Hiring and Employment Abroad
All employees of the University of Pennsylvania must work primarily within the United States. Penn’s Flexible, Hybrid, and Remote Work Policy applies only to work conducted within the United States. It does not permit individuals paid through Penn payroll to work outside the country without prior written approval from their department and Global Support Services (GSS). If an employee is either required to or requests to work abroad, GSS will work with the school/center and departmental leadership to consider the purpose of the work abroad, the location of work, the individual employee’s status in that country, and the duration of the work abroad to make an assessment.
Current Employees
Any current Penn employee planning to work outside the U.S. for 30 consecutive days or more must seek prior approval from both their department and GSS before making travel arrangements. Once preliminary support from the department has been obtained, the department must submit an Employment Abroad Request for review by GSS. Employment Abroad Requests should be submitted to GSS at least 4 weeks prior to the employee’s anticipated departure date from the U.S. Personal days, vacation, and other non-work time spent outside the U.S. while employed with Penn may still impact compliance requirements and should therefore be included as part of the work abroad period.
In general, most work conducted outside the U.S. by Penn’s U.S. employees can occur for periods up to 90 days. Individual circumstances may limit the amount of time a current employee can work compliantly abroad, including for periods less than 90 days. Foreign nationals may have additional requirements or conditions based on their visa type. Upon submission of the Employment Abroad Request, GSS will provide these details and any relevant conditions.
Short-term international business travel or remote work from outside the U.S. for less than 30 days is permissible without Global Support Services’ approval, so long as departmental approval has been granted. Note that this applies only to individuals already hired compliantly by Penn in the U.S. prior to the international work period and who will return to the U.S. at the end of their short-term travel abroad.
New Hires
A new hire abroad is an employee who will begin working for Penn from a location outside the United States. This includes individuals whose employment will take place fully outside the U.S. as well as individuals who may later work for Penn within the U.S.
Departments considering hiring a new employee who will work outside the United States for any period of time should submit an Employment Abroad Request at least 6-8 weeks prior to the anticipated start date. Note that Penn’s ability to hire employees abroad is not guaranteed and will depend on the location, employee details, and individual circumstances.
Prior to hiring any new employee abroad, support for hiring a new employee abroad should be secured through the hiring department’s usual process, as appropriate for the worker’s intended employment role at Penn (e.g. staff, postdoc, temp, adjunct faculty, etc). Once there is preliminary support by departmental leadership for the new hire abroad, GSS will advise on available options for engaging the employee abroad and will provide hiring support as needed. While every case is different, note that most new hires abroad must be engaged through a third-party employer of record.