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In the last post we looked at the rights of the data subject, lawful basis and the principles of data processing.

Now we can review some practical next steps to take on the journey towards compliance.

Becoming Accountable                        

Recognising and owning the personal data you process in one of the best ways to begin your own businesses compliance journey:

 Carry out an inventory of all personal data you hold and examine it under the following headings:

·        Why are you holding it?

·        How did you obtain it?

·        Why was it originally gathered?

·        How long will you retain it?

·        How secure is it, both in terms of encryption and accessibility?

·        Do you ever share it with third parties and on what basis might you do so?

 The Isle of Man Information Commissioner has a hand pack that you could use as a starting point for your own inventory:

https://www.inforights.im/media/1271/gdpr_part-1_toolkit_mapping_may2016.pdf

 Documentation for Your Business

There is a list of documentation that you’ll need to compile to meet your businesses obligations under the GDPR.  You will probably need most of them but not all.  If you don’t have employees or deal with children’s data, you can reduce the list a little.

Again, there is no need to over complicate these, there are many examples online you could use to begin.  

Also look at your competitors to see what they are doing in this space – how does their privacy notice on their website look for example – would you be satisfied with it as a customer or supplier etc.

You will need to invest some time upfront to get these foundational documents, policies and procedures in place. Avoid the approach of taking standard templates and not amending them for your specific business.

 Data Protection Policy (Article 24)

A document outlining your businesses policy on protecting personal data.

Employee Data Protection Policy (Article 24)

If you have employees, you need a document outlining your businesses policy on protecting their personal data.

Privacy Notice (Articles 12, 13, and 14)

A document setting out how you meet your business meets its obligations as regards transparency and data protection rights.

Employee Privacy Notice (Articles 12, 13 and 14)

If you have employees, you need a document setting out how you meet your business meets its obligations as regards transparency and their data protection rights.

Data Retention Policy & Schedule (Articles 5, 13, 17, and 30)

A document explaining how your business approached data retention.

Data Subject Consent Form & Withdrawal Form (Articles 6, 7, and 9)

Standard forms for data subjects to use to give and take back their consent.

Parental Consent Form & Withdrawal Form (Article 8)

Standard forms for parents of child data subjects to use to give and take back their consent.

Data Subject Access Request Form (Article 15)

Standard forms for data subjects to use to exercise their right to access data.

DPIA Register (Article 35)

A list of any Data Protection Impact Assessments carried out in your business.

Supplier Data Processing Agreement (Articles 28, 32, and 82)

The agreement you enter with your suppliers to meet your GDPR obligations.

Data Breach Response and Notification Procedure (Articles 4, 33, and 34)

Your business procedure for responding to and notifying in the case of data breaches.

Data Breach Register (Article 33)

A list of any Data Breaches that have occurred in your business.

Data Breach Notification Form to the Supervisory Authority (Article 33)

Standard forms to use if needed, to notify the Supervisory Authority of a data breach.

Data Breach Notification Form to Data Subjects (Article 34)

Standard forms to use if needed, to notify the Data Subjects of a data breach.

Inventory of Processing Activities (Article 30)

A list of your businesses’ activities where you process personal data.

Standard Contractual Clauses for the Transfer of Personal Data to Controllers (Article 46)

A standard template used if needed to transfer personal data to controllers.

Standard Contractual Clauses for the Transfer of Personal Data to Processors (Article 46) 

A standard template used if needed to transfer personal data to processors.

Roles and Responsibilities

Public Authorities and organisations that for example regularly monitor or process large quantities of personal data, must ensure that a Data Protection Officer (DPO) is appointed either internally or externally.

Even of your business is not obliged to appoint a DPO you should still assign someone in the business as a data protection lead or ambassador.  They will become the focal point for data protection and be responsible for moving the business towards compliance.  Approach it like a project with milestones and goals and over time you can make quick progress.

Remember, although your business when processing personal data is obliged to adhere to the GDPR and data protection law; it’s your customers and suppliers that will also require you to show how you protect their personal data and process it in a secure and professional way.

Source -  www.mls.is 

Few women have been given the chance to lead great nations in the millennia of history. Among the first of them, however, set a precedent of female excellence other women in positions of power should choose to look up to.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was born in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik in 1930. Both of her parents were highly educated; her father was a civil engineer and professor and her mother was a nurse and chairperson of the Icelandic Nurses Association. She studied French literature at both the University of Grenoble and Paris’s prestigious Sorbonne, history of theater at the University of Copenhagen, and received a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education and a BAchelor’s degree in French and English at the University of Iceland.

