Abstract
European welfare states were founded on the assumption that citizens in need of welfare protection were resident within the national territorial boundaries. Nowadays, jobs are often carried out, wholly or in part, abroad. Citizens and residents incur new social risks as their social and political rights in their home country often diminish as a result of the move. One example of this is what is referred to as international secondment—when, for instance, European firms send abroad employees from European offices to complete work assignments. Taking the example of secondment to India, this article investigates the extent to which both employees and their accompanying partners’ social rights are protected when they move outside of the European Union and the European Economic Area from their country of usual residence—in this case Denmark and Finland. This study is an analysis of how the social rights of seconded employees and their dependents, considered to be privileged migrants, are protected by the state. A key part of this analysis is the comparison of the pre-conditions for entitlement to basic social security while abroad. As well as illuminating the extent of the employees’ dependency on the company and the market for social protection, the findings indicate that temporary migrants incur new social risks (albeit to varying extents) depending on the country of origin, their labor market activity, and the conditions of the contract of employment with the sending company.
