New Posted Worker Notification Required for Non-EU Assigned Workers

The situation

In a change of policy, employers in Greece are now required to file posted worker notifications for all foreign nationals remaining on home employment contract.

A closer look

• Notification for all nationalities. Employers must now file posted worker notification for all foreign workers on home employment contract. Previously, posted worker notifications were only required for EU, European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals on home employment contract.
• Affected visa types. The change affects Installation of Equipment and Vander Elst visa holders. The change does not affect Work/Residence Permit for Senior-Level Employees permit holders, the main work authorization category for Greece, since this permit is only available to locally-hired foreign workers. As before, locally-hired foreign workers are exempt from the notification requirement.

Impact - employer action required

Employers are advised to file posted worker notifications for all non-EU national workers on home employment contract as soon as possible.

Employers will face a cumbersome additional step for affected foreign workers, since the posted worker notification requires a personal visit to the Labor Inspection Body.

Background

Under the Posted Worker Directive – EU legislation seeking to harmonize and improve rules for temporarily assigned workers working across borders in the European Union – EU countries can decide which categories of workers are subject to the new requirements. As a result, the definition of posted worker varies between EU countries, with some EU countries applying the new requirements to all assigned workers; some only to EU or non-EU nationals; and some only to EU- or non-EU-based employment contracts; or a combination of these.

In Greece, there is considerable regional variation in the document requirements and notification process for posted workers.

Looking ahead

Although the Greek implementing legislation introduced an online notification option for posted workers, this has not yet been developed in practice. Fragomen expects that the increased number of foreign workers for whom notifications are now required may prompt Greek authorities to reprioritize development of an online notification tool.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to emea@fragomen.com.