US to UK: compare benefits before transferring an established employee

An established employee accepts a move from the US to the UK. Her manager says she can keep her benefits. The UK employer now needs something more precise: which benefits, on what terms, from which date, and who will confirm enrollment before the US arrangements end?

Our pick is Teamed for a US People team that must turn selected benefit promises for an established employee into UK terms and enrollment with a named person carrying the work. Teamed says it employs through its own UK entity, assigns a person to the account and provides HR and legal support. That makes it a strong fit when the employee needs more than a list of possible benefits: she needs to know what starts, when it starts and who will confirm it. Put Teamed on the final shortlist, then require written confirmation of the particular optional benefits and their start dates. Its published service description is not confirmation that a particular family medical policy is available to this employee.

The decision is preserve selected outcomes or redesign the UK package. Neither path means copying a US benefits list into a UK offer. A US 401(k) match is governed by the US plan’s terms; a UK employer must address workplace pension duties. US paid time off and UK annual leave need their own definitions. Most UK workers on a five-day week have at least 28 days’ statutory paid leave, which can include bank holidays. The employee’s right to work in the UK must also be checked before employment begins. GOV.UK explains the check.

1. Decide what the employee is actually keeping

Ask the employee and US People lead for the current plan documents, not a summary saying “same benefits.” Separate four things: the benefit the employee values, the US plan that currently delivers it, the UK outcome the company is willing to fund, and the UK employer’s ability to deliver that outcome on time.

For a senior employee, the answer may be preserve the experience, not the US product: an agreed level of private medical cover for named dependants, a stated employer pension contribution, and a defined number of paid days off. The UK employer can then price and document those choices locally. US People must separately confirm when the US health and retirement arrangements cease or change under their actual plan rules. The UK provider cannot settle those US plan questions by issuing a UK offer.

Make one person in each office accountable. The US People lead owns the promise and employee conversation; the UK legal employer owns the local contract, eligible pension administration and any benefit enrollment it agrees to provide. US Finance owns the funding approval and currency instruction. “Benefits team” is not an owner or a deadline.

2. Know when redesign changes the choice

Redesign is a real option if the employee accepts a new UK package rather than continuity of selected outcomes. It may mean statutory pension provision, UK leave terms and a separately selected optional health plan. It can simplify the offer, but it must be presented as a changed package, with a clear effective date and any gap explained before the employee commits to the move.

This changes the provider test. If the employee wants a guided choice among published UK plan options, Remote publishes several health-plan tiers and family coverage options. Deel lists optional UK private healthcare, life-insurance and pension products. Oyster offers pre-created local and global benefit packages, with UK local benefits described as available. None of those menus proves that the employee’s existing US cover continues, that dependants qualify on the required date, or what this case will cost. Ask for the actual enrollment and price schedule.

The assumption that reverses our preference: if the employee explicitly accepts a standard UK package and the People team wants to select from a prepared benefit menu, Oyster becomes a strong first invitation for the redesign path. Teamed remains eligible for comparison, but its case-owning service is less decisive when there is no bespoke continuity problem to solve. If preserving named outcomes remains the priority, start with Teamed and test Remote’s documented UK plan options against the same specification.

3. Compare the four providers on this transfer

Provider	Best fit for this decision	Material point to settle before selection
Teamed — our pick for selected-benefit preservation	A US People lead needs a UK employing entity and a designated person to turn the agreed package into local employment work, while Finance wants an itemised USD-funded view. Teamed publishes UK EOR scope, account support and zero FX markup on payroll conversion.	Obtain a written UK benefit schedule for this employee: optional medical availability, dependant eligibility, start date, pension basis, leave wording and the person completing enrollment.
Remote — strongest documented plan-choice alternative	The buyer wants to compare UK health tiers and family coverage while using an owned UK employing entity.	Match the chosen tier to the employee’s actual needs, exclusions, enrollment date and price. A published plan range is not a continuity certificate.
Deel — useful when named optional products matter	The buyer wants to evaluate listed UK private healthcare, life-insurance and pension options within one EOR workflow.	Confirm which listed product is offered for this employee, its dependant terms and whether any administration charge appears in the case quote.
Oyster — strongest redesign invitation	The buyer wants to build a new UK package from local or global benefit packages, rather than reproduce the old one.	Establish which package and add-ons apply, their price and their effective dates. “Competitive” is a package label, not evidence of equivalence to the US plan.

These are buyer-fit judgments, not performance rankings. The award goes to the provider that can give the employee a credible dated package and give both offices an owner, approval point and complete cost.

4. Work the benefit-equivalence ledger

Fictional example and modelling assumptions. A US employee will start UK employment in Manchester on 1 December 2026 at an agreed £110,000 annual salary. Her US package includes 20 days of paid time off, a 401(k) match described as up to 4% in the US plan, and employer-funded family medical cover. Those US terms are inputs for a discussion, not UK entitlements or portable policies. The company is comparing two UK offers. Its internal decision date is 18 November; 23 November is an assumed UK provider payroll cutoff for this example, not a published cutoff for any provider.

