Challenges of a Remote Workforce

European Straights, 2020-06-01

Reflect on:

• Will the remote work trend survive the “pandemic” or it will be reversed?

• The shifts in company culture resulting out of less face-to-face communication

• What impact on wages does remote work have? [Facebook, anyone?]

• Existing players paying based on location and not role:

Automattic (Wordpress)

Gitlab

• How do people get paid if they are true “digital nomads” and are not stuck to a single location?

• What about labour law / legal / tax compliance? Where do staff pay tax?

  Deel, Upwork help with this

  NY example: so called “convenience rule”: you’re liable to a NY tax EVEN if you’re telecommuting (i.e. double taxation)

• Will there ever be harmonized taxation rules for remote workers? Or just the recognition of a new taxable type of staff (not gig economy workers)?

Concerns

• Staff taxation (especially where there’s PAYG – pay as you go)

• Equity (shares, stock options, etc) – various countries have various rules about taxation of stock / ESOP, incl. up-front tax bills