Employees Working Outside of Illinois

Any unit employing someone working outside of the State of Illinois must follow the Working Outside of Illinois Policy, including OBFS Policies Section 1.5.1, How to Conduct Business Outside the State of Illinois, and Section 18.16, Implications of Conducting Business Outside the State of Illinois.

This checklist may be helpful in beginning and following through with required steps.

These matters are very fact specific as each state and country has its own laws. The rules and process outlined in policy apply to domestic and foreign individuals, as well as full- and part-time employees.

Examples of matters affected are:
- establishing the ability to legally employ individuals outside Illinois,
- creating a legal presence, filing business registrations, and applying for required licenses and work permits,
- following local employment laws (e.g. health benefits, retirement and severance pay, local holidays observed, required vacation and sick time, including parental leave),
- applying for  tax-exempt status,
- calculating and withholding income, social security, and other taxes, as well as remitting and reporting taxes and other required information,
- opening bank accounts, and
- following procurement laws.

Keep in mind that the University of Illinois is one legal entity and legal obligations are not specific to each unit or each university.

Resources and Information
Forms to complete if working in other states

Employees working in other states need to complete one of two forms:

Costs Involved

University Counsel will determine the need for outside legal counsel in the relevant country. If local counsel or other resources are needed, the unit will be responsible for the legal expense.

When foreign tax withholding, remitting, reporting, and other obligations are required, then typically local accountants or payroll companies are retained to perform these services at the unit’s expense.

Other expenses may include:  local taxes, employer’s share of Social Security, severance pay, additional health benefits, workers’ compensation insurance, etc.


The Tax Withholding Allowance Certificates website notes the other states where the University is registered for employment purposes

Potential employment in the following countries requires additional consultation with Export Control: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, the Crimea region of Ukraine and Venezuela.