This can be particularly true of businesses who need to offer expat health insurance, as mobile employees that travel across various territories will need flexible insurance to match their corresponding needs in one contract.

Read on for our tips on meeting compliance for international Employee Benefits management without the administrative hassle.

How different is the compliance for insurable Employee Benefits worldwide?

It can be tempting to think that one insurance policy can cover all your bases. Surely, with coverage that treats employees fairly, this should be sufficient to meet legal expectations?

Those in charge of Employee Benefits will soon find that region to region, there can be a world of difference in terms of requirement. Enforcement can also have significant differences - one region might mandate the involvement of multiple authorities or the acquiescence with several regulations.

Particularly for usually highly regulated benefits, such as health insurance or pension plans, finding a solution can mean meeting the minimum cover required for a territory - and making sure that you don’t accidentally cross any legal boundaries when adjusting to employee needs.

An example of international compliance

To give you an idea of the insurance minutiae you might need to be aware of for international Employee Benefits management, here is an example:

United Arab Emirates: Two health authorities, one country

Abu Dhabi has two regulatory bodies to content with when organizing corporate health insurance: the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) and the Dubai-specific Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

The first is responsible for regulating health services, covering providers and professionals. Multinationals are expected to provide corporate medical insurance with no expense for employees to ensure that there is widespread healthcare provided in the territory. It’s the enforcement body for compliance for private health insurance. Your organization will need to be certain your insurance provider:

• Is licensed, registered and inspected by this organization
• Meets mandated reimbursement rates
• Meets specific standards for healthcare
• Provides data and documentation for any disputes, suspected cases of fraud or insurance abuse or complaints
• Submits to investigation and inspections
• Works with the relevant emirate and federal authorities when appropriate
• Is transparent and offers informed choices

The Dubai Health Authority works slightly differently. All residents in Dubai must have health care insurance specifically for emergency and curative care. There is a government-funded scheme for Dubai nationals, but for those simply residing in the area, there must be private health insurance cover. Multinationals should absolutely cover employees, but it is expected that dependents are also covered.

Your insurance provider will need to:

• Hold a Dubai Health Insurance Permit (HIP). This requires compliance with financial, data, licensing, claims processing and customer experience standards
• Send health insurance package data to the DHA via its eClaimlink portal
• Send monthly updates of its list of insured members
• Meets compliance standards for electronic claims and prescriptions
• Send quarterly reports on call centre performance data and communications with insured members
• Send all complaints data within specific requested periods

As you can see, for just one territory, there are multiple moving parts to compliance. Every factor can be updated with little notice, meaning insurance providers and the options they give to your business need to flex to fit.

How flexible do I need to be with my insurance options?

The short answer: very flexible. With regulations changing frequently - particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic - your insurance options need to be swiftly updated by someone with intimate knowledge of each region as the rules are altered.

There’s also the fact that your needs for insurable Employee Benefits are likely to change over time. Your compliance functions will likely be expected to reduce the risk of compliance transgressions in countries you already operate in, but also to be able to familiarize themselves with new regions as you grow and acquire new territories.

What can I do to ensure that my business meets compliance standards for international Employee Benefits?

Here are our top tips for staying on top of compliance and regulations around insurable Employee Benefits:

Ensure your business is aware of the need for an agile and proactive approach to insurance, with cross-functional capabilities

Simplify your internal structures for risk and compliance. Whether regional, divisional or functional, your Employee Benefits insurance should be managed with a centralized system that can handle multiple inputs and a diverse range of regions

Utilize external expertise where appropriate. It’s not always feasible to expect internal employees across the globe or based in your headquarters to be up-to-date on all compliance and regulatory changes in each region.

Use tailored insurance options, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. You want to offer employees corporate benefits that feel equitable across the business, and that are appropriate for each region. Using insurance options that are selected specifically for your companies’ needs can help maintain the balance.

Support your human resources with technological ones. Don’t make compliance headaches worse with insufficient or inefficient technological support - automate and outsource as much as you can to technology.

Stay up to date with global compliance with ASN-WEB

With all of the above to be considered, it’s clear that however a multinational business handles its insurable employee benefits, the approach needs to be:

Sophisticated enough to handle the data required

Flexible enough to change when regulations are updated

Built with in-region knowledge and expertise

Supported by technology to reduce the burden on internal staff

“This is precisely why we developed the ASN-WEB EB Dashboard,” says Balazs Kaposvari, one of our in-house insurable Employee Benefits experts. “With decades of experience helping multinationals to create employee benefits options that protect employees and reduce legal risks, we’ve created a system that can scale and flex as needed.”

The ASN WEB EB Dashboard is a one-stop Software-as-a-Service solution that encompasses all of ASN’s years of international expertise within an easy centralized system.

The tool offers:

• International insurance brokerage sourcing
• Worldwide policy set-up and administration
• Renewal support and revision options
• Sophisticated data acquisition and management on centralized dashboards
• Easy-to-understand claims and multinational pooling results

Employee Benefits optimization options

Virtual pooling set up and management

We’ve condensed all of our knowledge as an Employee Benefits consultancy into one user-friendly, customizable platform. , reducing effort and financial costs at the same time. We connect you to our trusted partner network, including leading insurers from over 40 countries.

Get in touch with us now to find out how we can give you:

• Better control over Employee Benefits-related costs
• Tailored Employee Benefits plan management
• Consistent reports with comparable data
• Customisable multinational pooling
• Genuine connections to leading insurance providers