Prior to entering politics, Finnbogadóttir taught French and drama at several universities throughout Iceland. During the summers, when school would be out, she worked as a tour guide to make ends meet.

The history of the women’s rights movement in Iceland is a long one. Prior to Finnbogadóttir’s election in 1980, approximately 90% of Icelandic women participated in a nationwide strike in an effort to demonstrate how important women were to the country, a ploy that both wound up successful and has also been repeated globally due to that aforementioned success. Just five years later, the 1980 Icelandic presidential election was underway. The goal of these activist groups? To ensure that a woman was elected to the office.

In 1980, Finnbogadóttir was approached and asked to run for president. She was hesitant and required much persuasion. Her main reservations were the fact that she was a divorced, single mother, still not the norm in most of the world, and that all three of her opponents were men. She emerged victorious, however, though marginally - she was only a few percentage points ahead of her nearest opponent.

The office of president of Iceland is seen as primarily ceremonial. Finnbogadóttir, however, chose to use her office for good. She was a strong advocate for environmental activism while in office and fought for the preservation of Icelandic language and culture. These endeavors proved to increase her popularity immensely in Iceland. She was eventually re-elected three times, two of those times running unopposed. Her opponent in the re-election campaign where she did, in fact, have an opponent, was another woman.

As president, she also made significant efforts to emphasize the importance of smaller nations, like Iceland, in a time of the Cold War and tension between the global superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union. She was a key player in organizing the Reykjavik summit, a summit between US and Soviet leaders in 1986 that proved crucial to easing tensions between both nations. She was also a strong advocate for female education globally.

In 1996, Finnbogadóttir chose not to run for re-election. Having served a total of sixteen years as president, she is both the first democratically elected female president in the world and the longest-serving female president in history. As of 2020, she remains as Iceland’s only female president. Shortly after she stepped down from office, she was given the title of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon an individual.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was, in more ways than one, a trailblazer. The mere act of being a “first” in history is daunting, but the way she used her power for the betterment of the world is truly admirable. She has since been succeeded by men in her country, but by women around the world who look up to her as an inspiration for a successful presidency.

Blog Author - Daniela Casillas

Source - Indiana Voice Journal

What was known as the Third Great Awakening in United States History saw a revival of religious belief and the birth of multiple new religious movements and denominations.  From the mid-1800s to the early 20th century, Americans were drawn to the many new preachers and evangelists who popped up during this time. Among them was one by the name Maria Woodworth-Etter.

Born in the state of Ohio, Woodworth-Etter reportedly did not have much of a relationship with the Christian faith growing up. It wasn’t until the age of thirteen that she converted to Christianity and became officially affiliated with any sort of church or denomination.

Shortly after converting, Woodworth-Etter received the first of many reported communications from God, saying he told her to “go to the highways and hedges and gather the lost sheep.”

In 1863, she married Philo Horace Woodworth in the hopes that she would be able to do missionary work with him since her denomination did not allow women to do so. They had six children together though only one of them survived past childhood.

At the start of her first marriage, Woodworth-Etter and her husband began to work as farmers in order to support their family. However, this endeavor ultimately failed and they both had to find other means of work. During her struggle to find work and deal with the losses of her children, Woodworth-Etter was certain of one thing: that it was her destiny to preach.

After the Woodworth’s farm failed, the husband and wife team founded a traveling ministry that preached all over the midwestern United States. Woodworth-Etter became famous as many believed that God would come to her during her sermons. During this time, Woodworth-Etter claims she received a direct message from God and Jesus asking her to pray on behalf of the poor. Following the reported vision, Woodworth-Etter’s sermons grew in popularity after she began to heal afflicted individuals in front of her congregation.

Though Woodworth-Etter’s preaching landed her in trouble on a few occasions, such as when she was arrested for falsely claiming she could heal others or when she was deemed insane by a group of psychiatrists after she had claimed to have seen God, she continued to preach throughout the Midwest. In 1891, she divorced her husband on the grounds of infidelity. Both had gained recognition for their sermons, but Woodworth-Etter continued to travel and gained more notoriety.

