Workations to visit family abroad: How AutoScout24 optimizes compliance and costs with WorkFlex

About AutoScout24

AutoScout24 is known as an online platform for buying and selling new and used cars. Although the platform was originally focused on the German market, AutoScout24 has expanded its presence internationally. This global focus is also reflected in the diversity of its workforce, who were keen to work from home. For this reason, AutoScout24 has enabled its employees to work worldwide since the pandemic - so-called "Working from Anywhere". However, AutoScout24 has encountered many challenges, particularly with regard to compliance.

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🔥 Challenge

Before the introduction of WorkFlex in September, working from anywhere was handled informally internally during the pandemic. The challenge was to find a structured solution that met the needs of employees worldwide while maintaining compliance. Because AutoScout24 was still struggling:

• Unstructured approach: AutoScout24 wanted to make working from anywhere more structured, especially after informal working from anywhere was the norm during the pandemic. WorkFlex provided a solution to enable this flexibility in an organized way.
• Lack of internal know-how: AutoScout24 initially tried to organize flexible working from anywhere internally. However, the company realized that it was a significant effort and that internal employees did not have the necessary expertise. The decision to use WorkFlex was made in order to overcome these challenges and obtain external support.
• Diverse employee needs: AutoScout24 has employees of 55 different nationalities. Many employees had the desire to return to their home countries and work from there. WorkFlex made it possible to meet these diverse needs.streamline the process

In September, AutoScout24 introduced WorkFlex to make global remote working more efficient. Previously, they had tried to manage the program internally, but quickly realized that this was very time consuming and complex.

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💡Solution

After a careful selection of providers, the company chose WorkFlex for the following reasons:

• Advanced status: AutoScout24 emphasized that although WorkFlex was still considered a start-up, it was significantly more advanced compared to other providers in the field. The platform was able to offer comprehensive services that met AutoScout24's global requirements.
• Global coverage: WorkFlex provided AutoScout24 with the ability to offer not just European but worldwide workations - for all nationalities and different branches. This was particularly important to AutoScout24 due to their diverse workforce. The integration of the Netherlands was just as successful as the inclusion of employees with 55 different nationalities.
• Eliminating compliance risks: AutoScout24 recognized that there were significant risks involved in handling international workations with legal aspects such as payroll tax and social security law. The decision to use WorkFlex was made in order to minimize these risks and to make use of external expertise. AutoScout24 was particularly impressed by the no-risk concept that WorkFlex assumes liability for. The included travel health insurance was another major deciding factor in favor of WorkFlex.
• Good communication and support: AutoScout24 praised the good cooperation with WorkFlex, the quick response to questions and the continuous support, even for problems that rarely occur.
• ‍Easy integration and user-friendliness:The cooperation with WorkFlex was described as uncomplicated and user-friendly. Both the preparation and the ongoing support were positively emphasized.
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📈 Positive impacts and benefits gained:

AutoScout24 has developed its "Working from Anywhere" company policy, which states that employees can work anywhere in the world for up to 10 working days.

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The success of the implementation of WorkFlex at AutoScout24 was demonstrated by:

1. Global destination countries: The introduction of WorkFlex allows employees to work globally. This allows employees to return to and work from their home countries. The challenge of legal complexity was overcome by WorkFlex.
Since September, AutoScout24 employees have already worked from 20 different countries worldwide. 57% of the trips were to non-EU countries. The top destinations were not the typical vacation countries, but - in line with the diverse workforce - India, USA, Turkey, Greece and South Africa.

2. Structured framework: Before the introduction of WorkFlex, working from anywhere was handled rather informally due to the pandemic. Once it was decided to take a more structured approach, WorkFlex was introduced as a solution.

3. More flexibility for employees: WorkFlex enables employees to work abroad for up to ten working days. This is particularly relevant for employees with 55 different nationalities at AutoScout24, who often want to return to their home countries.

4. Employee well-being and work-life balance: The Workations policy positively impacted employee well-being and work-life balance, especially for non-German employees who could extend their stays abroad without depleting their vacation budget. The flexibility offered by Workations contributed to a healthier work-life balance.

5. Relief for the HR department: WorkFlex's expertise and support have reduced the internal workload immensely, especially in connection with forms, approvals and requests for non-European assignments abroad. WorkFlex automates many of these processes or takes over the issuing of all relevant documents such as A1 certificates, CoC, travel insurance

6. Cost savings: AutoScout24 saves costs in several areas by using WorkFlex:

• External consulting costs: before implementing WorkFlex,AutoScout24 often hired external expensive consulting firms for issues related to payroll tax, social security law and other legal aspects. By working withWorkFlex, these costs can be reduced as the platform offers specialized expertise.
• Administrative costs: Using WorkFlex eliminates the need to manually create and manage elaborate forms for international assignments.This not only saves paper and printing costs, but also the time it takes employees to complete these documents.
• Time and cost savings for HR & employees: AutoScout24 employees need less time to obtain approvals for international assignments as the process is streamlined by WorkFlex. This leads to an overall more efficient use of working time.

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“The collaboration with WorkFlex is extremely positive. The preparation, support, and usability of the tool are outstanding. The flexibility of WorkFlex to include all countries and the continuous support contributed significantly to the success. The automation of processes, such as the application process and communication with employees, resulted insignificant time and cost savings for AutoScout24 ”

Katrin Paetzold – Senior HRBP at AutoScout24
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The case study illustrates the success of AutoScout24 through the integration of WorkFlex. Overall, WorkFlex has helped to streamline internal processes, increase employee flexibility, and reduce the cost of remote work abroad per trip.