Topics:
2. "Work from Anywhere" (WFA) - survey conducted among Swiss companies by Expateer GmbH
Between November 4 and December 4, Expateer GmbH (https://expateer.ch/) has conducted a survey on "Work from Anywhere", in the international/cross-border context.
The aim was to obtain a clearer picture of how Swiss companies currently deal with this topic, i.e. when employees (want to) work from abroad, or, when the company wants to consider - or already enables - working from abroad. The survey focuses on the time after the pandemic, i.e. when the pandemic-related flexibility by the various countries no longer apply and the foreign authorities have switched back to the normal mode.
Expateer was able to attract 60 Swiss companies to participate, ranging from SMEs to Multinational Corporations.
The evaluation is currently still underway, but the following trends are emerging:
- “Considering” vs “allowing” WFA:
- Nearly 39% of companies are considering allowing certain employees to work from abroad (excluding cross-border commuters).
- Almost all companies (95%) allow certain cross-border commuters – under certain conditions - to work from their home abroad
- Just over 40% of participating companies confirmed: Employees were allowed to work from abroad even prior to the pandemic – be it from a home office abroad or from a vacation destination
- The key drivers for why employers allow - or consider to allow - WFA are: Find new talents and retain existing talents; thus, employers want to be more attractive by offering WFA.
- The majority of companies limit the length of stay abroad to avoid triggering foreign social security and tax obligations.
If you have any questions or/and if you would like to participatein future surveys on this subject, please contact Mirta Del Frari from Expateer GmbH (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 079 523 30 30). Participating companies receive the evaluations free of charge.
3. Consolidate (I)PMI plans - (International) Private Medical Insurance
It is not uncommon for an internationally active company to have different international (or even purely local) health insurance plans for their internationally active employees in the countries of assignment (posted workers, expats, Local+, TCN, Key Local Nationals,......). This is not always based on a clear strategy. Often such plans have grown historically, were taken over and continued in the course of acquisitions, or there was no transparency about the existing plans when they were implemented and/or the responsibilities were not clearly defined.
Consolidating such plans does not only have advantages. However, we believe that the advantages usually outweigh the disadvantages. Here are some points: Pros and cons:
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Pro |
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Premium |
The most important driver of consolidation is likely to be the premium. As a rule, a larger number of insured persons also means a lower per person premium (economy of scale). It is also conceivable that other insurance models are available due to the size, which have a positive influence on the premium level. In addition, the customer gains purchasing power vis-à-vis the insurer. Brokerage fees can also be reduced. |
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Coverage |
Consolidation also allows standardisation of benefits and thus equal treatment, if this is desired. |
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Overview |
Consolidation increases transparency. Global Mobility knows/understands the insured benefits (and premiums) and has more security when initiating assignments and when demonstrating the insured benefit level to the assignees. |
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Area of Coverage |
Regional and local (I)PMI plans often have restrictions on the coverage zone. E.g. expats cannot get treatment in their home country. |
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Continuation |
Continuing solutions upon return to the home country can be part of a good IPMI plan (e.g. return to Switzerland and free movement to a Swiss health insurance company), but are certainly not part of a regional/local plan. |
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Contra |
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Compliance |
Compliance requirements for an international insurer that is represented in "all countries" are high. Only a few providers can cover all world regions/countries well. |
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Administration |
For countries with high compliance requirements (e.g. Middle East), an interaction of local and international HR may be necessary in order to manage the insurance processes well together with the international insurance broker and the insurer. |
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Taxes |
Tax aspects can play a role, e.g. in the USA, when it comes to the question of "international versus local IPMI plan". |
In any case, it is worthwhile to make an assessment and weigh up the advantages and disadvantages. We are happy to help.
4. IPMI / KVG obligation for posted workers - KVG posted worker tariff
Employees posted abroad by a Swiss employer ( posting or continuation) remain covered by Swiss social insurance. In the area of health insurance, this means that the posted employee remains subject to the KVG even if he/she deregisters in Switzerland.
Different rates apply depending on the country of posting (new country of residence).
EU-/EFTA-country:
If the posting is to an EU/EFTA country, special EU/EFTA premiums apply. These can vary greatly depending on the country and health insurance company. A special feature of this rule is that the minimum franchise of CHF 300 is mandatory (no other franchise can be chosen). In addition: Only about one third of all health insurance companies have such an EU/EFTA tariff. This regulation applies to EU/EFTA citizens. For non-EU/EFTA citizens, the third-country tariff is usually applied.
Third country:
If the posting is to a country outside the EU/EFTA (a third country), certain health insurance companies offer a "posted person tariff". This is characterised by the fact that the premiums are usually very low (for example, the cheapest option with one provider in 2022 costs CHF 74.40 per month with a franchise of CHF 300).
To note:
- In 2022, 5 health insurance funds have a low-cost expatriate tariff. For most health insurance funds, the CH tariff of the last municipality of residence (before deregistration) applies in the case of a posting to a third country.
- In contrast to the EU/EFTA premiums, the franchise for the expatriate tariff can generally be freely selected (except for Helsana and Swica).
We will be happy to help you with any questions you may have on this topic. In general, we would like to refer to our services in the area of coordination of IPMI group plans and KVG obligation (keyword "cost and process optimisation").