CV - YEP - Your Employment Partner

Curriculum Vitae
Karen Blereau
PERSONAL DETAILS
Name: Blereau
First name: Karen
Address:
Brederodestraat 195
B-2018 Antwerp
Belgium
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile: 00 32 (0)477 20 77 60
Date of birth: 05/07/1976
Place of birth: Lier (Belgium)
CAREER
As from 01/03/2013
Barco
International Compensation & Benefits Specialist Ad Interim
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization solutions for a variety of
selected professional markets: control rooms, defense & aerospace, digital cinema, healthcare,
media & entertainment and simulation & virtual reality.
In these markets Barco offers user-friendly imaging products that optimize productivity and
business efficiency. Its innovative hard- and software solutions integrate all aspects of the imaging
chain, from image acquisition and processing to image display and management. Barco has its
own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North
America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries
with about 3,900 employees worldwide. Global headquarters are situated in Kortrijk, Belgium
As the replacer of the International Compensation & Benefits Specialist during her maternity leave,
my tasks and responsibilities are the following: Generating the expat files
General management of and following up the running expat files (i.e. coordination with
different payroll companies legal and HR partners, tax consultants, … outside Barco and
point of contact for the expat, the HR Business Partner and management within Barco);
Startup of new expat files in line with the Barco International Mobility Policy. Operational and
substantive support of the Reward Director
Startup and follow up of international files (gross-net estimations, payroll assistance, visas,
contracts…);
Development and execution of compensation and benefits policies on local and
international level;
Support with all kind of labor law issues (locally and internationally) Point of contact for HR
and management regarding specific inquiries on labor law, social security and tax law
01/12/2012 – 01/03/2013
Vinçotte International
International Employment Counsel Ad Interim
As an independent and impartial service provider, Vinçotte offers inspections, testing, certification
and training in quality, safety and environment related fields. With more than 130 expert services,
the Vinçotte group has more than 2,500 employees and 14 offices worldwide. Global headquarters
are situated in Vilvoorde, Belgium.
Within my function as International Employment Counsel I assisted and advised the CHRO on
the following international HR issues during a 3-month project: Legal and practical advice and
counseling on international employment of Belgian employees ; Legal and practical elaboration
and finalization of a policy on international employment of Belgian employees.
01/10/2012 Foundation of YEP – Your Employment Partner
Founding and Managing Director
Once having gained enough life and professional experience, I decided to realize one more of my
dreams, namely my own business which I baptized as ‘YEP’ (Your Employment Partner)
http://www.yepartner.com
12/04/2010 – 31/01/2013
Sarens Group
International Employment and Contract Coordinator
Besides transport, the Sarens Group is first and foremost specialized in the handling of heavy
goods. Not only in the rental and use of cranes, but also in solving problems linked with crane
work. This group owns 101 entities in 51 countries, with a yearly turnover reaching 420 million EUR
and more than 3.000 employees operating worldwide.
As International Employment and Contract Coordinator my tasks and responsibilities within the
Global HR team at the Sarens HQ (in Brussels) are:
Employment Contracts: Investigation and draft of local and international employment
contracts
International Expat Policy: Investigation, set up and coordination of a centralized expat
contract and compensation policy from the Belgian HQ
Pay roll: Start up pay roll throughout the world and write out and implement pay roll and data
procedures per country (in- and outside Europe)
Legal and tax investigations: Investigations of applicable labor law, income taxes and social
security schemes within the scope of international employment and research for cost
optimization
Start up of foreign offices/branches: Full research of starting up a foreign business
(procedures, timelines, costs,...)
Immigration: Both the theoretical and practical investigation of the application for business,
work and residence visa in and outside Europe (e.g. Bahrain, Algeria, Qatar, KSA, US,
Australia, Chili, Ecuador, Cameroon, CongoBrazaville, Brazil) as the effective applications for
these permits, namely start-up and follow-up visa application procedures.
Legal employment: Research and assure that all employees and independent contractors
assigned to foreign short or long term projects are working in line with the national and
international laws (i.e. labor, tax and social security laws)
Advising in all other HR, legal and payroll issues related to international employment.
