Social security and pension arrangements for workers posted abroad and their employers

Abstract

This paper examines the statutory provisions and equivalent in the field of social security and occupational pensions applicable to workers seconded by their employer to work abroad. It looks at UK regulations that specify the circumstances under which individuals and employers are liable, or entitled, to pay National Insurance contributions while absent from the UK, and those in which state pensions and other social security benefits are payable while persons are abroad. It also outlines provisions of European Union (EU) Regulations that override UK national provisions for EU and European Economic Area (EEA) nationals absent from the UK in other EU and EEA states. The paper also examines the rules laid down by the Inland Revenue to enable persons working abroad to continue membership of UK occupational, personal and stakeholder pension schemes and to transfer pension rights to foreign schemes. It refers to the EU Directive concerning the protection of supplementary pension rights for persons who move between member states. Although the paper mentions bilateral conventions between the UK and non-EEA states, it does not examine the provisions of each convention.