Triangular Cross border Employment

Research Theme: Cross-border Mobility

Triangular Cross border Employment

This project aims at developing a new approach concerning the coordination rules with regard to employment, social security, pension and taxes applicable in triangular transnational employment relationships. The hiring-out of temporary agency workers or posted workers to another EU member state has a major impact not only on that person’s tax, employment, social security and pension position, but also on the relevant member states of residence and of origin. Notwithstanding a substantial body of secondary EU legislation on social security, employment and the tax position of migrant workers, the lack of coordination between the different sets of national rules leads to an incoherent patchwork of applicable law and material provisions. One of the reasons for the existing patchwork is that triangular employment relations are developed within the framework of the freedom to provide services. The main focus therefore lies not on the working individual, but on the service provider/employer making use of this person, especially on the prevention of double burdens for the service provider/employer. This means that, in general, the lex loci laboris rule providing for equal treatment in the host country does not apply, which causes serious coordination problems.

Project leaders: Saskia Klosse (Faculty of Law), Pieter van der Mei (Faculty of Law), Marjon Weerepas (Faculty of Law). Other members of the research team: Nicola Gundt (Faculty of Law), Anouk Bollen-Vandenboorn (Faculty of Law), Joan Muyskens (School of Business and Economics). External and societal contacts: Tax administration and tax law firms, APG, AZL, Pension Funds, trESS-network.