How to Compliantly Onboard and Offboard Remote Employees 

Global tech talents or working-from-anywhere tech talents are the new norm and is setting an all-new generation of remote workers. While hiring tech talents globally is not so difficult anymore, the onboarding and offboarding international talents may need more attention. 

Onboarding and, yes, offboarding too, leave a lasting impression on the employees, creating a strong brand image. Here is a look at how and why an organization must invest time and effort in making onboarding and offboarding efficient. 

Significance of Compliance in global employee onboarding 

Organizations today are looking beyond boundaries to hire tech talents from anywhere. In the quest for the best talents, the hiring processes are often scrutinized and revised and technologically enriched to make them effective. However, the subsequent onboarding takes a setback, often forgetting the old saying ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’.  

There are many reasons why onboarding of global employees needs special attention- and compliance is just one of them.  

According to statistics, cybercrime is expected to increase from $200 billion in 2022 to $500 billion in 2023 and beyond.  Organizations are increasingly concerned about this when hiring new personnel, especially those from beyond their boundaries.

Let us dig deep to understand why continuous compliance is critical to onboarding the international talent force. 

Here are some of the reasons why compliance is significant in global hiring: 

• Each nation has labor laws, employment rules, and immigration policies. Compliance ensures that firms follow these guidelines when employing individuals across the world.  
• Compliance helps to avoid discriminatory behaviors and encourages an inclusive work environment in which all applicants are given equal opportunity. 
• Compliance enables firms to foster a friendly and courteous working environment that values employee well-being. 

• Compliance aids in the protection of employee data, the confidentiality of information, and the prevention of data breaches or unauthorized access. 
• Global employee onboarding compliance assists firms in identifying and managing different risks associated with overseas operations. 
  

So, with firms laying the groundwork for future transformation by hiring from anywhere, compliance is critical to make onboarding safer. Compliance is essential for legal observance, ethical standards, data security, risk management, standardization, and developing a positive reputation. It assists businesses in managing the complexities of international employment while safeguarding the well-being and rights of employees.  

Why compliance in offboarding remote workers? 

While it's great to concentrate on onboarding to form the best impressions, offboarding requires careful consideration.

According to a study in 2022, 83% of former employees had access to some systems in their old organization. The same study also found how 74% were negatively affected by their erstwhile employees breaching their digital security to do some serious harm.  

That is where compliance in offboarding comes in- and makes it a mandatory system to develop when an employee leaves the organization.  

There are several reasons why compliance plays a vital role in the offboarding process. Apart from data privacy, damage to the company property and security breach concerns, addressing compliance in offboarding is essential to avoid legal implications.  

Here is a look at how offboarding compliantly can help: 

• Offboarding is a legally controlled procedure that necessitates compliance with different labor laws, data protection rules, and contractual duties. Compliance ensures that a company fulfills its legal obligations and avoids potential legal liabilities. 
• Offboarding entails maintaining sensitive firm information and ensuring that the old employees do not keep or abuse confidential data. Compliance protects data security, trade secrets, and client confidentiality. 

• Offboarding compliance is important for safeguarding employee rights. Following correct processes ensures that employees receive their final paychecks, perks, and other entitlements under the law or their employment contract. 
• Many sectors are governed by regulatory authorities that supervise employment practices. Compliance in offboarding aids in demonstrating adherence to these standards, reducing the risk of audits, penalties, or reputational harm caused by noncompliance. 
• Compliance during offboarding guarantees a seamless transfer of duties and workloads. Organizations can minimize business interruptions by transferring information, assigning responsibilities, or hiring qualified substitutes.  

That said, offboarding is not just the round of exit interviews, document handovers and signoffs, but it's more than that to make it legally compliant. There are more in stakes for the organizations here than the onboarding process, even though both need equal attention. 

So, do you have stringent onboarding and offboarding processes in place at your organization? If not, let's list down a few essential pointers to onboard and offboard global workforce compliantly.  

Tips to onboard and offboard global tech talents compliantly

Every organization has in place a different set of rules and procedures when it comes to onboarding or offboarding their talent force. Many a time, these procedures need revision depending upon the current situations.

Tips for compliant onboarding of employees: 

• Provide extensive data security training, including password hygiene, safe surfing behaviors, and identifying and reporting security concerns such as phishing emails. 
• Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to guarantee employees only have access to the systems and data required for their current role. Review and update access permissions regularly if employees change assignments or depart the organization. 
• Implement a secure procedure for providing and distributing login credentials and access rights to new workers to ensure that only authorized persons can access sensitive systems and data. 

• Organize and maintain sensitive onboarding documents, including contracts, confidentiality agreements, and personal identifying information, using safe management and storage methods. 
• Lastly, this one is something that we all follow even with personal data- enforce strong password policies, such as using complicated passwords, updating them frequently, and prohibiting password sharing. 

Now for the offboarding process! 

Tips for compliant offboarding of employees: 

• Conduct exit interviews to obtain feedback, analyze any security risks, and remind workers of their ongoing duties related to data confidentiality and non-disclosure. 
• Upon termination or departure, deactivate employee accounts and revoke access to the systems and data. This reduces the risk of data breaches and prevents unauthorized access. 
• Retrieve all company-owned devices, access cards, keys, and other tangible assets issued to the departing employee. To keep an accurate inventory, document the return of these items. 
• In accordance with regulatory and compliance standards, transfer and retain the data of departing employees in a secure manner. Ensure that backups are stored securely and that only authorized users can access them. 
• Emphasize the value of employee confidentiality agreements and remind them of their continuous responsibility to preserve sensitive information even after they leave the organization. 

• Review and update access permissions for remaining workers regularly to ensure that only authorized persons have access to systems and data. 

The world of technology has made positive changes in the way organizations hire and employ people across borders. The boundaries are shrinking, and the global workforce is happy to be on the move, wherever opportunity strikes. There is no place for compliance issues or legal tangles, when we are facing a great shift in the dynamics of workplaces. The best approach is to adhere to compliance or hire an expert to make it happen. With safe onboarding and offboarding procedures in place, the future of work and everything it entails will soon follow. ‍

CodeMonk collaborates with Resmo to make a difference in the future of work and compliance onboarding and offboarding of software professionals worldwide. Resmo and CodeMonk can provide your company with a safety net, whether you need to manage your technology or your new hires.