In 1902, Woodworth-Etter met Samuel Etter in Arkansas, United States and later married him. The two traveled together while Woodworth-Etter continued her work as a preacher. Though Etter would pass away about 10 years later, Woodworth-Etter continued to travel nevertheless, believing that her purpose in life had not been fulfilled yet. In 1912, shortly before her husband’s death, Woodworth-Etter joined the newly formed Pentecostal movement, helping to grow its legitimacy and popularity throughout the United States.

In 1918, Woodworth-Etter founded what is today the Lakeview Church in Indianapolis, United States, a church that is still active today. Though she turned her Indiana church into her “headquarters”, Woodworth-Etter continued to travel - less frequently - around the country to preach and give sermons until her death in 1924

The many decades Woodworth-Etter spent as a traveling preacher undoubtedly helped many individuals. Beyond those she is alleged to have healed with her connection to God, she inspired fellow preachers during this tumultuous time in United States history to spread their beliefs and be unafraid of opposition. 

Blog Author - Daniela Casillas

Source - mentalfloss.com

The achievements of black people in the United States have been ignored for most of its history. Though she has been recognized for her mathematical prowess and role in the 1969 Moon Landing, it was only recently that Katherine Johnson was given the praise she so rightfully deserved.

Born the youngest of four children in West Virginia, United States, Johnson showed her mathematical aptitude from a young age. She advanced through her formal education quickly, graduating from high school at the age of just ten. By fourteen, Johnson was enrolled in university. While at West Virginia University, Johnson took every mathematics course made available to her. She graduated at the age of eighteen, the age most people start their college educations.

After marrying her first husband, James Goble, Johnson began to pursue graduate-level education in mathematics. Though she quit a year later after becoming pregnant and choosing to focus on her family. During this time, Johnson played a pivotal role in the integration of West Virginia University following the United States Supreme Court Case Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada. The court case ruled that states that provided higher public education to white students had to also provide it to black students.

After finishing her education, Johnson chose to be a research mathematician, a daunting task to undertake given that it was notoriously difficult for women to enter the field, not to mention African American women in a time of institutional sexism and segregation. In 1952, she began working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which hired black people while being supervised by whites. She worked as a computer for them, though her workplace was still subject to federal segregation laws.

While working alongside the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), she calculated Alan Shepherd’s 1961 flight’s trajectory successfully, a major victory for the United States in the so-called “Space Race” against the Soviet Union. She also calculated the launch window for Shepherd's 1961 Mercury Project flight.

Johnson was so adept at mathematics that, when NASA first began to use electronic computers for their calculations, Johnson was called to double-check the computer’s results.

One of her most notable achievements was her work on the 1969 Apollo 11 Mission, one that would ultimately see man land on the moon for the first time. The notoriously difficult mission was considered the end of the “Space Race” with the American victory, all thanks to Johnson and her work.

Later on in her career, Johnson worked for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, one that defined space travel in the latter half of the twentieth century. By the time she retired, the plans to send a rover to Mars were being drafted.

Johnson has received many prestigious awards throughout her lifetime. In 2015, then-United States President Barack Obama honoured her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian awards given. She was one of only seventeen individuals to receive it in 2015. She also received NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award, given to individuals who greatly contributed to the success and safe conclusion to NASA missions.

Johnson recently received greater national attention in the United States following the movie Hidden Figures where she was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson. The film highlighted her role and the role of the large number of black women who contributed to the success of the Apollo 11 mission. The movie was praised for giving those women a long-overdue celebration.

Johnson advocated for greater STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education until her death at the age of 101 in February of 2020. She served as an inspiration to women and women of colour entering the notoriously male-dominated field of mathematics. Her legacy is one of inspiration and innovation, one that resonates with the thousands of women in these aforementioned fields that feel drowned out in the sea of male colleagues.

Blog Author - Daniela Casillas

Source - Dundee Centre for Leisure and Culture

Born near Aberdeen, Scotland in the year 1848, Mary Slessor is regarded as one of the most important figures in the spread of Christianity in Nigeria. Her work in the Calabar region is remembered today for its success in converting several people living in the region and, notably, helping to end twin infanticide in the region. However, Slessor’s tenacity, sense of humor, and love for the people of Calabar are most notable of all.

