RPJ’s Nafsika Karavida Featured in HR.com Article: Remote Work: Navigating U.S. Employment Laws While Living Abroad

The global COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally transformed how many of us live our lives. One of the most notable developments, perhaps, is how the outbreak has radically transformed the nature of our U.S. workforce. An “office” could now be a local coffeeshop, a public library, or even one’s bedroom. Thanks to the quarantine mandates and social-distancing recommendations, and the evolution in our technologies, much work is now done remotely, via a computer or laptop, and, as such, can be done essentially anywhere – even overseas.

RPJ Associate, Nafsika Karavida, examines this shift in the U.S. workforce in her newest article for HR.com. Her article, “Remote Work: Navigating U.S. Employment Laws While Living Abroad” discusses the work-from-home phenomenon as it relates to U.S workers who live and work abroad. Karavida delves into the overall difficulty of navigating the legal terrain of overseas remote work through a discussion about tax obligations, social security, employee rights, corporate tax liability, immigration, and cybersecurity.

According to Karavida, “[a]lthough some countries offer digital nomad visas to attract foreign employees, equivalent developments in tax and employment legislation have yet to come more broadly. If the trend of a national globalized workforce continues, we are likely to see increased legal developments also in the tax and employment fields, and other affected areas, through national legislation and/or international treaties – perhaps carve-outs about tax and employment legislation for foreign employees working from another country.”

Given how significant these changes are in workforce practice and how unlikely they are to revert themselves, it remains paramount to continually ensure compliance with U.S. and international laws, as well as to maintain transparent communication between employer and employee.

Read the full article here.

This article is intended as a general discussion of these issues only and is not to be considered legal advice or relied upon. For more information, please contact RPJ Associate Nafsika Karavida who counsels both companies and individuals on employment, intellectual property, corporate and transactional and cross-border commercial law. Ms. Karavida is admitted to practice law in Connecticut and New York, as well as in the European Union and Sweden, and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.