Employers may delegate their employees abroad by way of a business delegation or by way of secondment. This distinction is very important when it comes to employer’s responsibilities.

 

The regime of business delegation results from Article 77 of the 5th Labor Code. The delegation is to carry out, at the employer’s request, a service task outside of the place where the employer’s seat is located or outside the permanent place of work. Posting an employee in this regime gives the employer certain obligations, which are set out in the executive regulation. These include payment of allowances, reimbursement of travel expenses, accommodation and other.

 

The second regime (secondment) has been developed in practice, but it is not devoid of legal basis. The secondment consists in a temporary change of the place of work by the employee by terminating the previous terms of the employment contract (Article 42 of the Code).

 

It is difficult to identify clearly the border between the delegation and the secondment, in particular where there is no written confirmation of any of the above forms of posting. Sometimes it is considered as a criterion for the duration of work outside the permanent place of work. In practice, it is sometimes assumed that a service delegation can take up to 3 months and, for a longer period, use the form of secondment. However, there is no legal standard conclusive this issue in such a way.

 

When delegating employees abroad, it should be remembered that such differences do not exist in every country. Sometimes the employer will have identical duties in relation to posted employees as in the case of employees sent for a business delegation.