Growing up, Mary was one of seven children born into the relatively poor, working-class Slessor family. Her mother, a skilled weaver, and her father, though a shoemaker by trade, both worked in the town’s mills. Slessor, too, would begin working at the age of eleven to help support her family, dividing her time between working part-time, attending school, and helping care for her household. By fourteen, however, she began to work full twelve-hour days as a jute worker.

After pneumonia killed her father and brothers, Mary was raised by her mother, a devout Presbyterian. Because of her, she was instilled with a deep respect and love for the Christian religion. As an adult, she trained to become a missionary in Edinburgh and left for Nigeria in 1876 at just 28 years of age.

Slessor arrived in Nigeria during a tense period of its history. The British had begun to further consolidate their power over the nation, having already been in Nigeria for almost half a century. The British policy of amalgamation which resulted in several ethnic and religious groups being forced to live together had caused internal tension in the then-colony.

Arriving in the Calabar region of Nigeria, Slessor learned of the local practice of twin infanticide. The practice was a fairly common one that stemmed from the belief that, if a woman gave birth to twins, it meant that one of the babies was evil. Since there was no way to determine which child was evil, both were left in the bush to die, exposed to the elements. Horrified, Slessor became dedicated to ending the practice. Not only did she speak out against it, but she also adopted abandoned children she found. She would even send fellow missionaries out with the sole purpose of finding and saving abandoned children.

Slessor was celebrated by fellow missionaries for her close relationship with the communities she worked with. She was noted to have begun eating the same foods as the natives - though mainly because she did not have enough money to purchase imported foods from the United Kingdom - which strengthened their bond. Most importantly, Slessor learned the local language, Efik, in order to better communicate with the people of Calabar while her companions oftentimes only spoke English.

Mary’s ability to speak Efik facilitated her missionary work. In an account by her contemporary W.P. Livingstone, her resolve to learn the language only grew when she learned how unreliable the interpreters. In one instance, the Biblical parable of Lazarus and an unnamed wealthy man in which the wealthy man suffers in the afterlife for his greed was so badly translated that, according to Livingstone, a local listening to the tale exclaimed he’d prefer to be the rich man. Many attribute the fact that she spoke Efik to be behind the genuine friendships with the people of Calabar to be therefore the reason behind her significant influence in Calabar.

Slessor’s contemporaries were also in awe of her patience. She took the time to interact and bond with the people she met and worked with, bolstered by the fact that she could communicate in the local language. “Christ was never in a hurry,” she wrote.

In 1888, Slessor traveled to the area of Okoyong, further north than where she had been previously stationed. Male missionaries had been killed by the people living in the area, so it was believed that sending a female missionary, especially one who was able to speak the language, would prove less threatening to the locals. She spent fifteen years working in the area. During this time, her proficiency in Efik improved and she became well-known for her close, personal friendships with those she worked with. Among her most important achievements during this time was the introduction of Western education and her successes in fighting against the practice of twin infanticide.

Throughout her time in Nigeria, Slessor temporarily returned to Scotland to recover from periods of deteriorating health due to bouts of malaria. She never, however, stayed permanently. After each health furlough, she returned to her missionary work. Near the end of her life, she was so weakened by years of malaria and severe fevers she could no longer walk unaided. Still, she continued her work. She died in January of 1915 and was given the colonial equivalent of a state funeral.

Throughout her time in Nigeria, Mary Slessor undoubtedly helped convert a large number of people to Christianity. Her greatest achievements, however, are the bonds she formed with the people of Nigeria. The dedication and passions she showed them was unmatched at the time, and inspired future generations of missionaries and religious leaders alike.

Blog Author - Daniela Casillas

Source - NBC News

When describing an individual renowned for their good deeds and selflessness, he or she is oftentimes described as “a real Mother Teresa.” During her lifetime and in the years following her death, Mother Teresa has become synonymous with charity and selflessness.

Though she is famous for her work in Calcutta, now Kolkata, Mother Teresa was born in present-day North Macedonia during the late days of the Ottoman Empire. Her family was of Albanian origin. Little is know about her early childhood. Accounts state, however, that she knew she wanted to commit herself to her Catholic faith as early as the age of twelve. At eighteen, she left her home to learn English in Ireland and to join the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey.

