James is an IT Engineer working for an internet service provider in Nigeria. He has been with the company since 2010. From March 2020, James was forced to work from home following the COVID pandemic. Prior to that time, James worked full-time in the company’s office 5 days a week. In March 2023, James got an offer to take up an IT Service Manager role with an IT company in the United Kingdom (UK). He would be required to work from Nigeria while with the company. James thinks the offer is very attractive and is considering taking up the position.
On the other hand, Paul recently got his Canadian permanent resident (PR) card. He intends to travel to Canada in 2 months’ time and has gone ahead to submit his resignation to his employer, where he works as a company secretary. His employer is in the financial services sector and is currently experiencing a high staff turnover rate. The company is also experiencing challenges with finding immediate replacements for exit staff. The bank has therefore asked Paul to delay his resignation for 4 months, offering him an opportunity to work from Canada while they source for a suitable replacement.
The 2 scenarios above, highlight some recent remote working trends in Nigeria and beyond. The word remote, is synonymous with distant from a point of reference. A remote worker is a person who works outside of the usual office location of the company. A remote worker could be limited to working within the country where the company is based or in certain situations, outside the country. In James case, he is working remotely within the country where his company’s office is based. This would however change, if he accepts the new job offer, as his employer’s office would be based in the UK. Prior to COVID, many companies did not offer flexible working arrangements to staff. Employers who offered such were few, mainly multinationals, and such flexibility was reserved for certain levels of staff. With the COVID occurrence, employers have discovered that employees do not necessarily have to be physical present in the office to deliver quality work. With remote working, companies have access to attract and retain top talents regardless of their location, as well save costs through reduced office spaces. For employees, commuter time and costs are reduced, through remote working. Employees can also have improved work/life balance by working remotely.
Remote working, however, comes with its challenges which companies must consider before setting up flexible working policies for staff. Some of these challenges include disruption with team communication and collaboration, reduced staff productivity levels, IT security risks and tax risks. In Paul’s situation above, his employer would need to assess the tax impact of his relocation on the business and the employee. For instance, Paul’s income could be potentially taxed twice, in both Canada and Nigeria. Paul’s presence in Canada as well could result in his Nigerian employer being liable to corporate taxes in Canada. Anticipated challenges may differ based on geographical location, industry and company size. It is therefore extremely important for companies to put systems in place to address potential challenges before implementing any remote working policy. This would ensure that businesses and employees are not negatively impacted in the process.
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