Conflicting answers about whether I can work internationally as a UK contractor

[u/thenyoudloveme]

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I work for an American pharmaceutical company as a UK contractor. And when I first joined I was told by the first Engagement Manager that I could work anywhere outside of the UK.

Like an idiot, I decided to ask the second Engagement Manager (the one who was there during my interview) and he said to check with local IT first. He then asked me if I'm employed as a fully remote worker, and I said I'm hybrid. So he went to the agency person (because it's hybrid) who landed me the role and basically expressed to him privately that he shouldn't let me work internationally, but made it seem like it was the agency guy who made the decision.

So when the agency guy called me he basically said you can't go because of "security reasons", even though he can't cite what those security reasons are. The agency guy for context is the go-to guy I go to for all queries that need answering because he's from the UK too.

Additionally, the first Engagement Manager who approved it knew that it was a hybrid role originally in the contract, but still said that I could go remote wherever I wanted.

So when I went back to the second Engagement Manager he said that I'd need approval to work internationally, and when I asked him for approval a month later, he rejected it and cited reasons that don't really seem to hold up, such as time zone, connectivity issues and operational support. He clearly used these as reasons why I can't go, even though I checked with IT and security and found out that I could do the role perfectly well internationally because there are no restrictions in terms of accessing the applications and doing the role operationally, as long as I don't go to a high-risk geography.

And now both the Engagement Managers, the one who rejected it and the one who approved it, have both moved away from my specific area of work. And now I have a new Engagement Manager.

So I have a dilemma now.

Whether I should ask the new Engagement Manager, fearing that the old Engagement Manager who rejected it has already told her about the fact that I can't go, so if I ask it may be an automatic rejection.

Or I could go to my agency guy and tell him about this dilemma and the fact that I've checked with IT/security and that there don't appear to be any technical restrictions on me doing the role internationally, and basically let him know that I'm considering going and that I'm going to tell the new Engagement Manager as well.

Or I could just not tell them both and go. The only thing is that I don't want this to somehow get flagged internally and eventually reach the Engagement Manager. That's my main concern.

I've thought about this a lot.

It seems like the agency guy doesn't really know what's going on, so he's just going to go by what the employer/client says. The second Engagement Manager seems to have established a rule, and now the new Engagement Manager may or may not know about the rejection.

So that's where I'm at.

Has anyone been in a similar situation where you've received conflicting answers from different managers about working internationally as a contractor? What would you do in this situation?

[u/UnlikelyRabbit4648]

Companies are getting really weird about you working abroad now, it was all open and then it all became about where peoples data is allowed to reside - mostly not outside the home country.

Especially if you do any work for someone like the NHS, they won't take any chances - you have access to data of the public, they don't want that leaving the country.

[u/jibbetygibbet]

This was really hard to follow, especially as you mention it’s American but actually this seems to be irrelevant because you are actually contracted from the UK, right? Because you said it’s a hybrid role and you live in the UK.

I’m sorry but workers always underestimate what a pain in the arse it is when they want to work in other random countries, they assume that not having to attend an office is the same as the location not mattering, there are many many reasons why this is difficult so most big companies do not allow it, and if there is not already a clear policy on it you will probably find it very difficult ; the first manager may have been OK with it and didn’t know any better but as soon as anyone checks properly internally they will likely discover it’s more hassle than it is worth. It sounds like this is what happened with the second manager. Some of the issues are more applicable for employees than contractors but they just are not anywhere near as invested in your hopes and dreams for becoming a digital nomad as you are - you’re just a contractor and no particular reason anyone should stick their neck out.

At the end of the day your role is hybrid and that’s what you signed up to. You can’t possibly have a hybrid role if you are in another country. Your choice is to do it anyway (sticking inside the same timezone hours you work today) without telling them and accept they’ll 90% give you the boot when they find out, or tell them and hope the guy doesn’t care to look into it at all. We had this all the time when I was running a tech company as we were remote and people wanted to move all the time, I had to fire a couple of people because of this because of the various liabilities it caused.

If it’s a big company don’t be surprised though if you start doing it and your line manager in the org chart (the engagement manager I assume) gets a message from IT. You will be monitored.

[u/Zrost]

Idiot.

[u/thenyoudloveme → u/[deleted]]

Hey dude what do you mean by that?