Businesses are taking unnecessary risks when it comes to sending employees abroad, Expacare has warned.
According to the provider's Anatomy of an International Business research, that has analysed employer duty of care, two fifths of expats are being offered the same package as their counterparts in the UK.
It found the benefits varied little despite those working overseas potentially having additional needs, such as a relocation allowance and private medical insurance.
The majority of employers questioned looked to post an employee overseas for between three to six months, with 27% sending employees away for six months to a year.
Beverly Cook, managing director of Expacare, said: "The research has shown that employers are all too often leaving their staff vulnerable when relocating them to work overseas.
"There seems to be real confusion over policies, with far too many businesses assuming that their employees will be covered if they are located in the EU and that an employee's travel insurance policy will cover all their health needs, which is rarely the case."
She added private health insurance was a valued benefit for staff in both the UK and overseas and businesses should be containing cost without cutting corners.
The research showed employers placed a low priority on offering a relocation allowance to staff, with only a quarter seeing it as a core provision.
And just one in 10 employers placed importance on family and school allowance.
Staff private health insurance however was seen as important by 32% but less than a fifth placed importance on offering staff critical illness cover.
Employer attitude to benefit options varied with 33% saying it was a personal choice for employees and a quarter wanting to provide it but cannot afford to.
