Health cover, flexible hours and real parental leave are the benefits that move the needle on retention. Free lunches do not. But before you design a package, know this: a large part of what you offer abroad is not your choice. Statutory benefits vary by country, and what counts as a generous perk in one market is a legal minimum in another.
Here are the ten worth offering, and how to handle the fact that the baseline moves every time you cross a border. Last updated September 2026.
| Benefit | What it does | Often statutory abroad |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance | Removes a real source of stress | Yes, via state systems |
| Parental leave | Retains people through a life change | Yes, often generously |
| Paid holiday | Prevents burnout | Yes, minimums are set by law |
| Pension or retirement | Long-term loyalty | Yes, employer contributions mandated |
| Flexible hours | Highest satisfaction per pound spent | Increasingly, a legal right to request |
| Learning budget | Addresses the top reason people leave | No |
| Bonuses | Rewards outcomes | Sometimes, 13th month pay |
| Equity | Aligns people with the company | No |
| Home office stipend | Makes remote work sustainable | In some markets, yes |
| Wellness support | Reduces absence | No |
Free pizza on a Friday stopped counting as a benefit some time ago. People want things that change how their life works.
MetLife's 2024 Employee Benefit Trends Study found a strong link between benefit satisfaction and intent to stay. That is the whole argument for taking this seriously: benefits are cheaper than replacing people.
Anything of value you provide beyond salary. Some you choose. Some the law chooses for you.
That split matters more than most benefits articles admit. In the US, health insurance is a competitive differentiator. In much of Europe it is a state system you contribute to by law. Offering private healthcare as a headline perk in a country with universal coverage lands differently than you would expect.
The statutory floor is different in every market. CountryPedia sets out what is mandated where.
Where it is not provided by the state, it is the single benefit people weigh most heavily. Where it is, supplementary cover that shortens waiting times or adds dental and optical does the same job at lower cost.
The cheapest benefit with the largest effect on satisfaction. It costs nothing and it solves the school run, the medical appointment, the commute. Several countries now give employees a statutory right to request it.
Retention through the life event most likely to end an employment relationship. Statutory entitlements vary enormously, from a few weeks to over a year, so generous is a local judgement rather than an absolute one.
Lack of career development is one of the most commonly cited reasons people leave. A budget and time to use it addresses that directly, and is far cheaper than recruitment.
Employer contributions are mandatory in most developed markets, at rates that differ widely. This is often the largest single line in your employment cost after salary, and it is worth modelling before you commit to a headcount plan. Our employment cost calculator covers what sits inside total employment cost.
Bonuses reward outcomes. Equity ties people to the long term, which suits startups with more upside than cash. Note that some countries mandate a thirteenth month payment, which is not a bonus and cannot be presented as one.
A stipend for equipment, internet or a desk. Some markets require employers to cover remote working costs, so check before treating it as optional generosity.
Gym contributions, mental health provision, time to use both. Worth doing, though it does not substitute for reasonable workloads.
They export the home-country package and assume it translates.
Three failures show up repeatedly. Offering a perk that is already a legal right, which reads as either ignorant or cynical. Missing a statutory benefit entirely, which is a compliance breach rather than a competitiveness problem. And pitching a package against the wrong benchmark, because what is generous in one market is unremarkable in another.
The fix is to establish the statutory floor in each country first, then decide what you are adding on top. That order matters.
Through an Employer of Record. The EOR is the legal employer, so it enrols your people in statutory schemes and can add supplementary cover on top.
It also means you are buying into an existing benefits arrangement rather than negotiating with local insurers as a company with one employee in the country, which is rarely a strong position.
If you are converting contractors to employees, benefits are usually the part that changes most. See how contractor conversion works.
We handle statutory and supplementary benefits across 214 countries and territories, so your package is compliant in each market and competitive against the local benchmark rather than your home one.
Tell us which countries you are hiring in and we will tell you what is mandatory, what is expected and what would genuinely stand out.
Statutory benefits are required by law in a given country, such as pension contributions, paid holiday and parental leave. Supplementary benefits are what you choose to add on top. The statutory floor differs in every market, so the same package can be generous in one country and below the minimum in another.
Health cover and flexible working consistently rank highest, followed by meaningful parental leave and development opportunities. Perks with low practical impact, such as subscriptions and social events, rank well below all of these.
No, and you generally cannot. Statutory requirements differ, and a package that ignores local norms will not compete. The usual approach is a consistent global philosophy applied to local benchmarks, rather than an identical list everywhere.
An additional month of salary, mandated by law in a number of countries and customary in others. It is not a discretionary bonus, and budgeting for it as one is a common mistake when entering a new market.
It varies widely by country, driven mostly by mandatory employer contributions to pension and social insurance. In some markets this adds a modest percentage to salary; in others it is substantial. Model total employment cost per country rather than assuming a single global multiplier, which our employment cost calculator is built for.
Yes, through an Employer of Record. The EOR employs the person legally, enrols them in statutory schemes and administers any supplementary cover, without you incorporating locally.