Alerting Foreign Managers to Risks in the United States

Amazing as it may seem there are still managers who are not given coaching about the appropriate behaviours to have and respect when they are asked to manage in another country.

In the wake of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair it seems that American Human Resource professionals are wondering how to ensure that foreign managers play to the rules.

Below is an excerpt from an article by Andrew R. McIlvaine on Human Resource Executive Online:

Human Resource Executive Online - The Risks of Foreign Managers: "HR must ensure that foreign nationals receive training on U.S. workplace laws before they begin supervising employees, says Celia Joseph, a management attorney at Fisher & Phillips in Philadelphia.

'They don't necessarily need to memorize every law, but they should have a clear understanding of when to recognize a potential issue, when they should seek guidance and who they should turn to,' she says.

Foreign managers, especially executives, should also sign an employment agreement in which they acknowledge that harassment is illegal in the United States and that they will comply with the law, says Arpin.

'It's not at all unusual for executives brought over here to sign an employment agreement,' she says. 'You can include a provision in which the executives agree to read all the materials passed on to them regarding the treatment of people in the workplace and to indemnify the company for any legal costs associated with a dispute. That's extreme, but what we're often dealing with here is the need to change behaviors, and if you hit them in the pocketbook, they're likely to pay attention.'"