Within this function it is my overall role to advise in, organize/implement and coordinate all running
employment and contract files and issues throughout the world and such in cooperation with
external legal, HR and tax partners and the business and operation managers within Sarens.
From 01/01/2007 - 11/04/2010
SD WORX Tax & Legal
Advanced International Consultant
SD Worx is an HR services company offering a complete range of services and products relating
to the employment of personnel. SD Worx also offers payroll, HR and tax & legal services which
are specifically designed to meet the needs of international companies and this in close respect to
local tax and social legislation. SD Worx employs around 2.000 employees in Belgium, has branch
offices in the Netherlands, France, Luxemburg and Germany and offers payroll alliances in 27
different countries.
My responsibilities and tasks as an Advanced International Consultant at SD Worx (dpt. Tax &
Legal) were amongst others:
Legal advice on international and national employment files
Development of practical and tailor-made legal and HR solutions for international
employment challenges
Start up international payroll for foreign and Belgian companies/employers
Assignment projects as legal consultant and HR generalist, whether or not on site at the
customer’s, for a limited period or a specific project within the context of national and/or
international employment
Besides my role as consultant I also developed new business at SD Worx based on my experience
and knowledge as an international consultant seeking for new business opportunities.
This new service was called GEPS (Global Employment and Payroll Services). Main focus was
to present SD Worx as a global partner that could offer assistance with employment and payroll
administration anywhere in the world. Within this cooperation I was the direct and only contact of
the client. In this function my role as a partner was two-sided, namely:
to advise and assist the client with all his foreign employment issues, whether for a
temporary assignment or for local or simultaneous employment for an unlimited duration
and
to translate and implement these employment and payroll solutions by coordinating and
instructing the foreign legal and payroll SD consultants or external partners per country
concerned.
01/08/2005 - 31/12/2006
SD WORX Tax & Legal
Legal Consultant
My responsibilities and tasks as a legal consultant at SD Worx (dpt. Tax & Legal) were amongst
others:
Legal and practical consulting in the field of reception policy for employees (i.e. arrival of
new employees) , manpower management, mergers and acquisitions, dismissal
Social audit: Performance of mini-social audits and large-scale audits for various customers
Foreign employees in Belgium: Advising on social-law aspects (applicable social security
law, labor law aspects and social security benefits (including pension, benefits in the event
of unemployment and disability, work-related accident insurance, child benefit)
Drafting of monthly newsletter with news on national and international social and tax law
01/05/2002 – 31/07/2005
Mercer HR Consulting
Legal/HR Consultant
Mercer HR Consulting is a US based company, specialized in HR and Employee Benefits
Consulting with offices throughout the world. I was based at the Brussels’ office.
My responsibilities and tasks as a legal/HR consultant at Mercer were amongst others:
To give legal advice on all matters and problems related to Belgian social law, labor law and
social security law
HR Outsourcing: HR procedures, HR administration and Employee Benefits consulting
HR Due Diligence: Analysis and synthesis of HR and remuneration policies within the frame
of Due Diligence
Preparation and presentation of internal trainings to the employees of Mercer
Preparation and editing of newsletters (external and internal), articles on various legal
issues, …
01/05/2001 – 01/12/2001
DDB Events
Account Manager
DDB Events is a department of DDB Belgium, daughter of the US parent company DDB. DDB
Belgium employs about 120 people.
As one of the account managers I was responsible for the creation and total organization of B-to-C
events.
Some of our clients were Mobistar (one of Belgium’s biggest mobile phone operating company),
Porsche, Deutsche Bank, Bentley, Volkswagen, Audi,…
01/10/2000 – 30/04/2001
Puma
Junior Account manager
In cooperation with the account manager, I was responsible for
the organization of B-to-B and B-to-C events from A to Z.
EDUCATION
1994 Sint-Ursula Lyceum O.-L.-V. Waver
Direction: Sciences (6 hours Maths)
1994-1996 Catholic University Brussels
Law - Bachelor
1996-2000 Catholic University Leuven
Law - Master
LINGUISTIC SKILLS
Dutch: mother tongue
French: thorough
English: thorough
German: basic
Spanish: notions
Remarks: Several stays (from 2 weeks up to 3 months) and language courses abroad
(France, UK, Austria) and world trip of 6 months (Australia, New Zealand and Asia)