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<h1>5 Common Issues Multinational Employers May Encounter When Implementing Leave Policies</h1>
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<div class="gmail-views-field gmail-views-field-created"> <span class="gmail-field-content">Friday, November 16, 2018</span> </div> </div>
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</div><p class="gmail-rtejustify">For the purposes of talent acquisition and
retention, multinational employers with U.S. parental leave policies may
wish to roll out the exact same policies at all locations. However,
this can easily turn into a tale of “no good deed goes unpunished”
because certain provisions may run afoul of local laws and customs or
inadvertently grant additional benefits. Below are several common issues
multinational employers may want to keep in mind when drafting parental
leave policies, as well as steps they can take to harmonize policies
globally.</p>
<h3 class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong><em>1. Retaining Discretion Regarding How Much Leave to Provide</em></strong></h3>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Policies allowing an employer to retain discretion
as to how much leave to provide may run afoul of certain countries’
(such as Chile, Colombia, and Mexico) laws. For example, if a policy
contains a provision for up to 18 weeks of leave, the “up to” language
signifies that the employer has discretion. This can violate the some
countries’ requirement that voluntary benefits not be subject to an
employer’s discretion and have clear and objective criteria for
eligibility.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">The “up to 18 weeks” language also leaves open the
possibility that similarly situated employees may receive different
amounts of leave, which can violate local requirements that benefits be
the same for all such employees. This discrepancy could create grounds
for a discrimination claim. To address this pitfall, employers may want
to consider removing the “up to” language or include a caveat that the
policy is subject to applicable law.</p>
<h3 class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong><em>2. Ambiguity Regarding the Interplay With Local Social Security or Government-Provided Leave</em></strong></h3>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Many countries provide local social security or
government-provided leave. Policies can address the interplay with
social security and/or government insurance–paid leave and employer-paid
leave. If a policy fails to do so, it could leave open questions such
as whether the company will pay an employee during any social security
or government insurance–paid leave, resulting in a double benefit, and
whether the company will pay the employee during the remainder of the
leave after the government-provided leave expires.</p>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Employers may want to consider revising their
policies to clarify whether paid leave is in addition to leave paid by
local social security or insurance and whether the company will assume
the payment after the expiration of the statutory period covered by
social security or make up the difference between the amount provided by
the government and the policy.</p>
<h3 class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong><em>3. Ambiguity Regarding the Interplay With Local Prenatal Leave Requirements</em></strong></h3>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Employers may want to keep in mind that some
countries statutorily mandate not only postnatal leave, but also
prenatal leave. As such, employers may need to revise some policies to
account for the prenatal component of the statutory leave. For example,
female employees in Argentina are statutorily entitled to a maternity
leave of 90 days, which is divided into two equal periods of 45 days:
one to be taken as prenatal leave and the other to be taken after the
date of birth. Companies may want to clarify how the leave period will
run concurrently with statutory leave when local law provides for both
prenatal and postnatal leave.</p>
<h3 class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong><em>4. Calculation of Leave Pay</em></strong></h3>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Companies that calculate leave pay based only on
salary may run afoul of local requirements. For example, in Brazil, the
rate of pay during leave is based on the last total monthly
remuneration, including, for salaried employees, any variable pay and,
for non-salaried employees, any overtime and variable pay. Employers may
want to consider either removing language reflecting that pay during
leave is based only on salary, or including a caveat that the policy is
subject to applicable law.</p>
<h3 class="gmail-rtejustify"><strong><em>5. Local Language Requirements</em></strong></h3>
<p class="gmail-rtejustify">Employers that provide English-language policies
in other countries should be wary of local requirements. For example,
many countries require that policies be in the local language in order
to be enforceable.</p>
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<br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>