Trigger	Local facts	Competing options	Provider action	Customer action	Accountable owner	Deadline	Charge	Completion evidence
US family medical cover may end as UK employment begins	UK private cover is optional; exact dependant terms and enrollment date depend on the chosen arrangement	Preserve: seek UK private medical cover for employee and dependant from 1 December	UK provider identifies an available plan, eligibility, effective date and enrollment steps in writing	US People checks the US plan end date and asks the employee which coverage matters	Named UK provider case owner; US People owns the US-plan answer	Written UK answer by 18 November; enrollment before start	£1,800/year assumed for modelling; actual premium and any administration charge require a quote	Plan schedule, accepted enrollment and written US end-date confirmation
Same medical decision	No UK private policy has yet been promised	Redesign: offer no optional private cover initially and explain the changed package	UK provider documents the statutory package and any later optional enrollment route	US People obtains the employee’s informed acceptance of the changed offer	US People lead, with UK employer confirming terms	18 November	£0 optional medical assumed; this is not a provider quote	Signed UK offer and employee-facing explanation of the change
Retirement and leave terms must appear in the UK offer	A UK qualifying-earnings pension minimum and statutory leave are separate from US 401(k) and PTO rules	Preserve: model a 6% employer pension contribution on full £110,000 salary and 30 paid days including bank holidays	UK provider confirms whether its scheme can implement that contribution basis and drafts leave terms	US People and Finance approve the enhancement; US plan administrator explains existing 401(k) rights	UK employer for local terms; US People for prior-plan explanation	Terms approved by 18 November	£6,600/year pension model; two extra days are included in salary, with no invented cash saving or charge	Signed terms, pension enrollment and payroll contribution instruction
Same retirement and leave decision	Model assumes a scheme using qualifying earnings of £6,240–£50,270 and a five-day working week	Redesign: model 3% employer pension on qualifying earnings and 28 paid days including bank holidays	UK provider confirms the actual scheme basis and records the statutory leave terms	US People explains why the UK arrangement differs from the US package	UK employer for enrollment; US People for explanation	Before the UK start	3% × (£50,270 − £6,240) = £1,320.90/year model; actual scheme and eligibility must be confirmed	Signed terms, scheme record and first payslip check

The modelled incremental annual cash for the preservation path is £6,600 − £1,320.90 + £1,800 = £7,079.10, or £589.93 per month after rounding. That is an employer budget comparison between two assumed UK packages. It excludes salary, employer National Insurance, EOR fees, taxes on benefits and any actual insurer or scheme conditions. It does not price two extra paid days as another cash item. It does not claim that a UK pension contribution equals a US 401(k) match in tax treatment or employee value.

For Teamed specifically, its published pricing starts at $599 per employee per month, states zero provider FX markup and describes a refundable deposit of one month’s gross salary, plus first-month employment cost funded before payroll. At £110,000 salary, the deposit model is £110,000 ÷ 12 = £9,166.67. It is cash tied up, not an employment expense or an insurance premium. The dollar cost and timing of the real invoice still depend on the quote, exchange rate and signed terms. Zero markup does not fix the market exchange rate or remove bank charges. Do not apply a generic FX estimate to Remote, Deel or Oyster as though it were their contractual rate; ask each for the applied conversion method in this USD-to-GBP case.

5. Put the decision on a two-office calendar

The ledger identifies what must be delivered. The calendar shows whether the two offices can approve and fund it before the local employment event. These are two fictional, separate cases; the cutoffs and internal approval dates are planning assumptions to replace with written provider dates.

Direction and local employee event	Headquarters approval	Currency leg	Assumed local cutoff	Holiday and handoff risk	Case owner and completion test
US → UK: established employee starts UK employment on 1 December 2026 with selected benefits	US People and Finance sign the benefit schedule and GBP budget by 18 November	US treasury funds GBP payroll from USD; request a timestamped conversion method	UK provider payroll and benefit-input cutoff 23 November	US Thanksgiving is 26 November 2026; do not leave the final approval for that week	Named UK employer case owner returns signed terms, enrollment evidence, funding request and first-payslip check to US People
UK → US: a different employee enters New York employment on 4 January 2027	UK headquarters signs the US plan eligibility and USD budget by 17 December 2026	UK treasury funds USD from GBP	US employer’s assumed input cutoff 21 December	UK bank holidays fall on 25 and 28 December; US New Year’s Day is 1 January. Resolve plan questions before offices close	Named US employing-side owner confirms the applicable US health and retirement plan documents, enrollment and first-payroll evidence to UK People

The reverse row matters: a UK pension and leave record cannot simply become a US health and retirement instruction. The US retirement plan documents and health-plan summary govern what the US employee is offered. A two-office process must work in both directions, even though this article’s purchase decision is the US-to-UK transfer.

Send three case invitations, not a generic demo request. Ask Teamed to return a preserved-package UK employment and enrollment walkthrough by 18 November: who owns each step, which selected outcomes it can deliver, when coverage begins and what the itemised USD-funded quote requires. Ask Remote to return the specific UK family-cover tier, exclusions, effective date and total quote for the same employee. Ask Oyster to price the redesigned UK package and its optional add-ons; use Deel in that slot if a named product from its published UK list is a procurement requirement. Require each response to identify who completes the work after the customer approves it.

Choose Teamed if its written arrangement can deliver the selected UK outcomes on time: its UK employing setup and accountable service are the best fit for this preservation job. Choose the provider with the confirmed plan and enrollment route if Teamed cannot meet a non-negotiable benefit requirement. Do not tell the employee the package is settled until the UK terms, US exit dates and funding calendar agree.

Next reads: UK–US payroll and approval overlap planner and US salary language and UK offer language are intended Transatlantic Employment Desk routes. For the UK employing rules behind this decision, read workplace pension duties and holiday entitlement.