Can you work abroad without telling your boss just for a week or two?

12 comments

1. Yes if you are full time remote you can do this though once weeks turns into multiple months is when you need to consider your next step

2. I imagine you could, what he don’t know won’t hurt him. However, I’m sure there would be tax issues with the country you’re working in, not to mention visa issues, if you’re only there as a tourist

3. Well, it will all depend on your contract.

   If it is just a week or two then there should be no tax issues as you still reside in the UK.

   But whether or not *your* boss will mind is something we can’t answer.

4. Only reason it would be an issue would be the insurance on your kit.

   Mine is only strictly insured in my home.

5. It also depends what work you do and where you are going. You could be in breach of your system security rules accessing some types of data from some countries.

6. That’s definitely a grey one, and it depends.

   In my contract, the IT department specifically mentioned that I cannot take my laptop out on public transportation or abroad without written permission. I work in the finance industry and handle sensitive data.

   If you’re connecting through a work VPN, they could identify where you are based on ip address anyway and IT might flag the traffic as suspicious.

   So tldr, it’s super risky and it might be worth it just to talk to your manager about it. Read your contract properly. Who knows, they might let you if it’s only a week.

7. Opening yourself up to massive data protection issues, theoretically.

8. Is there a reason you wouldn’t be able to tell them?

9. Nothing wrong with Tax but your companies IT team might flip their shit if they see a connection in to their network from an international IP address. And then there’s data protection. If you have customer data on your device and their contract states that data must only be at rest in the UK then you could be opening up a can of worms.

   ​

   Just be open about it. I manage a team of 10 people and have had people travel abroad and work with no issues but I made sure all the i’s were dotted first

10. One of my colleagues now works in another country, but this was done with the full knowledge of my employer. There are all kinds of issues around tax, visas, GDPR, insurance, health & safety. Not to mention the practicalities such as internet reliability, cost of phone calls, not being available to come into the office if there’s an emergency.

    You could do it, but I think it’s hugely irresponsible, and unfair to your boss.

11. My work need to grant global access to work abroad. Probably IT ways around it.

12. Depends on where you work and what your job is.

    Where I work for the job I do, it’s an absolute no to even remotely check your emails from outside the country.

    Those with company provided laptops and mobile phones that travel even for business aren’t allowed to take them out of the country.