Remote work can create a real headache for companies. Managing employee benefits across borders is often a fragmented, complex, broker-led challenge for multinational companies. HR leaders often have to deal with the arduous task of managing globally competitive benefits across many jurisdictions, each with different regulations and laws, while also synchronising benefits with payroll.Today HR platform and payroll provider Remote has unveiled Remote Global Benefits, allowing companies to access and manage multi-country health insurance plans without leaving the Remote platform.Powered by Kota’s infrastructure and insurer network, it makes it easy for companies to handle the selection, enrollment, and administration of high-quality, compliant local health benefits for their distributed teams without navigating complex international benefits landscapes.I spoke to Job van der Voort, CEO and co-founder of Remote and Luke Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Kota to learn more.According to van der Voort: Remote Global Benefits represents a significant leap forward in managing international employee benefits.Empowering global companies“Unlike traditional solutions that often involve fragmented processes and multiple intermediaries, our integration with Kota provides a unified, digital-first approach for companies with employees in multiple countries, or those expanding into new regions.”This means companies can manage their global benefits directly through the Remote platform, eliminating the need for multiple systems or brokers.The solution streamlines the entire process – from selecting plans to employee enrollment and ongoing administration. By automating many of these tasks and integrating them seamlessly with payroll, we’re not just saving companies time and money; we’re fundamentally changing how companies approach global benefits management.Mackey estimates that in a 50-person company with just one entity, HR can spend up to 30 hours per month administering benefits.He further asserts that existing solutions tend to be global insurance brokers, which typically means segregated processes, offline administration, timely set-up, and, ultimately, high costs.“As Kota has connections with insurance carriers, it means one flow and process per market, where employee data is synced back and forth between Remote and the insurance carrier and then straight into payroll.”Remote Global Benefits provides companies with teams across multiple countries, or those expanding into new regions, an efficient way to offer the competitive, localised benefits that are essential for attracting and retaining talent.As companies compete globally, strong employee benefits are critical to recruiting and retaining top talent. According to Remote’s Global Benefits Report, 60 per cent of employees consider benefits a deciding factor when choosing between job offers, and nearly 80 per cent of companies see improved retention after enhancing their benefits packages.Local regulatory compliance simplifiedI was interested in how Remote Global Benefits ensures compliance with local regulations across different jurisdictions. For example, as a remote worker myself, I am required to register locally as a freelancer because of the lack of a local company entity.van der Voort detailed that its solution is designed to automatically adapt to local requirements, ensuring that the benefits offered are always compliant with local laws – which vary by region.“This removes a significant burden from HR teams, who no longer need to navigate the complexities of multi-jurisdictional compliance on their own

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Irish SaaS Kota, which provides automation software for companies, has partnered with health insurer Vitality to expand their benefits software so that companies and employees can manage their health insurance packages.HR and Finance teams will be able to view and manage Vitality group medical schemes within the Kota system, alongside the other plans available for their teams across different countries. The extension of Kota’s existing integrations in the UK makes its platform a comprehensive health and retirement benefits solution for companies operating across the UK and Ireland.They have also announced that their systems can be integrated with HR systems to automate the flow of employee data, removing the manual processes of onboarding and offboarding team members.Kota raised 5M in October in a round led by EQT Ventures with a plan to secure healthcare and embedded finance capabilities within the app.Co-Founder and CEO Luke Mackey commented: “We are delighted to announce the extension of our offering with Vitality as part of our further expansion into the UK and European market. For too long HR Managers and employees have had to deal with frustrating and cumbersome processes to enable easy access to core benefits. We have been working closely with Vitality to deliver a powerful employer and employee experience that changes the game for benefits management. Kota is the first to market with its one-stop hub, which empowers remote and distributed companies to control their benefits and protect their teams in one place.”Liam Kennedy, Director of Key Accounts at Vitality, said: “We’re pleased to be partnering with Kota, making it easier for businesses who have the platform to access and update their Vitality health insurance. Through our insurance, organisations can have access to a wide range of health and wellbeing support to enable them to prioritise and positively impact employee health and the productivity of their workforce, alongside providing access to healthcare when they need it.”