Employer and employee rights during the secondment
There are several laws you need to keep in mind when arranging a secondment. Certain laws come into effect at different stages of the secondment, these include but are not limited to:
Selecting secondees
When you are choosing secondees, the process must be fair, transparent, and objective. Consequently, you can't exclude an employee from a secondment arrangement, based on their sex, age, and race.
You must also ensure to get the employee's consent. For example, if during the secondment period they need to work in a different location, it's not fair to put them through the selection process to only then reveal the secondment requires a temporary relocation, which they can't commit to.
Drawing up agreements
The most complex agreements are those that involve an external company. When organising these types of secondments, you must ensure your wording is extremely clear to avoid any confusion and unanticipated consequences.
Salary and benefits
If a secondee is joining a new team, but is still working for the same company their salary and benefits would likely be unaffected as they are still bound to their original employer.
However, when a secondee is working for another company, it is important the original employer continues to pay their salary — the same goes for benefits. The reason for this is that a salary is a fundamental part of an employment contract and also proves the secondee's term of employment was not broken.
Regarding expenses, an agreement needs to state whether the host or original employer pays these. The host can pay expenses and then seek reimbursement.
Disciplinary and grievance procedures
A secondee's original employer takes responsibility for any disciplinary sanctions — and also appraisals and grievance procedures. However, this should be made clear in the secondment agreement, so there is no confusion between the host, secondee, and original employer.
The host can be invited to share their experiences when needed and the extent of their contributions should also be outlined in the agreement. Additionally, the existing employer must also do their best to ensure the secondee is not put at a disadvantage when on secondment.
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