Sailing Through a Storm: Developing a Global Mobility & Immigration Emergency Playbook
Global businesses have faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This session replays the coronavirus crisis from its beginning, focusing on key developments and their impact on global mobility and corporate immigration strategy. The presenters will guide you through global mobility and immigration challenges precipitated by the evolving coronavirus pandemic. You’ll have the opportunity to choose a solution based on your current knowledge and experience. A team of seasoned lawyers and global mobility professionals will explain the repercussions and benefits, present alternative options, and outline critical knowledge, skills, and problem-solving strategies. Drawing lessons from what went right and what went wrong, you will cultivate emergency problem-solving skills and learn how to navigate the road to recovery.
Learning Objectives:
Develop a “duty of care” strategy to assist expatriates, business travelers and employees in times of crisis, whether pandemic, travel bans, weather or otherwise.
Understand what financial and legal considerations need to be made (such as insurance, tax liabilities, personnel reductions/wage cuts) and how to manage costs in times of crisis.
Navigate complex mobility and immigration issues (e.g. withdrawing job offers, furloughs and terminations, unauthorized movements) by incorporating multiple perspectives (legal, bottom line, empathy).
Lead conversations to steer your company towards recovery (e.g. what is the new “normal”, repurposing employees, assessing ROIs on assignments/transfers).
Charina Palomares Garcia
Charina P. Garcia is a partner and immigration attorney at Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP where she manages the firm’s Northern California – Oakland office. She represents and advises many Fortune 500 and start-up companies, as well as individuals on both employment and family-based immigration matters. Charina is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She has served on the Executive Board of the Northern California Chapter of AILA and was the Vice-Chair of the AILA National Liaison Committee for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s California Service Center. In addition, Charina has served on the Board of Directors for Filipino Advocates for Justice (formerly Filipinos for Affirmative Action) and has previously served on the Board for the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC). She was also a member of the faculty of Law Review CLE, Sterling Education Services and Lorman Education Services, which provides continuing education seminars.
Vivian Zhu
Vivian Zhu is a partner and immigration attorney at Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP. She leads WR’s Global Immigration Department and advises corporate clients in technology, entertainment, media and retail on global mobility and expansion strategies. Vivian’s clients include Fortune 500 and medium size corporations, as well as entrepreneurs, investors, and individuals. Vivian Zhu also specializes in U.S. employment and business immigration cases, including immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications for foreign entrepreneurs and investors, management personnel of international companies, and individuals. In 2019, Who’s Who Legal named Vivian a “Future Leader” in Corporate Immigration. She is also speaker and author for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
David Nose
David has been in the mobility space for over 10+ years supporting and managing relocation, immigration, tax compliance/support for global mobile employees who are increasingly becoming global nomads. From global firms with highly sophisticated programs (General Electric, Alstom, GlaxoSmithKline) to small/medium sized growth businesses (Deckers Outdoors, Procore) looking to open/expand their international presence, it has been a non-stop and fascinating journey. We are now pivoting from having just traditional expatriate/global assignments to adding more short-term assignments, rotations, Local Plus, and remote work arrangements. I constantly learn from other mobility professionals (corporate and mobility service partners) on approaches and best practices. There is no one way of doing things. It is about how we address or solve an issue based on our company’s culture, practices, cost, and level of risk. Having a sense of humor is a must in this role! I’m also a third generation lemon farmer. When life gives you lemons, enjoy it in a beverage, cocktail, or on grilled items!
Megan Murphy
Meghan is the Director of Global Mobility at Relocation Today. She has lived, worked and studied abroad giving her a first hand account of the intricacies of an international move. She lived in Chicago prior to joining the Relocation Today team where she co-owned a real estate brokerage and focused on residential real estate and investment properties. As the Director of Global Mobility, she combines her relocation knowledge with her previous accounting and managerial experience to bring a customer centric and results driven approach to her clients. Meghan is focused on delivering high quality service and providing consistently excellent results.
Meghan attended St. Norbert College and the University of Limerick, Ireland to gain her BA in English and Literature. She is a member of the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (WERC) and the Minnesota Employee Relocation Council (MERC). In her free time she enjoys the hobbies of her 4 children and spending time with family.
Erin McDermit
Erin McDermit is a partner and employment attorney at M&H, LLP in San Francisco. Erin provides strategic employment advice to employers and executives on a wide range of complex California employment laws. Throughout her legal career Erin has advised companies of all sizes, providing tailored advice to help her clients approach issues from a practical standpoint and reduce the risk of litigation. Erin has litigated numerous employment disputes, representing companies and executives in court proceedings, arbitration, mediation, and before government enforcement agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) and the California Labor Commissioner at the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”). Erin has written numerous articles on California employment laws and frequently speaks to Human Resources organizations, community organizations, and to management teams about new employment laws and other employment-related topics. She has also been a guest lecturer at Santa Clara University Law School.
Erin holds a J.D. from Santa Clara University where she was a Cali award-winner in Employment Law and Comments Editor for the Santa Clara Law Review. She also holds a B.A. with honors in Communications from Mills College and attended The Putney School in Vermont.