How Mauve's EOR solution helped Retirement Planners of America hire in New Zealand

The challenge

Retirement Planners of America (RPOA), a U.S.-based wealth management firm working with pre-retirees and retirees, operating across 11 offices across the United States. RPOA required support retaining a remote worker who wished to move from Mexico to New Zealand. RPOA had previously used another global employment provider to engage the worker in Mexico. However, this provider did not offer a New Zealand-based service.

RPOA needed help from an experienced global employment provider to compliantly engage their worker in New Zealand.

About the client

Retirement Planners of America (RPOA) was founded in 2011, headquartered in Texas. The organisation focuses on retirement planning and financial services for individuals, particularly those approaching or in retirement. It operates multiple office locations across several states and manages several billion dollars in assets for thousands of clients.

Problems faced

RPOA had worked with an IT consultant for a number of years, previously offering to relocate the consultant from Mexico to Dallas. However, due to family commitments, the worker was unable to relocate. RPOA continued to engage the worker in Mexico via a global employment partner.

The worker then wished to move to New Zealand. However, the global employment partner RPOA was using to employ the worker in Mexico did not offer a service in New Zealand.

RPOA experienced issues with the partner’s processes; finding their communication portal cumbersome and general communication inconsistent. While the worker had been engaged in Mexico, RPOA was encountering some hidden costs and difficulty with payroll on occasion.

RPOA needed to find a new global partner with the capacity and expertise to compliantly engage the worker in New Zealand - handling all in-country labour and tax laws - while remaining transparent, communicative, and supportive of both RPOA and the worker.

As part of engaging the individual in Mexico, we had worked with a company to manage that relationship, and we were not happy with their service level,  responsiveness or transparency.

When this individual chose to relocate to New Zealand, that’s when we [looked for a new provider and] found Mauve Group.

- Christopher Winkler, Chief Financial Officer, RPOA

Partnering for success: finding a solution

After RPOA engaged with Mauve Group regarding finding a solution, it was decided that Mauve’s Employer of Record (EOR) service was the best fit for the scenario at hand.

RPOA was able to compliantly hire their worker from Mexico in New Zealand via this solution – in alignment with all local New Zealand employment and tax laws.

As the worker's engagement with RPOA came to an end, Mauve Group facilitated the compliant cessation of the worker’s contract and managed all offboarding requirements.

Key takeaways

• Worker in New Zealand engaged swiftly and compliantly.
• Tax, payroll, and overall compliance guaranteed.
• Risk of permanent establishment in New Zealand mitigated.
• Transparency and communication via a dedicated Client Manager guaranteed.
• All queries addressed in a timely manner.
• End of employment navigated in line with all local New Zealand laws.

Client recommendation

We needed to find a solution that would allow us to compliantly hire an individual who had relocated from Mexico to New Zealand. Our original employment provider was unsatisfactory – with hidden charges and a lack of transparency; their mode of operation was reactive rather than proactive. When seeking an alternative, Mauve’s pricing structure and service offering was attractive to us.

When we engaged with Mauve Group, we had a primary contact person that we could reach out to, which was nice, as it meant more consistency in who we were dealing with on a day-to-day basis, and their responsiveness to inquiries was quite helpful.

During the contract negotiation, there was a lot of transparency on how fees are set and what to expect. We have been with Mauve Group now for a year and a half, and there have been no surprises. It's a very consistent service.

Our worker is now moving on from our company. There are complexities in New Zealand’s labour laws which we've never had to deal with, so having a subject matter expert in that area that we can reach out to and rely on is very useful.

Overall, Mauve’s service has been consistent, reliable, responsive, transparent, and if we encounter a similar situation in the future, in any area of the business, Mauve would be our first call.

- Christopher Winkler, Chief Financial Officer, RPOA