A year after arriving in Ireland, she arrived in the Indian state of Bengal to begin her novitiate. Upon taking her religious vows in 1931, three years after she left North Macedonia, she adopted the name Teresa after the patron saint of missionaries, Thérèse de Lisieux. While a teacher in Kolkata, she took her solemn vows in 1937. She continued to teach at the school run by the Sisters of Loseto, eventually becoming its headmistress. However, the poverty she witnessed in Calcutta deeply unsettled her.

In 1948, Mother Teresa began her charity missionary work in Calcutta. During this time, she adopted the white sari with blue border she is known for, favoring it over the traditional nun’s habit. To further prove her dedication to helping the Indian people, she adopted Indian citizenship. After taking a basic medical training course, she ventured into the city slums to aid those in need.

In 1952, Mother Teresa founded what is perhaps her greatest achievement - the Kalighat Home for the Dying - with the help of Calcutta officials. It served as one of her first major charitable ventures. The hospice center provided those with severe and/or terminal illnesses with hospice care and pre-funeral rights in accordance with the patients’ faiths. For example, Catholics were absolved of sin and Hindus were given water from the holy Ganges river. The center received praise for not turning away individuals on the basis of faith and giving those in need a dignified death. In Teresa’s words, the purpose of the hospice centers was to let people “die like angels - loved and wanted.”

A few years later, Teresa helped open a hospice care center for those suffering from leprosy. Patients were given food, shelter, and dressings for their wounds and sores. In 1955, she opened a home for orphaned children and homeless youth.

Positive attention and donations generated by the hospice centers, youth homes, and leper houses allowed Mother Teresa to open several hospice centers throughout India, providing help to thousands, if not millions, of people. By the late 1970s, she had expanded outside of India, opening several care centers throughout Europe, Africa, and the Americas. By the time of her death, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa had grom from 13 to 4,000 members who operated care centers around the world.

Her dedication to the needy in Calcutta and beyond earned her international recognition and acclaim. She received India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, was the first to receive the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Following her death in 1997 following several issues with her health, Mother Teresa was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church for her services to those in need in the name of her faith. The anniversary of her death is recognized by the United Nations as the International Day of Charity and marks her official feast day on the Catholic calendar.

Over the course of her lifetime and beyond, Mother Teresa has become synonymous with charity, selflessness, empathy, and goodwill. Her work aided millions of people all over the world and inspired many others to follow in her footsteps, and her legacy of charity had become instilled in all of us. 

Blog Author - Daniela Casillas

Step 8- Manage your Personnel Effectively

Any business owner will understand that people are integral to success. Although manual tasks are increasingly moving towards automation, people are still the heart and lifeblood of an organisation, making managerial and process decisions that will pave the way forward. How you decide to secure and distribute personnel resources on a project will ultimately determine its success or failure.

The same is true for organisations looking to expand overseas. Very little headway can be made without placing the right people in the right positions as you embark on your venture – particularly when entering into a new or unfamiliar location where the stakes are high. By playing to your strengths and planning your human resources well, you will avoid mistakes, inefficiency and morale issues that can put the brakes on profit.

In this week’s Step 8 of Take Your Business Global in 10 Easy Steps, we break down the different areas of the personnel issue to help you continue your expansion planning.

Existing Staff

Look at whether your existing staff can manage the workload of an additional location remotely. While a new venture is an exciting prospect, you should make sure that existing roles are not being neglected – a sudden onslaught of new duties could impact time, accuracy and morale. Make sure you keep your existing staff members informed about your expansion plans and progress. An open, honest environment around the project will help you to achieve their buy-in to pull together through any challenges.

Expatriating Workers

If existing staff cannot afford the workload or you need resources locally, another option is to expatriate some of your staff to set up and manage your new venture in-country. There are many factors to be considered here to ensure a smooth move, including relocation packages, associated bonuses, promotions or salary changes, visas, home search, relocation of any dependents and pets, travel bookings, transportation of belongings and so on. A key priority is proper planning from an early stage to prevent your relocated personnel from feeling isolated in their new location.

Are there language or cultural barriers that your expatriate workers might come up against? Translation assistance and cultural awareness courses can help improve your company’s resources and better assimilate expatriate staff. Bear in mind that even if the worker speaks the language, there may be a difference in business/industry translations, so utilising the services of a professional translator can help your organisation assimilate better into the new country.

