Supporting French multinationals in the international social protection of their employees

Today, more and more French companies are expanding their activities internationally. This expansion represents a powerful lever for growth, but it also raises complex issues in terms of international social protection. The internationalization of a company can prove tricky, and requires rigorous preparation to guarantee appropriate and compliant coverage.

What challenges does international social protection pose for French multinationals? How can they effectively anticipate this international opening? Here are some answers.

The challenges of social protection for your multinational company

Complex, heterogeneous regulations in different countries

Social protection for employees of French multinationals is more than just legal compliance. It depends on the employee's status (expatriate, seconded, local contract) and the existence or otherwise of bilateral Social Security agreements.

Some countries impose strict national schemes, while others offer considerable freedom, but with potential risks of double affiliation or incompatibility between schemes. Companies need to anticipate these situations to avoid unnecessary costs and legal risks.

For your employees abroad, if your company works with a specialized broker and implements appropriate international insurance solutions, your employees will benefit from comprehensive coverage in line with the needs of the host country. These global plans can cover health, provident, employee savings and retirement benefits if required, while guaranteeing simplified management for your company and optimum protection for your employees, according to their profiles.

But cultural and social diversity accentuate this complexity. Employee expectations can vary greatly from country to country and region to region, making it difficult to harmonize a global social protection policy.

Ensuring overall consistency for all employees

Harmonizing your company's social protection on a global scale is a challenge, and does not always guarantee fairness between your employees. This requires the definition of a common base of benefits, supplemented by local adjustments according to legislation and the specific needs of subsidiaries.

Benefits programs must be designed to enhance attractiveness and loyalty, while remaining easy to manage on a day-to-day basis for HR and CFOs. Transparent, consistent social protection is a strategic lever for performance and commitment. And in a context of globalization, where companies are seeking to reinforce this very performance, it is also essential to fully integrate quality of life and working conditions (QWLC) into your social protection policy.

Our solutions for your French multinational

1. Audit and map existing schemes

Before implementing a global strategy, it is essential to understand the current situation of your schemes through an audit. This involves making an inventory of all your existing schemes, checking their compliance and identifying any gaps. It also includes the accounting of local schemes with the French scheme, and the taking into account of rights accumulated abroad for retirement, disability or death insurance. It also includes a detailed mapping of legal obligations and local practices in each country, in order to prioritize according to employee profiles and company risks.

2. Setting up global, harmonized regimes

Once your situation has been audited, it's time to build a global policy for international social protection. The main aspects to consider are

• Health: international or local coverage adapted and optimized to the country or countries concerned
• Personal protection Protection against loss of income resulting from events such as incapacity for work, disability or death, to secure your employees' financial future in the face of life's hazards.
• Retirement and employee savings schemes: flexible arrangements compatible with local legislation and French schemes

The aim is to provide a clear, transparent and easy-to-manage framework, while ensuring continuity of rights and optimum protection for employees, wherever they work.

3. Securing mobility and the Duty of Care

Supporting expatriate employees requires a combination of training for HR teams, appropriate tools and communication. It's essential to provide your employees with clear, detailed information on their rights, guarantees and the steps to take, whether they're on temporary secondment or on a longer-term international assignment.

At the same time, local HR teams need to be trained and guided to ensure uniform and compliant plan management, whatever the subsidiary. The use of digital tools and processes also facilitates access to information and simplifies the day-to-day management of benefits for both employees and the company. The challenges are manifold:

• Continuity of rights: insurance periods accumulated in different countries are not always recognized when calculating pension or benefit entitlements.
• Healthcare costs: healthcare costs can be particularly high abroad, especially in the case of hospitalization or for certain serious pathologies, which often requires the use of supplementary insurance.
• Risk coverage: this needs to be anticipated, as some local insurance policies may offer less extensive coverage than that provided by French schemes.

By adopting a comprehensive, coordinated approach, the company ensures optimum protection for its employees, while simplifying administrative management.

4. Optimizing with technology and data

Digital transformation represents a major lever for effectively managing international social protection schemes. Digital tools and management enable contributions, claims and healthcare expenses to be tracked, providing complete visibility of how schemes operate. Data analysis, including HR and financial indicators, helps to identify gaps in coverage, measure costs per employee and detect risks before they become problematic.

Thanks to these tools, companies can adapt their systems in real time to legal, economic or demographic developments, while anticipating the future needs of their employees. Integrating data into social protection management not only helps to reduce costs and prevent work stoppages, for example, but also improves employee satisfaction and commitment, transforming social protection into a genuine strategic lever for the company.

Why work with a specialized broker?

Calling on the services of a specialized consulting broker can help secure the entire system: mapping schemes, identifying gaps, choosing the most appropriate solutions, simplifying day-to-day management, ensuring legal certainty, etc.

In a context of international expansion, expert support guarantees that your employees are protected, committed and that your legal obligations are met, while controlling costs and optimizing your company's attractiveness.