Mastering global compliance: expert advice from a G-P employment lawyer

Key takeaways

• The blueprint: Compliance isn’t just about following rules; it's about building a framework that protects the business and its people.

• Hiring foundation: Mistakes in the hiring and onboarding phase can create costly risks. Start by identifying the nature of the working relationship.

• Contract clarity: The U.S. "at-will" standard is a global exception. Many countries require compliant written contracts in the local language, so contract management is essential.

• Performance defense: Well-documented performance management (including performance improvement plans, or PIPs) is the best legal defense against wrongful termination claims.

• Offboarding precision: Outside the U.S., mandatory notice periods or court approval processes are common, meaning jurisdiction-specific planning is needed.

For more insights, watch the webinar: “Compliance throughout the global employee lifecycle”

Meet Tiffany Cruz, an experienced employment lawyer at G-P who brings her engineering-focused perspective to the complexities of global workforces. An analytical mind honed by years of engineering and the messy world of employment law – they were made for each other.

From engine room to courtroom

Tiffany thought she’d pursue patent law, but found a deeper passion for employment law – a dynamic field where regulations, human behavior, and commercial strategy interact and collide. She describes employment law as, “the live version of a soap opera,” including the very real human drama at the heart of every workplace.

Her blend of technical and legal expertise shapes her approach and was exactly what she needed to tackle global employment.

For those new to global compliance, Tiffany suggests breaking down the employee lifecycle into three phases: hiring, performance management, and offboarding. Let’s kick things off with hiring.

Your foundation: compliant hiring and onboarding

According to Tiffany, the way you start an employment relationship determines its success or risk level. She warns that, “mistakes made during the hiring and onboarding process can have long-lasting, costly consequences.” Her focus is on mitigating risk from day one.

Employee or a contractor? Always double check.

One of the most common compliance missteps is misclassification. Contractors offer flexibility, but Tiffany is clear: “The legal tests for this classification are strict and vary by jurisdiction.”

She urges companies to look past the job title and scrutinize the true nature of the relationship. Consider control over work hours, equipment provided, and team integration.

Tiffany’s advice: Partnering with legal and HR for a thorough evaluation is an investment that can, “save your organization from financial and legal trouble down the road.”

If you're dictating hours, supplying the tools, and integrating them into your team, “they likely qualify as an employee.” Misclassification can have a “monumental impact to your business,” including government penalties, liabilities for back pay, unpaid benefits, and overtime. “You want to make sure that you’re taking the time that you need to really evaluate not just legal and HR, but talking to the hiring manager too.” 

Pay transparency is shifting

From Ontario to the EU, pay equity and transparency laws are spreading across global markets. “They come in different names, in different states, cities, and countries, but this is something that you want to keep in mind. They have really taken off,” Tiffany explains.

More and more, jurisdictions require employers to include a good-faith salary range in job postings. She notes that in Ontario, new legislation will now limit how broad these ranges can be.

Tiffany’s advice: “Compliance requires a proactive, well-documented approach.” She recommends to “really think about a good faith compensation range on your job postings.” Documenting how these figures are determined helps companies show good faith, even if budgets change later. 

Look to your employment contract

In the U.S., at-will employment is the norm in most states. But Tiffany points out, “this isn’t the global standard.”

A written contract is often a legal requirement around the world, not just a best practice. Local labor laws dictate everything from required clauses to the signing method. “Some countries require wet-ink signatures, while others mandate qualified digital signatures,” Tiffany explains.

It’s worth mentioning language, too. “Many countries require that contracts be in the local language,” she notes. For example, in Quebec, the contract must be in Canadian French, and that version carries the legal authority. “If you have something in the English version that’s not in the Quebec French version, then you may have an issue because what’s enforceable? The local language.”

Tiffany’s advice: “You want to have dual-language contracts. How do you do that? You just create two columns within a contract and make sure that everything that’s in the local language is also in the English version.” Contract management is “one of the most important steps you can take” to protect enforceability.

Keep your eyes on performance management

Performance management means having tough conversations. At this point, management, communication, and legal compliance all meet – and that can make it especially challenging.

From a legal standpoint, Tiffany advises that “consistent and documented performance management is your best defense against wrongful termination claims.”

She suggests that managers map out a set of goals and provide timely, constructive feedback. “Managers should verbally have this conversation with the workers and they should follow up in writing. Why? For one, people digest information differently — it’s great to reiterate feedback.”

If performance continues to decline, Tiffany recommends a performance improvement plan (PIP). She says PIPs should be, “a genuine effort to help the employee succeed, not just a step toward termination.”

Tiffany’s advice: “If they [managers] don't see the person performing according to the job description or other things that they've discussed, they should have this [PIP] conversation with the workers and follow it up in writing.”

A well-made PIP shows that the company “gave the employee a fair chance to meet expectations.” And clear documentation shows that the potential termination decision was based on performance issues, not discriminatory motives.

Offboarding (and how to make it easier)

Termination is never easy, but “how you handle it has significant legal implications,” Tiffany stresses. And the process differs around the globe.

In most U.S. states, employment can be terminated at any time for any lawful reason. Tiffany cautions, “you want it to be for a lawful reason.” It can never be discriminatory.

Outside the U.S. is another story. There, “you enter the world of notice periods.” In countries like Canada and across Europe, employers are “legally required to provide a specific amount of notice or pay in lieu of notice before terminating an employee.” This time period “often depends on the employee’s tenure,” so employers need to know jurisdictional requirements before starting the process.

To say these notices are important is an understatement. Failing to provide one can “result in a wrongful dismissal claim, which can be far more costly than the original notice payment.” In some regions, it’s not a simple payment: “it's not even so easy to just say, ‘Hey, I'm going to pay you.’” Employers in places like the Netherlands “have to go to court to get approval” for terminations.

Tiffany’s advice: “Effective offboarding requires careful planning and a deep understanding of local laws to avoid turning a standard business decision into a protracted legal battle.”

You have the foundation. Let an EOR bring it all together.

Tiffany views global compliance as an undertaking that never really ends. It’s “a continuous process of learning and adaptation.” Her perspective, shaped by her engineering background, taught her to “see complex challenges as systems to be understood and optimized.”

She recommends companies apply a similar approach to the global employee lifecycle. Break it down into the core stages (hiring, management, and offboarding) and “apply rigorous, jurisdiction-specific compliance practices at each stage” to build a protected global team.

But you don’t have to tackle the complexities on your own. G-P EOR minimizes the cost, complexity, and risk of global employment. With it, you can hire, onboard, and manage top talent in over 180 countries, without setting up entities. We handle all matters of compliance, so you can build your team with total confidence.

Tiffany’s advice: “You can partner with an EOR like G-P. We actually take on this lovely task. We have fun with it. We have experts on it because it is a heavy lift.”

If you’re looking to take the headaches out of global workforce management, take G-P EOR for a spin “so you can see it really is game changing.”