There are many ways of structuring an international assignment. Many companies develop a special policy in which the structures of international assignments are described, and the applicable labour conditions are defined. Although a wide variety can be recognised, there are five different ways:
1. The “home closing” setup. In this situation, the initial employment in the home country will be terminated and replaced by an employment agreement in the host country.
2. The “Secondment” setup. In this situation, the initial employment agreement in the home country remains in place. But the employee will be temporary seconded to an employer in the host country. Usually, but not necessary, this is a company that belongs to the same group of companies the home company also belongs.
3. The “suspend” setup. In this setup there are two different approaches:To the initial employment agreement in the home country, an agreement between the employee and the employer of the host country is added, by which the authority and control of the home company is temporarily transferred to the host company;
– The initial employment agreement is temporarily put aside and replaced by a local employment agreement or assignment agreement.
– The “split employer” setup. In this case, the employee will work at home as well as the home country for two different formal employers.
4. The employer-employee relationship is defined in two various employment agreements. This setup is also known as the “split salary” setup.
Which setup is chosen depends on the company policies, day to day practices of the company and possibilities the legislation in home and host countries allows.
