Facilitating transnational employment

Relatively little has been done to address the problems of enterprises, employees and self-employed people when the company is in one country and the worker is in another. While some individuals and companies simply disregard the regulatory complexities and treat the relationship as a business-to-business transaction, many other companies and workers are dissuaded from hiring or contracting across national boundaries. This issue is particularly a problem for small firms with only one or two managerial or executive staffs, since such firms feel they have enough problems understanding and complying with local requirements.

The internet market has started responding, through intermediaries on the model of smarterwork.com, who broker the relationship between the hiring company and the contracting worker, assuming responsibitilites on behalf of both. However, this does not remove the urgent need for action to simplify and streamline the processes of trans-national employment and contracting.