Those of you with responsibility for international benefits probably already know the mandated or government required benefits for each country. In addition, you probably know that most multinational companies provide supplemental benefits for their local employees as well.
Let's test your knowledge for some of both ---- mandatory and supplemental.
1) What region provides the most cars to employees below management level?
- Asia
- Latin America
- Middle East
- Europe
- Africa
2) What country has historically offered a type of “flexible” total rewards and still does?
- Japan
- Brazil
- Saudi Arabia
- India
- Netherlands
3) What country has the most government mandated annual leave (vacation) days?
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Brazil
- South Africa
- Russia
4) What country does not typically provide free lunch or lunch vouchers?
- Israel
- Italy
- France
- Singapore
- Belgium
5) What country provides the longest paid mandatory maternity leave?
- England
- China
- Spain
- Argentina
- Turkey
OK, check your answers against the correct ones:
1) What region provides the most cars to employees below management level?
Answer: Europe
Companies in Europe typically give cars to salespeople and others at the senior individual contributor level. European headquartered companies are more inclined to do this than American companies.
Most American companies provide cars for salespeople regardless of the country/region. The reason for doing so is that these people travel on the job. However European companies do not make such a distinction. They provide cars whether a person travels on the job or not.
Companies usually provide leased cars, but as tax laws change, sometimes a cash allowance is provided instead.
Countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America do provide cars but it is usually for management positions.
2) What country has historically offered a “flexible” total rewards package and still does today?
Answer: India
India has one of the most complex approaches to total rewards in the world due to the focus on allowances, tax-advantaged benefits etc. The total rewards package is referred to as CTC -- "cost to company", and it includes the total expenditure a company has to incur to hire an employee. This approach has been used by companies for years.
It is common for an employee's salary to make up 40-50% of the total package. Benefits and allowances make up the remainder. The employee has some say as to how the package is divided. In essence, this is the first attempt at "flexible" total rewards.
3) What country has the most government mandated annual leave (vacation) days?
Answer: Brazil
- Brazil = 30 days
- Russia = 28 days
- Germany = 24 days
- South Africa = 21 days
- Switzerland = 20 days
These are minimum days required by the government. In fact, companies many times pay additional days in order to be competitive.
4) What country does not typically provide free lunch or lunch vouchers?
Answer: This is a trick question!
Company canteens/cafeterias on-site are very common with manufacturing operations. Lunch breaks are short, and there is not enough time to travel back and forth to public restaurants. So for all countries above, lunch is provided for manufacturing employees.
In professional workplaces --- sales, IT, etc. lunch vouchers are common in all the countries above except for Singapore.
5) What country provides the longest paid mandatory maternity leave?
Answer: China at full pay and England at less than full pay.
- China = 105 days
- Argentina = 90 days
- Spain = 80 days
- Turkey = 80 days
- England = total of 195 days. 30 days paid at 90% of pay. 165 days paid at the lower of England’s standard pay (GBP112.75) per week or 90% of employee average earnings.
As you can see, benefits vary quite a bit from country to country. But, it's all part of making international responsibility such fun!
Jacque Vilet, President of Vilet International, has over 20 years’ experience in International Human Resources with major multinationals such as Intel, National Semiconductor and Seagate Technology. She has managed both local/ in-country national and expatriate programs and has been an expat twice during her career. Her true love is working with local national issues. Jacque has the following certifications: CCP, GPHR, HCS and SWP as well as a B.S. and M.S in Psychology and an MBA. She belongs to SHRM, Human Capital Institute and WorldatWork. Jacque has also been a speaker in the U.S., Asia and Europe, and is a regular contributor to various HR and talent management publications. She lives in Dallas and has 3 four-legged children and one Chinese daughter (it’s a long story). She’s had a life-long love of animals and the ocean. So what is she doing in Dallas?
Image courtesy: nashville-mdha.org
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