Secondment agreement

• External secondment

  Among the possible situations in which external secondment can be said to exist are:

  • an employee under contract with another organisation who comes to work on a temporary basis for VU Amsterdam
  • a VU Amsterdam employee who goes to work on a temporary basis for another employer

  In the case of an external secondment, it is a good idea to make clear the nature of the relationship between the university and the other employer. This is done by concluding a secondment agreement.

  The secondment agreement is an agreement between VU Amsterdam and the other employer. The employer where the employee is formally employed is the seconding party, also known as the supplier. The other employer is the receiving party, also known as the recipient. The seconded employee remains employed by the supplier party, with whom he or she has an employment contract.

  Generally, the supplier draws up the secondment terms and conditions and also draws up the eventual secondment agreement. The employee does not have to be a party to the secondment agreement. The employee need only sign the agreement to confirm that he or she has read and understood it. 

  There is a model secondment agreement  for external secondments, which can be used for VU Amsterdam employees who are seconded to another employer. If necessary, the model may also be used as a guideline for assessing secondment agreements presented to VU Amsterdam by other parties. 

  Not every secondment is the same. Parties may need to fine-tune their arrangements to suit their individual needs. 

  The administrative processes relating to external secondments also differ:

  • If an employee under contract with another organisation comes to work on a temporary basis for VU Amsterdam, you should arrange this using the Start onboarding of an external employee self-service option. 
  • If a VU Amsterdam employee works on a temporary basis for another employer, a secondment agreement only is needed. Make sure the agreements that are made are entered into the employee’s personnel file, using the Add document to a personnel fileself-service option.

• Internal secondment

  An internal secondment is where a VU Amsterdam employee temporarily works elsewhere at the university.

  Please note that the administrative processing of an internal secondment is not carried out using the Start onboarding of an external employee self-service option; however, the costs are charged to the receiving party through a cost centre of the supplier party. 

  A model internal secondment agreement  for internal secondments can be used for setting down agreements, but this is not compulsory. Confirmation of the agreements, by email for example, will suffice. The agreements that are made should then be entered into the employee’s personnel file, using the Add document to a personnel file self-service option.

• Secondment during reintegration

  If an employee is seconded due to reintegration, this can take both the form of an internal secondment or an external one. Agreements are made not just about tasks and responsibilities, but also about the individual’s employability. This is based primarily on the assessment by the occupational health physician.

  If it concerns a partial secondment, in which the employee works some of the time in his or her own function and is seconded some of the time elsewhere, it is advisable to make clear agreements on where the employee should be reintegrated. This should preferably be included beforehand in the secondment agreement, for the sake of clarity.

• Incapacity to work during secondment

  If an employee falls ill during the period of their secondment, the nature of their reintegration will be determined primarily by the assessment of the occupational health physician.

• Work site

  If an employee has a different place of work during their secondment, he or she should amend this him/herself after gaining the consent of their manager. This can be done using the View and change my personal details self-service option. Enter the address details under Addresses > Add addresses > Positioned address. The manager then indicates approval in the workflow. This ensures that the employee receives the correct reimbursement for their commuting expenses, and that the recipient party is correctly charged for this.

  Please note that after the secondment has ended, the employee should him/herself delete their temporary place of work.

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