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Introduction
Some young lawyers may find it hard to believe that working in the Labor & Employment Practice can lead to an international career within a legal department. And the reason is very clear: The Labor & Employment regulations around the globe have their specificities and peculiarities, making the implementation of policies and practices and the creation of templates (i.e. employment contracts, disciplinary measures, etc.) very difficult on a global scale. For example, when talking about regulations such as Data Protection, Corporate and Compliance, it is more feasible to think about the global scenario and therefore this article is dedicated to Labor & Employment.
Ten years ago, I was one of those professionals who didn't even have the idea that an international presence was possible in this area of law.
The reader may have the idea that if you have a global role, the manager will have a team in every country, but that is not the reality of companies today. Companies have to do more with less and it is very common to have a global role without anyone helping in the region.
Well, experience and some years of practice have shown me that although it is a big challenge, it is possible. I have put together some of the things that can help professionals going through this experience to build a great path when dealing with different regions.
My intention is to spark curiosity and share some thoughtful insights about a global career as a legal counsel or manager, even if the reader of this article is not thinking about the possibility of building a global career.
Main Challenges
Of course, there are so many challenges that come with taking on a Legal Labor & Employment global role in a company. The following is a description of the main challenges and how to deal with each of them in order to provide the reader with practical aspects of the job.
The first challenge, and perhaps the most obvious, is the lack of physical presence in the countries under the manager's responsibility, as this can be an obstacle to addressing employee issues. As well as the different time zones can directly interfere on the daily work and can be a blocker to solve urgent issues, such as an important termination. This is also an obstacle for creating boundaries with your stakeholders, because when you are at the same location, it is easier to create boundaries during lunch or a work happy hour, for example. But when you work exclusively online, this is way too difficult.
The second challenge is the lack of knowledge about the labor and employment laws and regulations and how provide legal support to HR in the different countries. It is more common to have a regional role, for example, Labor & Employment Manager for Latin America. But even if the scope is within the same region, each country has its own labor laws. So, it is not possible to apply Brazilian labor law in Argentina, for example. The second challenge, then, is to get to know the labor regulations and laws in each different country.
The third challenge is related to practical experience, and here it covers two aspects: first, how to deal in practice with the daily situations that arise from the Human Resources team, and second, the lack of knowledge about the legal practice, court understanding and litigation management of the region.
The fourth challenge is related to cultural differences. When dealing with different countries and regions around the globe, you don't have a full understanding of how the behavior and culture of your key stakeholders is at work, which are: your team (if applicable), human resources, business, external law firms, labor & employment authorities, judges, etc.
The fifth challenge, and in my point of view, the most difficult, is taking risks in a country where the person in charge does not have a complete picture of the legal environment. You may ask yourself: well, just ask the local outside law firm to advise you. But it is not that simple, and I will explain why: an in-house lawyer will always count on the external law firm to give advice, but the main role of an in-house lawyer is to evaluate the legal opinion and sometimes to take risks, even if the external law firm has presented some risks about the presented situation. When there is a global role, it is extremely difficult to take risks and analyze the legal opinion of the law firms with real critical thinking because of the lack of experience and knowledge of the laws. Especially this was one of the biggest challenges for me at the beginning of my experience dealing with different countries and regions.
In the next section, there will be some practical tips on how to deal with the challenges outlined above. Certainly, there is no magic formula that will solve all problems, but I have put together some actions that have helped me along the way.
Practical Insights to deal with the challenges
The first thing is to study and understand the culture of the countries you are responsible for. This can significantly facilitate the daily interactions you have with your stakeholders, because it is very common to have misunderstandings about the way the other part talks and writes emails. You may think that this is simple, but on a daily basis and with many interactions, this will certainly become very important. So, if you don't know the culture of the countries you are responsible for, invest some time to do some research and you will see the difference.
Be intentional about connecting with stakeholders in each country. If possible, schedule a trip to the countries under your umbrella and meet with your internal and external stakeholders. You don't need to schedule technical meetings, but schedule lunches or visit the office of the external law firm so you can have face-to-face interactions. This can make a huge difference in the relationship between you and your stakeholders. This situation is similar to the discussion about returning to the office after the pandemic, those who defend that employees should return to the office are talking about the physical interactions, and in fact this makes a total difference. To summarize this paragraph, the intention is to establish a bond with your stakeholders that are located in different countries with different time zone, so that your work becomes much easier in the future, because your stakeholders will see a face to the emails they receive from you.
Another important thing is to do benchmarking with other colleagues who already have this experience and ask them for tips and practical advice, this is basically a mentoring that you will get. There is nothing better than learning from people who have more years of experience and have faced the same situations and difficulties that you are facing today.
From my point of view, this is one of the most difficult, and after some experience, I guarantee that it gets easier: asking the right questions. When you are dealing with an issue in a jurisdiction that you do not know, it is not enough to ask basic questions to the outside law firm that is assisting you. You need to deep dive and ask as many questions as you need to get a full picture of the situation. This advice is also to talk to your internal stakeholders within the company, so when HR or the business asks you a question about a situation, you need to understand the exact details of the situations more than anything else. So even questions that could be simple or obvious, it is better to make it, than to have a misinterpretation of the situation. Some examples of questions you can ask law firms: How does this work in practice? What is the local market practice? What is the likelihood of the risk materializing? If the risk materializes, what are the consequences for the company? How will the labor authorities interpret these situations? All of these questions will help you make more rational decisions and decide whether or not it is worth taking risks.
Another very important action you can take is to organize a knowledge base and templates of all the advice you receive. This will be worth gold in the future! This may seem simple, but it is not, because sometimes companies do not have the structure to put this online or on a tool. So, my advice is that every time you receive advice or a template from the outside law firm, start building that knowledge base and use it as your main consulting material in the future.
Improve the soft skills, such as negotiation skills, communication skills and critical thinking is also very important. We know that communication can be difficult even when you speak the same language, imagine speaking another language with different cultures? So, look for improving the communication skills and learn new languages if needed. This can make your work a lot easier in the future. Negotiation skills are used all over the world, so if you improve your negotiation skills, it will help you in the future as well. Critical thinking is also a very important soft skill that can help you on decision making when a situation comes to you.
Last but not least, keep up to date: attend seminars, lectures, events and join groups related to the countries you are responsible for. Being in touch with the most important updates of the region will help you to be more critical and even take risks in the countries you are responsible for.
Conclusion
As mentioned before, there is no formula ready, because the challenges in each company and each region will vary a lot. If you follow the actions above, this can turn your life much easier.
A certain thing that I can guarantee: in the middle of all uncertainties that a global role can bring, even if you are not sure if you are moving into the right direction, if you do perform your activities with passion and dedication, the success is only a matter of time.
By: Juliana Garcia, Legal Manager, Cainiao Network
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