As multinational companies compete for highly skilled employees around the world, they are often confronted with a deceptively simple question: Do they impose a noncompetition agreement on their employees? This article is part one of a two-part article addressing how multinational companies can use a noncompetition agreement on their highly skilled employees to protect their confidential information and other intellectual property. In part two of this article, we will analyze how noncompetes differ around the…

With thanks to Melissa Allchin (Chicago) for this post. Multinational employers continue to closely monitor the latest on the Novel Coronavirus. As the outbreak becomes more widespread, companies with foreign national employees and families in China are starting to feel the impact. Many may wonder how the current circumstances could affect their immigration status. Some employers may consider contingency plans, beyond work-from-home arrangements, to support foreign national employees currently on assignment in China. Here are…

(With thanks to Barbara Klementz for this post.) Why hire through a PEO? When companies start expanding internationally, it is often important to “put boots on the ground” as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.  The traditional approach of establishing a local entity and employing employees through the local entity may not always work due to the cost and time involved in setting up and maintaining the local entity and local payroll, as well as the…

The recent outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) raises challenging issues for employers, particularly those that have multiple locations, provide a variety of services, and employ a global workforce that may travel routinely for business. For employers who have lived through prior global pandemics, now is the time to revisit preparedness protocol and re-evaluate the same for changes in locations of workforces and evolution in local laws. For those who are new to the…