products normally sourced in or through the conflict zone.
- Compliance with western sanctions at every level.
- Maintaining a close review of the impact that the conflict is having on inflation and currency exchange rates.
- Monitoring for the potential spill over into NATO countries bordering the region – especially the area of eastern Estonia where there is a large Russian-speaking community.
- Safeguards in respect to outspoken anti-Russian and Chinese sentiments amongst company personnel.
- Controling PR messages to maintain as neutral a position as possible.
- The establishment of a “worst case” strategy and a clear view about the circumstances that would trigger it.
FedEE will be briefing its Members on the HR and broader business implications of the conflict as it unfolds. In the meantime, companies should not underestimate the seriousness of this crisis or assume that it is merely a localised event in Eastern Europe.
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 €998.00 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.
COMMENT: The recession is here, quickly act on it
For the past two years FedEE has been predicting a major economic downturn once the post-pandemic bounceback “health honeymoon” period has ended. The fall will now be further intensified by the Ukraine war.
What recession means is that GDP and stocks fall heavily and hyperinflation sets in. US GDP fell 1.4% in Q1 2022, CPI is approaching double figures and stocks are close to free fall. Now the virtual certainty of a recession has been recognised by others – such as former Fed Governor Roger Ferguson who believes it is “inevitable”.
Driving the recession is the economic irresponsibility of major governments around the World, that printed money in vast quantities as GDP levels fell. The dilution of the US dollar has been particularly spectacular – with M3 growing by over 40% since February 2020.
The only major economy that has remained relatively well-managed during the pandemic has been Japan. However, Japan’s GDP fell by 0.4% in Q1 2022 and the yen-dollar exchange rate is at its weakest point in 20 years, making the yen substantially below its true value.
THERE IS A NEED TO MOVE NOW TO AVERT THE COMING CRISIS
It was just a matter of time for quantitative easing (overprinting of paper money) to transpose into rapidly rising levels of inflation. The impact of falling consumer confidence is impacting on stocks – with the Nasdaq down 25% so far this year. GDP is collapsing too during Q1 2022 by 5.4% in Ireland, 2.9% in Belgium, 2.9% in Hong Kong, and 1% in Indonesia.
State central banks are currently planning to use a sharp rise in interest rates to make the recession bite – hoping that only a controlled collapse will curb inflation. However, unless they buy back the inflated currency stocks they issued in 2020/21 this move will backfire badly.
Corporate recruiters in the West are still lamenting the tightness of labour markets, even as “Rome burns” all around them. The clever thing to do right now is freeze general hiring, focus only upon high talent and begin to cost various downsizing options – and join FedEE to help keep ahead of the curve.