Testimonial of Blandine Grasso

Testimonial |

Immigration and Social Security in France

Testimonial of Blandine Grasso

Blandine Grasso,
International Mobility Manager, Décathlon

« Going through a service provider like L’Élan reassures me; I know the information is reliable. ».

Very formative support

When she met Nicole Könz, the founder of l’Élan, in 2006, Blandine Grasso already had a lot of personal experience with mobility. However, newly appointed to the Décathlon head office as international mobility manager, she knew that she had a lot to learn about day-to-day migration management. This is why she asked l’Élan to provide her with assistance and support for her first mobility files.

At the time, Blandine Grasso was in charge of around sixty foreign employees who had been transferred to France as part of corporate mobility programs. Most of these foreigners were Europeans. Most of them had been placed on temporary assignment and were still dependant on their original subsidiary, which continued to pay them. Just the same, issues concerning paid leave, the number of hours worked, various administrative declarations, the labor inspectorate, etc., all had to be settled within the required time frames and in compliance with French laws. L’Élan’s support services served as a real training experience for her. Today, Blandine Grasso is capable of handling all the steps that need to be taken with the authorities, filling out all the forms and choosing the most appropriate solutions on her own…

The On-line Impatriation Guide: a daily tool

Now focused on a very international population of engineers, Blandine Grasso also oversees numerous foreign interns and employees on business trips, which represents more than a hundred movements a year. But she intends to manage the impatriation files herself along with applications to the prefecture, the Departmental Office for Labor, Employment and Vocational Training (DTEFP) and the Cité des Entreprises: “I prefer direct relationships with the local authorities. I want to be able to explain to them why we are bringing foreigners here and the results that produces. I work with complete transparency. I prefer to anticipate rather than be penalized if a certain procedure has not been followed….” This is the reason Blandine Grasso chose to subscribe to the l’Élan On-line Impatriation Guide.

“When I’m working on an immigration file, I consult the On-line Impatriation Guide at least once a day, particularly the practical guidelines, to find the proper procedures to follow or to explain certain points to colleagues who have come to France.” Indeed, the main problem in international mobility has to do with the immense diversity of the work and the need for infallible legal intelligence. Expertise that few companies can allow themselves in-house… “This is why I work with a tool like L’Élan” Blandine Grasso explains. Laws, immigration rules, social security coverage: all the technical data she needs are consolidated in the On-line Guide and updated as international mobility issues, which change quickly, develop.

Indispensable, quick and reliable advice

In addition to the common laws applicable in immigration matters, mobility represents another challenge. Each person arriving in France to work there is a special case: a Chinese man comes to work for two months, an outside colleague arrives from Syria, a Frenchman returns with his Chinese wife, a manager must be eligible for a top executive procedure… “For all these cases, I find the right procedure in the practical guidelines” Blandine Grasso confides. She uses the practical guidelines of the On-line Guide to remind herself what needs to be done in each individual case. She knows that there she will find the most recent laws and the procedures that accompany them, explained and with commentary. But that’s not all.

When it comes to international mobility, intercultural problems, handling families, real-life experience with integration… help complicate each case… . In comparison, Blandine Grasso feels that “filling out forms takes time but it’s easy....” This is why it seems to her necessary to go through an expert as soon as there is any doubt: how should I proceed for this employee of a particular origin… how should I go about requesting an extension for a professional intern?... l’Élan’s advice allows her to decide in compete safety. “As soon as I call for advice concerning a procedure, I get the information quickly.”

Many weeks saved thanks to l’Élan

When the new laws or regulations concerning employees on assignment were enacted in 2007, Blandine Grasso sought l’Élan’s help. The information and the tools related to these new provisions were not yet available to operational personnel in her region. Under these circumstances, it would be tricky for the local authorities to handle her files. However, L’Élan had already implemented this new procedure with other Departmental Directorates for Labor and Employment. Thanks to its network and with all the necessary flexibility, L’Élan was able to put the local teams in contact with other contacts. The experience of these contacts helped them apply the new procedures quickly. “I saved many weeks thanks to l’Élan” Blandine Grasso estimates.

Décathlon in a nutshell…

Created in 1976, Décathlon now employs 40,000 people in 25 countries. Under its new corporate signature, Oxylane Groupe, Décathlon is continuing its sustained growth through a particularly dynamic international mobility policy. On average, more than 210 people are on temporary assignment in companies within the corporation. The corporation conducts an expatriation policy common to all international transfers, regardless of the home country and the country of assignment, aimed at assisting employees and their families during their experience abroad.
www.decathlon.com

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 June 2009 14:50

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