An international employment contract is an employment contract which includes one or more foreign elements.
Examples
There will be a foreign element where the place of performance of the work agreed upon in the contract is located in more than one State or where the employee resides in a State other than the one where his employer has its registered office.
In the case of an international employment contract, two legal difficulties arise:
- what legal order is applicable to an international employment contract (= conflict of laws)?
- what is the competent court for disputes concerning the conclusion, performance or breach of an international employment contract (= conflict of jurisdiction)?
The rules of international law concerning these two legal problems do not automatically refer to the legal order of one and the same State, in so far as the jurisdiction of a court in a given State does not necessarily imply that the national law of that State is to apply.
A Luxembourg court designated as having jurisdiction may, for example, be required to apply a foreign law to a dispute displaying foreign elements, and likewise a foreign court designated as having jurisdiction may be required to apply Luxembourg law.