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Global mobility has always required agility, but recent geopolitical events have underscored the critical need for robust crisis planning. While organizations are increasingly adept at tracking and relocating employees during emergencies, it’s essential to consider accompanying dependents, too, and the unique complexities and vulnerabilities they may face.
When emergencies arise, organizations face profound ethical and logistical questions regarding their duty of care, including to what extent responses will encompass the entire family unit. Below we explore some important considerations for global mobility leaders when deciding how to manage cross-border relocations during times of crisis.
When emergencies arise, organizations face profound ethical and logistical questions regarding their duty of care.
The immigration complexities of relocating families
While the dynamics of global assignments in certain regions seem to be shifting toward shorter-term or more nomadic roles, traditional accompanied assignments remain common in regions like the Middle East. When conflict or instability threatens business continuity, companies often seek to swiftly redeploy talent to a safe, stable base within the same time zone.
However, accompanying dependents drastically change the dynamics of an emergency relocation. Some regions, particularly countries in the Middle East, may not offer preferential immigration measures for families fleeing conflict zones. This can potentially leave dependents navigating lengthy, highly bureaucratic processes to secure proper status. While dependents might temporarily enter a new country as visitors, this route fails to provide the long-term stability needed if a crisis is prolonged, and it can introduce severe compliance risks.
Expanding your duty of care
In times of crisis, what is the most ethical approach to taking care of an employee’s family? True duty of care extends beyond the workplace. The safety and emotional wellbeing of a spouse or child directly impact an assignee’s ability to focus, perform, and ultimately support business continuity.
Decisions must factor in the unique circumstances of each family. Forcing an employee to relocate to a safe zone while leaving their family behind—or trapping the family in a bureaucratic limbo—can detrimentally affect both the business and the individual. Organizations must balance operational needs with empathetic, human-centric support.
Evaluating costs, danger pay, and financial support
Financial readiness is a cornerstone of emergency planning. When an employee is required to remain in or navigate a high-risk location, companies may consider the use of danger pay, which AIRINC defines as “a temporary financial allowance provided to employees working in locations where security risks have increased.”
However, global mobility leaders must also consider the broader financial impact on the family unit. When dependents are evacuated or separated from the main assignee, the organization might consider such comprehensive support measures as:
- Evacuation payments to cover immediate travel and subsistence expenses to ensure a safe departure. These could take the form of pay advancements, temporary allowances or differentials to cover urgent needs.
- Disruption allowances, or some form of financial support to offset the sudden costs of temporary housing, duplicate living expenses, or interrupted schooling. These may be regularly evaluated as the crisis conditions continue or are sufficiently resolved.
- Immigration fees. Budgeting for the expedited processing and legal fees required to establish a compliant, stable base for the assignee and family in a new host country if possible.
- Costs of transporting pets. Evacuating animals from a conflict zone comes with a whole host of additional considerations, including transportation options, vaccination and record requirements and policies regarding pets if the family is heading into a temporary living situation.
It’s important to fully understand whether any special provisions are in place to protect the immigration status of both the assignee, and any accompanying dependents. In the somewhat rare instances where such provisions do exist, particularly as they relate to family members of the employee, it’s critical to know the specific criteria, including eligibility, geographic scope and time restrictions.
Building a resilient mobility strategy
To protect your global workforce while ensuring compliance during unpredictable events, consider these strategic steps:
- Engaging in holistic policy design. As noted above, several key decisions need to be made to decide exactly what your crisis management approach will entail, and who will be covered. Depending on your decisions, review your policies to ensure they clearly define eligibility for danger pay, evacuation support, and dependent and pet care, ideally setting transparent expectations before an emergency occurs.
- Enhancing your real-time visibility. Ensure you and your service partners can accurately track the locations, nationalities, and visa statuses of all assignees and their dependents to facilitate rapid response times and fully understand what options are available, and what the long-term consequences may be for moving to a new location.
- Planning for different scenarios. Work with your mobility partners to map out worst-case scenarios, identifying alternative regional hubs that offer both business stability and viable dependent immigration pathways.
As always, the safety of employees and their families is naturally the most important concern. Deciding on the right approach to take will depend on a variety of circumstances, including the nature and location of the crisis, the nationalities and immigration status of the individuals involved, and what options are available for secure and compliant movement. Global mobility professionals should consult with their internal tax and/or legal teams as well as their relocation service providers to arrive at solutions that are aligned with the company culture, budget, compliance and business continuity needs.
By meeting compliance requirements with an empathetic approach, you can protect your people, optimize your relocation program, and ensure your organization remains resilient in the face of complex and rapidly changing geopolitical challenges.
