Remote work questions

Juumanji

Good afternoon.

I have worked for several years in the UK, where I was happy doing what I love, working in a customer service environment. Recent circumstances, particularly the poor health of my parents, have demanded that I return to my home country, at least temporarily.

I've been looking for home-based roles where I think I would be a good asset, such as Customer Service Representative/ Assistant/ Sales Advisor, or similar. I've been fortunate enough to get to the interview phase on a couple of occasions.

However, even though I have Settled Status (and therefore, the right to work) within the UK, I'm being told repeatedly that such positions are unfortunately for people currently living in the country, denying me the possibility to work from abroad, even though I'd be able to travel for the initial training period, and pretty much whenever needed.

A couple of employers also told me it's simply too expensive to post the necessary equipment/ hardware to start the work. Okay, I told them, I completely understand, but when I asked them if it would be feasible for me to pick up the stuff myself, so that they wouldn't need to worry about the costs, I was met with dead silence.

My question, therefore: is what I'm trying to achieve unlikely/ unreliable? If the work is remote, and I have the legal rights to perform it, what difference does it make if it's done 20, 200 or 2000 miles from HQ?

Many thanks in advance.

robatwork

It's 100% possible, you just need to find a company who are happy with it.

For example Ingram Micro, one of the biggest UK IT suppliers outsources almost everything to Bulgaria including customer service. 

JamoLew

You can sort of understand why a company won't want a new employee with no history working for them to have possibly 1000s of £ worth of equipment in an overseas country

Is it feasible to provide your own hardware ? 

DoctorStrange

There's also tax and legal issues to consider, and you've got to remember that there's going to be 100s of people applying for each role.

You'd have to be light years ahead of the competition before they'll even look into what all those rules are, I'm afraid.

Marcon

Juumanji said:

My question, therefore: is what I'm trying to achieve unlikely/ unreliable? If the work is remote, and I have the legal rights to perform it, what difference does it make if it's done 20, 200 or 2000 miles from HQ?

New employees (which is what you'll be) are easier to manage in the same country, so with hundreds of applicants for each job, most employers will take the easy route and go for those who will work in the UK.

If the UK isn't your home country, that suggests you might have a different mother tongue. If so, you might help your job hunt if you looked for jobs where being fluent in more than one language would be a real plus point for the employer. 

elsien

I think it’s less likely to be about your settled status, and more about employers wanting their employees “to hand” even where the work is predominantly remote.
It is likely you would get exactly the same response if you were a UK citizen making the same request, unless you were on a higher rung of the corporate ladder. 

Armorica

Tax is a material issue as well - it's fairly complicated. You'd probably have more luck looking for a similar role in the country you'll be living. 
Even in global companies, it's rare to be able to work cross-border or transfer between roles for what are essentially domestic business units. The dynamic changes for senior roles - where responsibility might be truly global or at least regional.

moneysavinghero

robatwork said:

It's 100% possible, you just need to find a company who are happy with it.

For example Ingram Micro, one of the biggest UK IT suppliers outsources almost everything to Bulgaria including customer service. 

But are Ingram Micro outsourcing to Bulgaria so that they can pay Bulgaria rates of pay and save money. Not sure IM would be so keen to pay British staff rates of pay to British staff who decide to move to Bulgaria.

robatwork

moneysavinghero said:

robatwork said:

It's 100% possible, you just need to find a company who are happy with it.

For example Ingram Micro, one of the biggest UK IT suppliers outsources almost everything to Bulgaria including customer service. 

But are Ingram Micro outsourcing to Bulgaria so that they can pay Bulgaria rates of pay and save money. Not sure IM would be so keen to pay British staff rates of pay to British staff who decide to move to Bulgaria.

The OP isn't "British staff". They will be native in their home country - albeit I am taking an educated guess they are completely fluent. Their English is fantastic so probably rusty in Bulgarian/whatever. Simply pointing out there are UK companies who employ foreign nationals in their native countries, doubtless to pay less than they would staff here. 

moneysavinghero

robatwork said:

moneysavinghero said:

robatwork said:

It's 100% possible, you just need to find a company who are happy with it.

For example Ingram Micro, one of the biggest UK IT suppliers outsources almost everything to Bulgaria including customer service. 

But are Ingram Micro outsourcing to Bulgaria so that they can pay Bulgaria rates of pay and save money. Not sure IM would be so keen to pay British staff rates of pay to British staff who decide to move to Bulgaria.

The OP isn't "British staff". They will be native in their home country - albeit I am taking an educated guess they are completely fluent. Their English is fantastic so probably rusty in Bulgarian/whatever. Simply pointing out there are UK companies who employ foreign nationals in their native countries, doubtless to pay less than they would staff here. 

The OP says they have the right to work in the UK and it appears they are applying for jobs advertised in the UK. So i presume they are expecting to get paid UK rates of pay.

Undervalued

Juumanji said:

Good afternoon.

I have worked for several years in the UK, where I was happy doing what I love, working in a customer service environment. Recent circumstances, particularly the poor health of my parents, have demanded that I return to my home country, at least temporarily.

I've been looking for home-based roles where I think I would be a good asset, such as Customer Service Representative/ Assistant/ Sales Advisor, or similar. I've been fortunate enough to get to the interview phase on a couple of occasions.

However, even though I have Settled Status (and therefore, the right to work) within the UK, I'm being told repeatedly that such positions are unfortunately for people currently living in the country, denying me the possibility to work from abroad, even though I'd be able to travel for the initial training period, and pretty much whenever needed.

A couple of employers also told me it's simply too expensive to post the necessary equipment/ hardware to start the work. Okay, I told them, I completely understand, but when I asked them if it would be feasible for me to pick up the stuff myself, so that they wouldn't need to worry about the costs, I was met with dead silence.

My question, therefore: is what I'm trying to achieve unlikely/ unreliable? If the work is remote, and I have the legal rights to perform it, what difference does it make if it's done 20, 200 or 2000 miles from HQ?

Many thanks in advance.

Whilst you may have "the legal rights to perform it" that doesn't mean the employer has a legal obligation to hire you.

One of the largest universities in the country (over 10,000 staff) has a rule that you have to live within 30 miles of a particular church in the centre of the city. For certain posts they will occasionally make an exception, although there is quite a procedure to gone through, but for the vast majority of their jobs that is the rule. All perfectly lawful.