A detached worker is an employee who is sent by his or her employer in one country to work temporarily in the other country for the same employer or an affiliate of that employer.
NOTE: If the employee is a U.S. or French citizen, the transfer may be via a third country. If the employee is not a U.S. or French citizen, the transfer must be directly from the U.S. to France or France to the U.S.
Under the agreement, a detached worker remains subject only to the social security laws of the country from which he or she was sent, provided all of the following conditions are met:
The period of employment in the host country is expected to last no more than 5 years. The 5-year period is considered to begin with the date the employment in the host country begins or the effective date of the agreement (July 1, 1988), whichever is later.
The employment relationship must exist before the employee is transferred from the home country.
In the case of an employee who is sent by an American employer to become the employee of the company's affiliate in France, the American employer must have entered into an agreement under Section 3121(l) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the affiliate.
In the case of an employee sent from the United States to France, the employee and any family members who accompany the worker must be covered under a private health insurance plan.
If an employer in one country sends the same employee to work in the other country on more than one occasion, the detached worker rule will apply to that employee for the second and any subsequent assignment only if
that assignment is expected to end within 5 years of the beginning date of the first assignment or
at least 1 year has elapsed since the end of the most recent assignment.
Agreement under Section 3121(l) of the Internal Revenue Code, RS 01901.070