Visa and Immigration

If expatriating staff, a big factor to consider will be the associated immigration requirements. You will need to determine the type of visa or permit to suit their activities in-country and the timeframe they are required to be there. Will they need a work permit? When considering the type of visa they will need, you should bear in mind the following:

-        Worker’s job role;

-        Length of assignment;

-        Location of work (e.g. the town or city, and whether from home or an office location);

-        The worker’s qualifications and previous experience;

-        Any residency requirement;

-        Do they need multiple re-entries?

You might need to send expatriates in to train local staff and get your new company off the ground. Will staff visiting short-term for training purposes require business visas? Even short-term assignments and training visits may require visas or permits.

Hiring Locally

Would it be better to hire local staff? Local nationals may understand the market better and act as a local representative. In that vein, some customers respond better to companies with personnel on-the-ground or speaking the same language. If you do decide to hire locally, you should carry out salary benchmarking for the roles you require in-country. The salary packages may be different to your other locations and this could effect operational costs.

Can You Employ Locally?

Whether expatriates or locals, you need to ascertain how you are going to employ staff locally. If you have already selected the type of entity you will set up, then you should check if this can support the employment of staff, and whether it can sponsor visas or work permits for expatriates. If your entity cannot support employment of staff, or you are looking to dip your toe into the new country without the commitment of an entity, an Employer of Record solution might be a good alternative.

Take Your Business Global in 10 Easy Steps

Step 7 – Familiarise Yourself with Local Law 

International expansion projects often operate to rapid deployment timescales, tight budgets and urgent in-country requirements. The pressing nature of getting into a new market can sometimes lead to corners cut and snap decisions made. From this, risky situations can arise. Although operating internationally will undeniably broaden your organisation’s horizons, ignoring potential legal red-flags risks will impact compliance and can lead to headaches, penalties and damage control further down the line.

Your venture will run far more smoothly if you arm yourself with a working knowledge of your target country’s legal landscape. In this week’s Step 7 of Take Your Business Global in 10 Easy Steps, we give some guidance on where to focus your legal research.

Think Beyond Your Product

In our pursuit of profit, we sometimes get clouded by the logistical requirements of our product or service and forget the “hidden” legalities of operating an overseas entity. Consider corporate taxation, permanent establishment, labour and immigration laws as well as the laws associated with your product offering, such as import and export regulations.

Visas and Immigration

Ensure that your plans comply to the letter of the law- don’t assume you can send your regional sales manager out to work long-term in South Africa on a tourist visa when he will need a work permit to do so. This type of assumption can cost you huge amounts of money and put your employees at risk. Check the worker’s nationality, the activities that are permissible on different types of available visa and the visa types your local entity can support. Also consider the amount of time the individual will be in-country along with any entries and exits that will be required for things like home visits and business trips.

Employment Law

Be mindful that employment laws may differ from those of your home country and you may need to take professional advice. In fact, we highly encourage this. Mauve’s employment law experts frequently have to step in to assist businesses who have terminated overseas employees according to the labour laws of their home countries, not realising that they have actually unfairly dismissed the employee. That employee may then return with a lawsuit – the judgement often falls in their favour in this situation as they are actually making a completely legitimate claim.

Financial payouts in such a case can be huge – and can spark other employees to follow suit. Mauve’s experts have seen this happen in Italy, the UAE, Japan- all because companies make the assumption they can do things how they do them in their own country. It is very important to avoid that costly mistake.

SLAs

Carefully research any local legal partners and take recommendations from trusted sources. On the subject of partners and suppliers, ensure you have watertight SLAs in place with any local providers you take on, legal or otherwise. If you are not on-the-ground to monitor their activities, you should make your expectations crystal clear contractually - never rely on trust or verbal arrangements. Although local expertise and connections are valuable, make sure you have the right protections in place to minimise the impact of any breaches.

Compliance is Key

If there is one area where you should not economise, it is compliance - the penalties and legal processes relating to non-compliance can be financially disabling and can result in jail - naivety will not be tolerated as an excuse by most authorities.

Companies expanding internationally can benefit from risk assessment monitoring. These reports assess the individual, current circumstances of the company’s operations in their chosen country, and shed light on operational red flags and recommendations. Focus areas of potential risk include disguised employment, correct entity registration, risk of permanent establishment, contracts and labour issues, and tax and accounting compliance.