Expatriation occurs more in Asia, Central America and Africa while in more developed countries of Europe or the Middle East the number of expatriates has decreased.

This means that people from Europe are more likely to be moved to Asia, Central America or Africa than vice versa.
Opportunities for people from these continents to migrate to more developed countries have been stopped by the political and economic situation in the world.

Expatriation refers to the act of living outside of one’s native country for an extended period of time, typically for work, study, or personal reasons. Expatriates, or expats, are individuals who have moved to another country and may or may not intend to return to their home country at some point in the future.

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Reasons for Expatriation

There are many reasons why people choose to become expatriates. Some common reasons include:

Career opportunities: Many expats move abroad to advance their careers, either by taking on new roles or by gaining international experience.
Personal growth: Living in a new culture can be a great way to learn about different customs, traditions, and ways of life.
Adventure: For some people, the opportunity to live in a new and exciting place is simply too good to pass up.
Family reasons: Some people become expats to be closer to family members who live in other countries.
Retirement: Many retirees choose to become expats in order to enjoy a more affordable or desirable lifestyle in their later years.

Expatriation can bring many benefits, but it can also be a challenging experience. Moving to a new country requires a significant amount of planning and preparation, and it can take time to adjust to a new culture and way of life. Expats may also face challenges such as language barriers, cultural differences, and homesickness. It’s important for expats to take the time to learn about their new home and to seek out support from other expats, local communities, or professional services as needed.

What is expatriation

As such the term expatriate means that you have been displaced or assigned to another place in another country specifically.
Since globalization has become so important in our current world, more and more companies are betting on having business outside their country of origin, this has led to many of their collaborators or workers having to move to start this type of business in the new territories.
For current generations it is very attractive that their company proposes to work for a defined or indefinite period abroad, which previously seemed extremely complicated, is now increasingly common.
If you realize in previous generations, when a company reassigned one of its employees to work in another country, this was seen as a great challenge to overcome or a test of loyalty towards the company, but the employee as such did not want, nor did he I saw it as a reward.
Now, mainly the generation of Millennials not only gladly accept the resignation of work abroad but also look for companies or careers that offer this type of opportunity.

Types of Expatriation

Even now there are specific positions focused on those people who will rotate permanently from country to country to evangelize or open the company’s own business model.

Along with the term of expatriates, comes the Repatriation, which was nothing more than the fact of helping the employee to start a new life in the assigned country as part of the benefits included in his job offer.

Temporal displacement

The duration of this displacement cannot be greater than five years. The contract with the company of origin is maintained and the worker is transferred to the destination company only physically, keeping their seniority and benefits with the company of origin for as long as they are away.

Temporary transfer

Although the term temporary is legally incorrect, when colloquially reference is made to a temporary transfer, this implies that the worker is going to disassociate himself from the company of origin to temporarily sign an employment contract in the destination company even though he is part of it. group.

The important thing about this type of expatriation is that it is determined that this will only be for a defined time, although it is not necessarily established in months or years, and that at the end of that period the worker will return to Spain and renew his contract with the company. origin than expatriate.

In the event that during the time that the worker is out and his contract with the company is terminated, the seniority rights that he had in his company of origin will also be lost.

Final transfer

This refers to the fact that the worker completely extinguishes his contract in the company of origin and signs a new indefinite contract with a company in the country of destination.
Here the rights and seniority that you had in the original company will be lost and you will start from scratch in the new company.

Rights and Benefits of Expatriates

The law also regulates the contracts and conditions agreed between an employer and a worker who is going to be an expatriate. The expatriate has minimum rights guaranteed by law, both in their new job and in the mobility processes that it entails.

You must be notified in advance

If the company asks you to move to a position abroad with less than the period established by the workers’ statute, you will be breaking the law and for no reason can you be pressured to do so.
Unless it reaches an agreement with you by which the decision requires some urgency and you accept, the company cannot force you to carry out an expatriation decision at least 30 days in advance.

You have the right to decline the proposal and terminate your contract with the due compensation
Under no reason are you obliged to accept being an expatriate, so if the conditions of this displacement do not convince you 100% or it is not within your possibilities to go to another country, you can decline the proposal and the company will have the obligation to finish the contract with the corresponding compensation

If you accept, you are entitled to certain compensation

In case you are convinced by the option of being an expatriate, and you want to accept the offer, you should know that this offer must include compensation that meets the following characteristics:
The compensation referred to in the first case will include both his own expenses and those of his dependents, in the terms agreed between the parties, and will never be less than the minimum limits established in the collective agreements.

Expatriation Salary Compensation and Extra Benefits

In addition to these guarantees, companies usually offer salary compensation and benefits so that the worker can move and adapt to his new life in a better way.

With this, the company wants to guarantee that the employee, in order to maintain his economic capacity or even improve it, and that his working conditions will also be maintained despite being in another company, although they not only respect the conditions that the employee already had, they also try to give him an extra incentive for the mutual agreement to be pleasantly accepted, avoiding a unilateral decision on the part of the company.

Some of the most common expatriation salary supplements are:

Complement that compensates for the increase in the cost of living in the country of destination, with the aim that the worker does not lose quality of life.
Housing assistance, payment of housing costs and necessary supplies such as water, electricity…
Medical and/or life insurance.
Trips for the employee and his family to return to the country of origin, Spain. It depends on the duration of the expatriation, but usually one or two trips per year are agreed upon.
Help for the schooling of the children of workers.