Employee mobility in France and abroad: opt for peace of mind!

Article L4121-1 of the French Labour Code stipulates that the employer is under the obligation to ensure his or her employees’ safety. For establishments situated in France, risk prevention is generally adequately handled, but employee mobility is sometimes overlooked in the risk-prevention plans: training, information and suitable resources must become part of your “travel policy”.

French employees who are travelling or based abroad must be covered by an equivalent level of employee benefits as if they had stayed in France. However, the systems covering retirement and employee benefits, healthcare and medical expenses vary widely from one country to another. What’s more, employees who have been de-registered from the French social security system face major consequences on their return to France, since a mandatory waiting period is applied. These aspects should be taken into account in your arrangements for employees’ assignments abroad.

Every time an employee travels, even for short distances, there are risks. They might miss their flight, lose their luggage or have their equipment stolen, face transport delays or cancellations, be involved in a road accident, be injured and/or hospitalised, lose their means of payment, etc… all unexpected events that jeopardise your employees’ peace of mind and labour power. Taking out adequate insurance cover lessens the inconvenience caused by these unforeseen events and can effectively cover your teams in the event of an injury or an accident.

When your employees go to work in countries that present a risk to their health, finances and/or safety, Verlingue can take the worry out of travelling by helping you set up appropriate solutions for every situation, including prevention and training, geolocated information and crisis management. For all business travel: medical and technical assistance, cover for “travel incidents” (luggage, flight delays, etc.), legal assistance (private third-party liability insurance, lawyer’s fees, bail advance), payment of medical expenses, etc. For employees who are expatriates or on secondment, additional social protection programmes may be set up, if need be, in coordination with the Fund for French Citizens Abroad (CFE)