working from abroad permanently

Astrevea

Hi everyone, just to avoid any potential confusion, I am a British citizen and therefore have the right to work in UK. My question is about something that is actually completely opposite to physically working in UK. I work for a large UK company, it is almost 100% office based, and everything I do can be done from home. I have to travel 1-2 times a year for a day, but even this short work related trips could be avoided. I know there are plenty of people working from home almost all the time (I am not talking about my company specifically, although we have some people working only from home as well). But my question is related to working from home from ABROAD. I have read about taxation and it is more or less clear to me how it works.
Taking into account what I have written above about the nature of the work I do, could the employer object to me working from abroad and why would they? Is it something that can to be negotiated with a good reason? For those rare work related trips I could just take a plane and pay for it myself obviously. it is only a 2 hour flight.

elsien

Some of the things that may be on their radar. I have seen people on here saying that’s it’s not something their company would allow.
https://www.foxwilliams.com/2020/11/16/and-exactly-where-is-everyone-key-legal-points-to-consider-when-employees-are-wfh-abroad/

El_Torro

My employer does not allow this. They say it's because of tax reasons. I don't know how valid this argument is, though I'm afraid your UK employer can tell you that you have to work from the UK.

This seems to be a bigger issue for you than some. Not only do you want to leave the country, you also want to go from mainly working in the office to working almost exclusively from home. Your job may well be fine to do from home, if your employer doesn't let you do it though that's a moot point.

MDMD

El_Torro said:

My employer does not allow this. They say it's because of tax reasons. I don't know how valid this argument is, though I'm afraid your UK employer can tell you that you have to work from the UK.

This seems to be a bigger issue for you than some. Not only do you want to leave the country, you also want to go from mainly working in the office to working almost exclusively from home. Your job may well be fine to do from home, if your employer doesn't let you do it though that's a moot point.

It’s a very valid argument- the employer can find themselves subject to Overseas Social Security liabilities, corporation tax liabilities arising through an overseas permanent establishment, insurance policy breaches, employment rights and employment law issues.

In the US (and other countries where they have federal and local taxation) you can create issues inside a country by working from home across state borders. 

My employer has a policy that if an employee works cross border without permission they (or the business unit they work in) will be liable for any additional costs the company incurs. In some extreme cases they can also be dismissed for gross misconduct (e.g. repeatedly doing it),

400ixl

Common objection would be you would be processing data outside the country which could open all sort of data sovereignty issues.

Another is compliance with visa / working rules in other countries. There are digital nomad regulations coming up in lots of countries at the moment.

Grumpy_chap

Astrevea said:

Hi everyone, just to avoid any potential confusion, I am a British citizen and therefore have the right to work in UK. My question is about something that is actually completely opposite to physically working in UK. I work for a large UK company, it is almost 100% office based, and everything I do can be done from home. I have to travel 1-2 times a year for a day, but even this short work related trips could be avoided. I know there are plenty of people working from home almost all the time (I am not talking about my company specifically, although we have some people working only from home as well). But my question is related to working from home from ABROAD. I have read about taxation and it is more or less clear to me how it works.
Taking into account what I have written above about the nature of the work I do, could the employer object to me working from abroad and why would they? Is it something that can to be negotiated with a good reason? For those rare work related trips I could just take a plane and pay for it myself obviously. it is only a 2 hour flight.

You may find these recent threads worth revieweing:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80001339#Comment_80001339

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6438754/moving-to-bulgaria-and-working-from-a-shared-co-working-space/p1

OrbitHeadache

Do you work for the Civil service? They would not allow such a things because a lot of Government stuff is on work laptops so could go in the wrong hands if abroad 

Marcon

Astrevea said:

Hi everyone, just to avoid any potential confusion, I am a British citizen and therefore have the right to work in UK. My question is about something that is actually completely opposite to physically working in UK. I work for a large UK company, it is almost 100% office based, and everything I do can be done from home. I have to travel 1-2 times a year for a day, but even this short work related trips could be avoided. I know there are plenty of people working from home almost all the time (I am not talking about my company specifically, although we have some people working only from home as well). But my question is related to working from home from ABROAD. I have read about taxation and it is more or less clear to me how it works.
Taking into account what I have written above about the nature of the work I do, could the employer object to me working from abroad and why would they? Is it something that can to be negotiated with a good reason? For those rare work related trips I could just take a plane and pay for it myself obviously. it is only a 2 hour flight.

Yes. Only way to find out their view is to talk to them. If they push back, that's the moment to advance your arguments - but key reasons for not agreeing are already given in other answers. You can also lob in employer liability/insurance - they are hardly going to come and vet your working conditions in another country.

Mands

Astrevea said:

For those rare work related trips I could just take a plane and pay for it myself obviously. it is only a 2 hour flight.

Do you hold a second passport or are married to a non-British passport holder?

Which country is only a two hour flight away that you have the legal right to live full time?

Astrevea

Thanks for replies everyone, really appreciated. My conclusion is that it is possible, but only in theory, or if you are a very important employee. 

Mands said:

Astrevea said:

For those rare work related trips I could just take a plane and pay for it myself obviously. it is only a 2 hour flight.

Do you hold a second passport or are married to a non-British passport holder?

Which country is only a two hour flight away that you have the legal right to live full time?

It is Estonia. I have dual citizenship.