International Employment

The University of Arizona recognizes that with a changing and diverse workforce, units may need to hire employees who will live and work outside the state of Arizona or outside of the United States. For more information about work arrangements outside of Arizona but in the United States, please visit our out-of-state domestic work arrangements page. For arrangements outside the United States, please review the following guidelines.

International employment relationships result in increased risks to the University, and also sometimes directly to supervisors. Other countries have increasingly enacted additional obligations and prohibitions on the actions that the University may take with employees. These may include, but are not limited to, different laws related to recruitment, credit and criminal background checks, record keeping, minimum wage, calculation and payment of overtime wages, parental leave, paid and unpaid leave, workplace accessibility, mandatory training, discrimination claims, termination, tax and other paycheck withholdings.

Due to the complexity and cost of complying with country-specific laws and unique tax requirements, employees should not work from another country solely for their own convenience. Departments and units should not hire or transfer employees to another country without securing legal counsel to understand the obligations and compliance responsibilities as an employer. Departments and units are responsible for covering any costs incurred for legal counsel and visa requirements, if applicable. 

What is considered international employment?

International employment refers to employees whose duty post (e.g. the physical location they are working from) is outside the United States and who rarely visit the University’s campuses in Arizona, or its extension locations, to perform their duties.

International employment does not refer to an employee who periodically travels on University business but continues to reside and conduct the majority of their work in the United States. 

Please note that taking a sabbatical, vacation, or other approved leave internationally does not constitute a change in work location.

Important Considerations

Employment Eligibility

In order to be hired at the University and receive a paycheck through Payroll, the individual must have a Social Security number (and consequently be entitled to work in the United States). Hiring units may reach out to the Workforce Systems team regarding I-9’s and hiring transactions.
 

Student Workers & Graduate Assistants

Student worker recruitment and hiring decisions are not managed by Human Resources. Questions regarding international work arrangements should be directed to the student’s hiring unit.

Graduate assistant, graduate teaching assistant, and graduate research assistant recruitment and hiring decisions are managed by the hiring unit in partnership with the Graduate College. Questions regarding international work arrangements should be directed to the hiring unit and/or Graduate College.
 

Alternative Arrangements

For individuals who cannot be hired as University employees, options may be to hire them as independent contractors or through a cooperative arrangement with a foreign university. For details about independent contractor arrangements, consult the Financial Services Manual, section 9.12 Independent Contractor Services.

Units may also utilize our contracted professional employer organization (PEO) to manage international employment. The PEO would serve as the employer of record, rather than the University. It would manage required and optional employment benefits and taxation, assume legal risk related to employment law violations, and circumvent the need for the University to register as an employer in a foreign country. Units utilizing the PEO still have the opportunity to recruit and identify the finalists for each position. For details, please contact Kelly Mannes in Recruitment and Outreach at kmannes@arizona.edu.

Pay & Benefits

  • The University of Arizona does not currently offer health care plans, retirement savings options, or payroll and taxation services for employees intending to serve as remote employees for the University outside of the United States.
  • Units should advise employees working internationally that the University can only issue paychecks in US dollars and cannot direct deposit paychecks into foreign bank accounts.  
     

Reporting Responsibilities

The department must complete a request form if the designated work arrangement meets all four criteria below:

  1. Work location is outside the United States; and
  2. Work location lasts more than 8 weeks consecutive or cumulative within a calendar year; and
  3. Employment category is staff, faculty, academic/service professional, administrator, postdoctoral; and
  4. A request form has not yet been submitted.

The form should be submitted at least a month in advance of the international employment arrangement's start date to support timely processing of the request.

Procedure & Form

To comply with these requirements, departments must:

  1. First obtain approval from their college or division leadership and their respective Senior Vice President (SVP).
  2. Once SVP approval has been obtained, send a completed International Employment Request (see below) to Human Resources before an employee is recruited or hired to work outside the country. As a courtesy, we will notify Export Control, Payroll, Office of the General Counsel, Arizona International, and Risk Management regarding the international employment arrangement (as applicable).  
  3. Complete a Restricted Party Screening for all international hires and DCCs prior to extending job offers or receiving official DCC status. To complete the screening, please access the Visual Compliance screening tool or contact the University's Export Control Program. 

You must receive approval from Human Resources before an employee may start at a work location outside of the United States.

Start Your Form Here

Note: Employees should not submit this form on their own behalf. This form should be submitted by a department representative on behalf of the employee.

Contact Information

Recruitment, Kelly Mannes, International Employment Procedures and Form, kmannes@arizona.edu

Payroll, Michelle Meyer, Pay related questions – mmeyer@arizona.edu

Export Control, Kay Ellis, Restricted Party Screening questions, export@arizona.edu

Workforce Systems, Abbie Montenegro, Manager Self-Service questions, abbiem@arizona.edu

Benefits, Staci Wilson, Benefits and Retirement questions, staciw@arizona.edu

Risk Management, Miguel Delgado, Insurance and Contracting questions, mdelgado1@arizona.edu

Global, Charlotte MacInnis, Interim Assistant Dean, cmacinnis@arizona.edu  

Global, Dana Bleau, Immigration Services, kovach@arizona.edu