Indian-origin multinationals are facing various challenges while posting an employee abroad including competitive salary packages, taxation and even spouse dissatisfaction, says a survey.

In one of the first surveys of homegrown companies that are expanding globally, human resource consultancy firm Mercer has identified the latest international assignment policies for managing a globally mobile group of employees and the challenges faced by employers.

“Some of the most common challenges faced by employers of international assignees are those regarding competitiveness of expatriate packages, issues with different tax structures and of overall cost containment. The ‘Expatriate Management Survey-India’ report found that less than half (44 per cent) of companies compensate their international assignees for tax differentials. The survey also found that 44 per cent of companies use the home country balance sheet approach to determine expatriate pay.

Streamline policies

The approach is based on maintaining parity in the standard of living across the international assignee’s ‘home’ and ‘host’ country.

The survey showed that companies have been increasingly relying on short-term assignments as an alternative to long-term assignments in light of the complexities entailed in the latter and have made efforts to streamline policies and minimise exceptions.

Besides spouse dissatisfaction being one of the major factors for failure of international assignments, only 20 per cent of companies surveyed had policies providing spouse support for international assignees.

While international assignment policies typically contain localisation terms and conditions, companies often deal with the issue on a case-by-case basis to avoid de-motivating the employees.

All top executives are eligible for a car allowance as compared to fewer than half of international assignees at middle and junior management levels, the survey said.