Understanding Posted Worker Notifications and A1s: The Importance of Compliance

What is the Posted Worker Directive?

The Posted Worker Directive (PWD) is an EU law that applies to workers temporarily sent to work in an EU country. It is designed to ensure that these workers enjoy basic work-related rights and protections when working in an EU host country, such as minimum wages, hours worked and entitlement to holidays. It ensures that posted workers are treated fairly during their assignments while also protecting the host country’s labour market.

A key element of the PWD framework is the administrative obligation on employers to submit a notification to the host country authorities—known as Posted Worker Notifications (PWN)—before commencing work and to ensure relevant employment-related documents are on file for each posted worker.

The rules differ across the various member states, which can cause issues for companies that may struggle to stay compliant.

Why is this important?

Employers need to consider a wide range of factors when posting employees on short-term assignments. It is no longer sufficient to solely look at work permit/visa requirements when reviewing a secondment or even a business visit; PWN requirements must be assessed on a country-specific basis.

In some countries, the PWN and immigration processes have been combined. In many countries, PWNs are linked to social security compliance through Certificates of Coverage (or A1s as they are known in Europe).

While the PWD is designed to create a level playing field, the information required, language and filing processes varying significantly across countries add a degree of complexity. Therefore, a ‘one size fits all’ approach is not sufficient due to the fragmented system across countries.

Even when issued, some PWNs can be restricted to a specific travel pattern or assignment dates. As such, if these change, due to delays in visa processing or business requirements, an updated or even new PWN may be required with updated supporting documents.

Increased risks of non-compliance

With increased digitisation across government bodies, the ability of government departments both nationality and internationally to share data on travellers is increasing. By sharing data between immigration, tax and social security departments, it is easier for governments to look for non-compliance in breaching salary and employment protections, late or unfiled PWNs and inconsistent document retention at company or client locations.

Additionally, the European Labour Authority launched the Posting 360 Programme in March 2023, aiming at strengthening cooperation between the labour and social security authorities of EU Member states to ensure compliance with posted worker rules.

The increase in posted worker inspections has led to an increase in authorities issuing penalties to employers.

Financial penalties vary depending on country and severity of non-compliance but can range from €70 EUR to €225,000 EUR. In some instances, unlimited fines can be issued so consequences can be significant. 

There are also significant reputational risks associated with non-compliance. There have been instances of country authorities alerting the national press of non-compliance, creating not only a regulatory risk, but a much broader risk impacting a company’s reputation both nationally and internationally.

In some countries, an immigration ban and/or suspension can be imposed on the sending company, limiting its ability to send workers to the country to deliver on client projects or work between offices.

The risks for non-compliance also include late filings. Some authorities monitor PWN applications and if they notice a trend in late or retrospective filing, an audit of a company can be triggered.

Key takeaways

Whilst PWN can seem like a straightforward concept, in practice, the filing and document retention requirements can differ greatly from country to country, so companies need to think strategically when designing a business travel programme.

Whilst visa and work permit requirements are frequently considered ahead of travel, PWNs and A1 assessments need to be aligned with the immigration review, knowing what documents are needed and when to ensure travellers are compliant.

Compliance is key, and Fragomen can help companies coordinate their relocation, tax and labour departments under the umbrella of the firm’s immigration/global mobility services to provide a single solution covering all areas of immigration, PWN and social security compliance.

In addition to the practical compliance services, Fragomen offers advisory support, working with companies to design policies and helping with multijurisdictional assessments to advise on which country offers the best solution--not just from a visa perspective, but also considering the wider PWN and administrative compliance.

Need to know more?

For further information on the varied requirements for PWNs or questions related to ensuring employees can work in EU countries, reach out to the Fragomen Consulting Europe team at [email protected].

This blog was published on 22 November 2023, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram.