The size of the globally mobile workforce differs, according to estimates, from 66M to 1.9BN, but how lawful are the transfers that take place?
The mobile workforce clearly consists of a number of distinct types of worker – ranging from the unskilled migrant workers in the third world seeking paid openings in more affluent countries to expats sent on assignment by multinational employers. In between are a mix of self-employed service personnel and digital nomads, employees sent on secondments and executives on business trips. The law does not bend to adapt to meet every circumstance and those without official documentation make up a high proportion of those in overseas work, especially within countries with leaky borders – such as those in Latin America and some parts of Africa and Asia. But how compliant are multinational companies when it comes to international transfers? Compliance is generally strong when seeking to recruit foreign nationals within a country, but often becomes shaky when sending employees to work temporarily in other countries. Few companies concern themselves with checking jobs posting requirements when sending staff on business trips, or for overseas training, especially within the European Union. Compliance in the EU improves with longer term assignments, but remains weak when sending staff outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland/UK. In many countries outside the EU ambit no recognition exists in respect to employment contracts in a home country – even though double-taxation and social security totalization agreements are in place to deal with such eventualities. It is therefore necessary simply to suspend a home contract, find an organisation in the host country to act as temporary employer and then apply for work and residence permits to cover the assignment period. Here compliance by employers is particularly low, relying instead on the inefficiency of government inspectorates not to detect a foreign visitor at work, or for the illegal expat not to be injured in a workplace – after which questions will be asked.