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Employee moved abroad permanently to teach (online)

I have recently been made aware of an employee who was transparent to her manager in Summer 2023 that she was permanently moving to Portugal to live. This wasn't picked up as an issue and no contractual changes were made. She teaches online... however, contractually she is based at one of our bases in the UK and no contractual changes have been made. Her contact details in our HR system still show her as living in the UK.

I realise this isn't sustainable and presents risk for us as a business and her as an employee therefore and we potentially need to terminate her contract however, I am unsure on what basis - has anyone else had experience of this? Any advice appreciated.

Thank you.

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  • Hi Melanie,
    I believe this falls under "statutory restriction" dismissals. She would need to spend 6 months out of 12 in the UK to remain a tax resident here.

  • I tend to think that it would be SOSR as I don't think there is a legal reason why you can't employ someone living overseas - its the practical issues such as needing to register as an entity there, and comply with Portuguese employment law. If they have more than two years service however i would step carefully, being clear about why it is an issue (the employment law issue is normally a bigger issue than tax) and give them the option of returning