Human Resource and Employment Relations Issues Impacting Expatriates

This essay discusses the cultural and employment issues faced by expatriates and the impact of the 'Yellow Vest' protests in France. It explores the challenges of adapting to a new culture, language, and business environment, as well as the political and economic background of France. Recommendations are provided for successful expatriation.

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Name of the Student
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Author Note

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Topic – Human resource and employment relations issues impacting the
expatriates
The success of a business depends on the human resource of the organization. The human
resource is formed with the combination of those people who are responsible for the
management of an extended range of employees. In a multi-national company which has its
subsidiaries in foreign countries, the responsibilities related to human resource increases. The
offshore operations specific management becomes equally important(Maddock, 2019). The
HRM refers to those activities which are conducted by the organization in order to make the best
use of the human resources. The activities related to the human resource include the human
resource planning, staffing, performance management, training and development, compensation
and benefits and lastly the labor relations.
The international human resource management covers various aspects relate to the
employees and the contractors. The present essay will discuss about the relocation of a manager
from the Australian continent (Sydney) to France (Paris) for managing a subsidiary branch of an
Australian multinational organization. The easy will demonstrate the cultural issues the manager
might be facing as an expatriate in France. The second ort of the easy will talk about the
employment and political background to working in France in the present time highlighting the
“Yellow Vest “protests as well. The paper will lastly depict how these protests impact on the
employment, politics and economy of France. The primary focus of the paper will be on the
industrial relationship between the two countries and conclude by elaborating on the HR
management and employment relation issues which might impact the working life of this
manager.

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An expatriate is a person who is living in a different country out of his/her country of
citizenship usually for the work purposes. The business relations with the foreign countries can
undoubtedly bring in revenues and strong international presence for a particular organization
Lough, 2019). However, the foreign settlement even for a limited period can result to be an
intimidating experience for the expatriate/business representative. As an expat, the manager of
the Australian multinational organization might face a lot of challenges especially the cultural
challenges(Rose & Melander, 2016). . An expat must learn the cultural nuances, the
mannerisms, customs and expectations too. He might face challenges related to language because
most of the people would be speaking in French. He might face difficulty in adopting the
mannerisms, French etiquettes, their way of showing courtesy, their business culture and many
others. Being an outsider he might again face the problem of hesitation in articulating his
difficulties to the foreign executives. The unconscious activities of the person might affect the
business relationships because the regular habits he used to practice in Australia might not be
accepted in France.
The new customs in the new country along with alien language might puzzle him/her
and out of depression, the business projects might not be fulfilled as expected. The new role
expected of the expatriate by the new boss in the new country might leave him/her unprepared.
As an expat, there might also be cultural clashes and the local employees might create an
environment of discrimination which might feel suffocating and distracting (Shapiro, 2019). The
cultural conflicts might reduce the possibility of making friends in a foreign country. Therefore,
the expat becomes lonely. The unfamiliar location, unfamiliar people are more likely to alienate
the expat from the rest of the workforce which might disrupt the business endeavor.

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In order to determine how the expat would feel in France ( Paris ) and how would he/she
manage the cultural and other issues related to expatriation, the political and employment
background of France needs to be discussed. The current French political system is considered to
be a hybrid parliamentary system where the President is Emmanuel Macron who shares the
power with the Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. There is multi-party system with a great
difference in the political parties. It is more than the UK or the US. In the context of French
Politics, there is a term ‘liberal’ which connotes the free –market liberalism which is just the
opposite of ‘socialisme’ (Rose & Melander, 2016). It is considered to be a derogatory term for
the Left that they use for describing the anti-social activities of the Right. This might confuse the
expat as he/she is a foreigner.
In is regard, the “yellow vest “ protesters also must be mentioned over here. They are a
set of protesters nicknamed for the yellow vest they worn. They are also known as “gilets
jaunes” (Wailes, Bamber & Lansbury, 2011). The yellow vest protestors have initiated a
movement generating a political crisis for the government of France. The protest began in the
French provinces and later spread to Paris. In Paris, the demonstration turned into riots and.
These are the people from the rural areas who protested against the hike in the fuel prices. They
focused on Macron as the source of their problems and want the green tax on diesel to be
repealed. Hence the expat in France belonging to Australia must be aware of these current
political conditions in France. As per the French government, it has provided almost 38 million
euros as financial aid for the workers who have been struggling with reduced working hours.
Due to the Yellow Vest protests, the businesses are experiencing decreasing revenues by 20%-
40%. Almost 72,6000 people from 5,000 organizations have struggled with reduced work hours
and reduced pay (Lough, 2019). On the other hand, the insurance companies have also paid

