Cross-border teleworking made easier in Europe
From July 1, 2023, cross-border teleworking is made easier in Europe!
Since the health crisis linked to COVID-19, the organization of work has become hybrid, frequently mixing teleworking and on-site work. These more flexible working methods are not without difficulties, particularly with regard to the applicable social security legislation.
To facilitate the rules applicable to cross-border workers (who carry out their activity in one or more Member States), France has signed a European framework agreement allowing the maintenance to the social legislation of the State of employment of cross-border workers who telework less than 50% of their working time in their State of residence.
In summary:
Employees concerned
- Exercise from any location.
- In one or more States signatory to the agreement other than that where the employer’s premises are located.
- Rely on information technologies allowing them to stay connected to their work environment and carry out the tasks assigned to them by the employer or clients.
A more favorable regime
Maintenance of affiliation with the social security system of the State of the company’s head office if three cumulative conditions are met:
- The employee’s State of residence differs from the State of the head office or place of establishment of his employer.
- The share of teleworking carried out in the State of residence is less than 50% of the employee’s total working time.
- The request is made by the employee or by the employer.
- The employer sends a request to the competent institution of the State where its head office is located.
- The institution issues the portable A1 document attesting to the employee’s compliance with the legislation of the employer’s headquarters.
Procedures
- The employer sends a request to the competent institution of the State where its head office is located.
- The institution issues the A1 portable document attesting to the employee’s compliance with the legislation of the employer’s headquarters.
Example:
A cross-border worker who works lives in Germany and works for an employer whose head office is established in France will be able to telework from Germany up to 2.5 days per week, while remaining subject to French social security legislation, provided that a request for an A1 form has been obtained.
For information, the signatory countries to date are as follows: Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Croatia, Czech Republic, Austria, Netherlands, Slovakia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, France.
Note, however, that this framework agreement does not resolve the difficulties that remain regarding the labor law and tax law rules applicable to cross-border workers.
