International Mobility Framework

Note to staff

This is a draft Framework which is currently being piloted in two College departments as part of the ongoing International Mobility Project.

For staff not involved in the pilot exercise, please refer to the current overseas working guidance.

Overview 

The International Mobility Team (IMT) recognises that Imperial College London is a UK-based institution with a global outlook. As such, there may be specific circumstances in which an employee needs to work overseas, for example when undertaking a collaborative research project, fellowship, sabbatical, or secondment. While in most cases, the College requires staff to be located and to work in the UK, the IMT also recognises that, on occasion, some employees require temporary flexibility around their physical workplace. 

The purpose of this framework is to provide an overview of the IMT’s working rationale for determining how resources are allocated to facilitate necessary and exceptional overseas working requests. This framework and the remit of the IMT focus does not encompass short-term business travel. For more information on business travel and submitting expenses, for a trip within the UK or abroad, please consult the relevant Staff Travel guidance. If you are uncertain as to whether your trip would be classified as business travel or overseas working, please contact the team at international-mobility-team@imperial.ac.uk. 

This framework will assist the IMT in supporting Imperial employees working overseas, while minimising the associated risks, ensuring compliance with local laws and jurisdictions, and upholding Imperial’s duty of care to overseas staff.  

Assessing overseas working requests 

Following an initial assessment by the IMT (covering Immigration status and regulations, Visa restrictions, employee Tax liability, Payroll liability, Social Security requirements, EU Posted Workers Directive (PWD), Permanent Establishment (PE) creation and Corporate Tax rules, etc.), requests will be classified as ‘Red’, ‘Amber’ or ‘Green’ to indicate the ease of facilitation. ‘Amber’ and ‘Red’ requests would require downstream action(s) to be taken, involving effort and cost, in order to facilitate. Typical criteria for each RAG classification are provided below: 

RAG

GREEN

Likely to be approved with no additional action required
  • Employee has relevant Right to Work, or undertake relevant Business Visitor activities in host location (via sponsorship, visa, citizenship etc)
  • Employee has completed the relevant health and safety risk assessments (e.g. for lone working), and has appropriate insurance and/or healthcare in place
  • A total working stay(s) in host location of up to 30 (cumulative) days in a 12-month period
  • The overseas working is fully funded, and/or additional costs met by relevant department

 

 

AMBER

Would require assistance from the IMT
  • Employee has completed the relevant health and safety risk assessment (e.g., for lone working), and has appropriate insurance and/or healthcare in place.
  • However, the request is classified as amber if one or both of the following criteria apply:
    • A total working overseas stay(s) of up to 60 (cumulative) days in a 12-month period
    • The employee has a UK immigration status which could be impacted by time overseas

RED

Unlikely to be approved unless business critical
  • The employee plans to teach overseas, or otherwise create direct revenue for Imperial
  • There could be a perceived conflict of interest with the host entity
  • The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against travel. For more information, please refer to the UK government's foreign travel advice.
  • A total working overseas stay(s) of up to 90 (cumulative) days in a 12-month period, as this could trigger tax residency

Facilitating overseas working requests

Following this assessment, the IMT will then determine what resources – if any – are required to facilitate the overseas working request. 

The requests will typically fall into one of the two categories outlined below: 

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Category 1

The IMT would typically agree proportionate resources to facilitate the following types of requests where possible: 

  • A request that brings in substantial funding to the College from international bodies. 
  • A request that is for the betterment of Imperial and would bolster the Imperial brand and standing within the international Higher Education community. 
  • A request that supports Imperial research initiatives or shared initiatives with a collaborating institution  
  • A request that would see an employee undertake a period of sabbatical, academic research, or further study in their field of expertise. This type of move may be unpaid, but a duty of care still falls on Imperial to oversee and advise. 
  • A request that is both practicable, generally considered business critical or high priority, or is classified as ‘Green’ (see above). 

Category 2

The IMT would not typically agree resources to facilitate the following types of requests: 

  • Where the employee has either, (i) no Right to Work in the proposed host location, (ii) or would not easily obtain Right to Work status in the host location. 
  • Where there would be significant financial, legal, regulatory or safety risks for either the employee or the College, such as: 
    • Where the employee’s role may create a Permanent Establishment and potentially lead to Imperial being liable for corporation tax in that jurisdiction (e.g., a teaching role or an alternative profit-making activity) 
    • Where Imperial would be required to pay the employee through the local authority’s revenue system (e.g., requiring the set-up and maintenance of a local payroll). 
    • Where it may not be practicable or possible for international workers to work in that jurisdiction (e.g., Malaysian immigration, no entry if no Malaysian entity supporting request). 
    • Where the host location poses significant risk to the health and safety of the employee (e.g., according to the FCDO advice). 

For requests for exceptional consideration within Category 2, the IMT would require that the exceptional or extenuating circumstances be evidenced, along with written support from the employee’s Line Manager and the Head of Department. Requests would be reviewed by the IMT on a case-by-case basis. The IMT may make time-limited exceptions to facilitate extenuating requests for working overseas (e.g., a period of palliative care for a next-of-kin family member, or excessive disruptions to travel arrangements to the UK, etc). Such exceptions would be on the understanding that the laws of the local jurisdiction do not impede this. If authorisation for working has not been possible due to local laws, the IMT would typically suggest that the employee take unpaid, compassionate, sick, or standard annual leave according to the scenario in question.  

The IMT understand that situations may arise where an employee will need to be available in case of emergencies whilst away on leave, and limited work activities (such as the checking of emails) are acceptable in most circumstances.