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almost 89 million euros for covering 1,670 reports of violence through the loot and violence. As
per the protesters, the president’s financial policies are in support of the rich only.
As far as the employment background of France is concerned, it is slightly more
favorable in March than February 2019. The expat from Australia must know about the French
employment contracts. The French people like to do paperwork and a person is powerless if
he/she does not have proper documentation. The government of France also needs paperwork to
prove anything. A person is not employed if he/she has not signed a contract. In France, there are
two types of contracts such as the CDI and the CDD (Watson, 2017). The CDD is the fixed-term
contract which may be used to replace an absent employee. The maximum time limit is 18
months. Another type of contract is the temporary work contract which is characterized by the
relationship between the employees, the client who use it and the temporary employment agency.
On the other hand, CDI is the open-ended contract.
Regarding the employment contract it can be said that, the apprenticeship contract is for
the people of 16-25 years old who have completed their compulsory schooling and its purpose is
to obtain a professional qualification (Wright & Lansbury,2016). In the work contract, the youth
welcome the recruitment of the unqualified or poorly qualified people through giving the
employer a government grant for three years. It is either a part –time or full-time CDI (Rachman,
2018).
The industrial relationship between France and Australia is good as the French President
Emmanuel Macron has visited Australia in the early may out of curiosity (Murray, 2018).
However, the trading relationships between the two countries are quite minor. Moreover, France
has been benefited by the 12 submarine contract estimated at over $ 50 billion (McAuley, 2018).

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Notably, it has been driven in Australia politically. Hence, an individual must predict that the
issues which have arisen since the beginning will be multiplied indefinitely once. The submarine
contract is perceived to be dominating the Australia- France diplomatic and economic
interchange in future.
In this regard, it must be mentioned that in France, the quality of life is pretty high and
drawbacks too. France ranks 53 on the index of easy settling (Maley, 2019). Most if the people
agree that it is difficult to live in this country without proper knowledge of the local language.
Least number of people is completely happy with the friendly attitude towards the foreign
residents. The French people have closed and tight knit communities (Maddock, 2019). Hence, it
becomes difficult to befriend them. The economic condition of the country is also difficult for
the expats. The cost of living and taxation systems also might seem disadvantageous for the
expat from Australia.
Hence, after the analysis of the human resource challenges faced by a relocated expatriate
and the examination of the employment, political and economic background of France, the
executive from Australia is suggested to follow some recommendations. The success in the
international assignments needs more than just the technical skills. The expatriate must develop
the perceptual skills along with the strong reasoning abilities for adjusting in the local socio-
cultural environment. The multinational organization is Australia on behalf of which the
manager is moving to France must conduct pre-training for preparing him. The training must
involve the basic language training, the cultural training, the workplace training and ethical one
too. When the person will be prepared in every aspect individually, the possibility of
expatriation challenges will be reduced. They must understand the local values and respect their
uniqueness. The expatriate must be well-aware of the political, economic and employment

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background of France which will help him to adjust with the working environment and he will be
aware of what to say and what not to say. The branch of the organization in France must be agile
to accept the new executive from a different country and train the foreigner along with the non-
foreigner employees to embrace the values, beliefs, cultures of each other. It will help the
organization to fulfill the common organizational goal and accomplish the project the manager
from Australia is assigned with.

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References
Lough, R 2019, “King Macron attempts to win over the angry ‘yellow vests”’, Australian
Financial Review, 16 January, p. 12.
Maddock, R 2019, ‘Doctors, lawyers may be no model for financial advice’, Australian
Financial Review, 6 February, p. 47.
Maley, K 2019, ‘Bankers prepare for life post-Hayne’, Australian Financial Review, 22 January,
p. 32.
McAuley, J 2018, ‘Macron appeases protestors with wage rises’, Australian Financial Review,
12 December, p. 11.
Murray, D 2018, ‘Hayne should look at obedience to laws we have now’, Australian Financial
Review, 20 June, p. 39.
Rachman, G 2018, ‘Macron protests show leading France is almost impossible’, Australian
Financial Review, 12 December, p. 23.
Rose, M & Melander, I 2016, ‘French leaders ram through labour reform’, Australian Financial
Review, 12 May, p. 12.
Rose, M & Pineau, E 2016, ‘Protests force French labour reform retreat’, Australian Financial
Review, 16 March, p. 9.

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Shapiro, J 2019, ‘Who can restore faith in our system’, Australian Financial Review, 14 January,
p. 28.
van Leeuwen, H 2019, ‘No time to waste on cracking bank whip’, Australian Financial Review,
14 February, pp. 44-45.
Wailes, N., Bamber, G., & Lansbury, R. D. (2011). International and comparative employment
relations: An introduction. International comparative employment relations, 1-35.
Watson, G 2017, ‘Can labour law reform be made popular?’, Australian Financial Review, 29
June, p. 43.
Wright, CF & Lansbury, RD 2016, ‘Employment relations in Australia’, in GJ Bamber, RD
Lansbury, N Wailes& CF Wright(eds), International and comparative employment
relations:National regulation, global changes, 6th edn, eds, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest.