French and Irish Social Law for Expatriate Employees

Extract

[...] Upon the arrival of an expatriate employee, the employer must file a secondment declaration with the French authorities. In addition, he must respect the French legal minimums, in particular on salary, working hours or holidays. In Ireland, a seconded employee will also benefit from the essential protections of Irish law, the application of which is ensured by the Workplace Relations Commission51. Employers must provide pay slips and respect the rules on working hours. In addition, bilateral social security conventions52 regulate the affiliation of seconded employees between the two social protection systems. [...]

[...] In Ireland, there is no mandatory state pension scheme for private sector employees. However, many companies offer occupational pension schemes to which expatriates can voluntarily join62. These plans can take the form of defined benefit schemes (rare today) or defined contribution schemes, with contributions from the employer and the employee. Employers can also subscribe to complementary insurance covering risks such as invalidity or death. In accordance with the Caisse pour l'avenir des enfants ruling63, The CJEU has ruled that professional complementary pension schemes fall within the scope of European rules on the free movement of workers and non-discrimination, even if they are based on collective agreements 3.2. [...]

[...] In the absence of this, the law of the host country will apply fully. 3. La prise en charge des risques maladie et prévoyance La prise en charge des risques maladie et prévoyance constitutes another area where French and Irish approaches diverge substantially, with practical impacts for expatriate employees. The differences crystallize around two complementary but distinct aspects. It is the mandatory legal regimes of social security, whether financed by social contributions or tax, that do not exactly cover the same risks or in the same way. [...]

[...] To avoid double taxation of the same income in both countries, the Franco-Irish tax convention of 196845 previews rules for income allocation. In principle, salaries are taxable in the state of residence of the employee. However, if the employee exercises an activity in the other state for more than 183 days over a period of 12 months, a part of the salary also becomes taxable in that source state46. 2. The distinct legal framework governing the temporary detachment of workers In practice, the secondment of workers involves the application of specific rules, both at national and European level. [...]

[...] Any new European social norm must therefore be strictly proportionate and limited to what is necessary to achieve the pursued objectives. 2. Cultural and national differences Attempts to harmonize labor law and social protection at the European level also face the deep cultural, historical, and societal differences between member states. In fact, national social legislation reflects the values, traditions, and societal choices specific to each country. They embody distinct social models, the result of specific political and social compromises in each national context.92. [...]