Beyond borders: how Flix's 90+ nationalities worked compliantly from 80+ countries
Read how Flix enabled its employees to work from 80 different countries all around the globe. Hear Flix' Head of People, Sara Ferraris, share insights on the profound impact workations have had on employee retention and overall happiness.
- Industry
- Mobility
- Countries
- 80+
- Nationalities
- 90+
- Policy since
- July 2022
Work from anywhere as part of the company's identity
For Flix, a leader in the mobility sector, the concept of 'work from anywhere' is more than just a policy; it's an integral part of their corporate identity. It would be contradictory for a company that connects people globally with their FlixBuses and FlixTrains to restrict its own employees to a fixed location.
Recognising the shifting paradigms in the post-pandemic world, the company introduced the 'work from manywhere' programme. Since July 1st, 2022, Flix' employees have the opportunity to work from almost any location in the world, may it be from their grandma's garden or a sandy beach.
Balancing high demand with complex, ever-changing compliance
At the end of the pandemic, Flix asked its employees if they would like to work from anywhere. This preliminary survey indicated a very high demand. Given the changes the pandemic brought in our ways of working, combined with the diversity in their team, Flix saw a great opportunity to introduce this programme. This, however, brought up new challenges for Flix:
- Accompany rapidly changing employee needs: The rapid shift to remote work during the pandemic created a craving for more flexibility among employees. Flix had to balance complex compliance requirements that had not adjusted to the new working environment with their employees' increasing desire to work from anywhere. Forbidding workations was not in the interest of Flix, as their international workforce demanded the right for an international home office and might have done so even without permission.
- Ever-changing compliance and legislation: Ensuring adherence to diverse labour laws, tax regulations, and social security mandates was a monumental challenge. Although Flix had a lot of in-house expertise, such as a legal department, tax department, and HR, this was a new topic where nobody had already acquired expertise.
- Complex international workforce: With employees coming from over 90 different countries, the legal intricacies of tax laws, labour regulations, and visa requirements got even more complex. This diversity, especially concerning non-EU nationalities, highlighted Flix's need for an external compliance partner.
Individual risk assessment and up-to-date compliance expertise
WorkFlex provided the needed solution for these challenges:
- Individual risk assessment: WorkFlex's tool matched exactly what Flix needed, balancing freedom and compliance. WorkFlex' compliance logic and automated approach check each work-from-anywhere request individually, making sure Flix is compliant no matter where an employee wants to work or which country they are on payroll in.
- User-friendly platform: The WorkFlex platform simplifies the process for Flix. It consolidates all work-from-anywhere requests, prepares necessary documents, and ensures that employees are adequately insured, among other functionalities.
- High and up-to-date compliance expertise: With WorkFlex's legal team, Flix doesn't have to constantly monitor changes in legislation.
Progressive employer branding and less manual effort
Flix created its 'Working from Manywhere' policy, which stated that employees can work from anywhere, up to 60 days in low and medium risk countries and five days in high-risk countries. The success of WorkFlex's implementation at Flix was evident through:
- Progressive employer branding: By offering global workations, Flix bolstered its image as a forward-thinking employer, catering to the modern needs of its workforce.
- Boosted employee satisfaction: The ability to work from diverse locations, be it their hometown or a beach, greatly improved employees' work-life balance and enhanced Flix's reputation as an employee-centric organisation.
- Easier recruitment through competitive advantage: The work-from-anywhere benefit became a significant perk for potential employees. Especially Gen Z and international talent show high interest in the working model during the recruitment process.
- Reduction of manual effort: Thanks to WorkFlex, employees autonomously submit work-from-anywhere requests. HR is only needed for the final approval, which reduces their efforts to less than 5 minutes per request.
- Savings in costs and administrative efforts: Partnering with WorkFlex eliminated the need for extensive research and consultation with tax lawyers, resulting in substantial cost savings and a reduced administrative burden.
In total, since the beginning of Flix' Work from Anywhere policy, employees have worked temporarily from over 80 different countries all around the globe. During this year alone, Flix' employees worked for 1,452 days from 59 different countries. The average workation days per year per employee was 20 to 25 days, still less than Flix' policy threshold of 60 days. Partnering with WorkFlex has enabled Flix to extend this flexibility even to regions like Asia, Latin America, and Africa, all while maintaining a stringent focus on compliance.
