Employees working overseas with more than one employer

Following a discussion post on this very topic, I asked Marie Green at PwC for her thoughts on the potential implications to HEs.  With thanks to Marie for this comprehensive response:

It is not uncommon in the sector for academic staff to work for more than one employer - researchers collaborating on more than one project or lecturers teaching at more than one university.  This raises it's own unique set of challenges - especially if one of those employers is based overseas.  Here are some of the things you might want to consider for employees of a UK university who also work for an overseas employer.

If the individual is undertaking their UK duties whilst overseas, they may attract employment rights in the country they are working such as pay and holiday entitlements.  We have seen a few cases where European Working Time issues have been created in these scenarios.  There are also considerations around benefits coverage, such as whether the terms of any insurance policies (death in service, professional indemnity etc) will cover them.  

Where individuals are employed by Universities in two different countries, the social security position can be complex. Where both countries are within the EU (plus the UK), the social security regulations stipulate the individual must only be liable to social security in one country, so one of the Universities will be required to pay employee and employer social security in the other country, which may create unexpected liabilities and employer reporting obligations.

From an income tax perspective, depending on the amount of time spent working overseas, the individual may trigger income tax and employer overseas payroll withholding and reporting obligations for the university.  This can potentially be managed by stipulating that work related to the UK university should only be performed when the employee is in the UK but the practicalities of separating the duties, especially in the current environment where much can be done online remotely, means this is difficult in practice. 

It's really important that these arrangements are managed centrally and reviewed in the context of other international activities within the university.  For example, the cumulative effect of a number of staff all working in the same country could increase the risk of creating a PE or other corporate tax presence in that location. 

One of the key challenges in managing the risks above is being able to track and manage the working and travel pattern.  We'd recommend that the expectations are laid out to the employee in their employment terms and conditions.  This would cover the employee's obligation to notify the university of any other employments and any guidelines around when and where the individual works (for example the number of hours per week or % full time equivalent) and any restrictions on where those work hours can be performed). Much of which is required in any event to comply with UK requirements in respect to EUWTD. We'd also recommend clearly communicating the university's requirements in terms of reporting on working patterns to a central team and responsibilities of the employee to manage any individual compliance obligations that arise.