In this blog article, we would like to draw your attention to the administrative obligations that arise in the event that an employee of your company – be it a Hungarian, another EEA citizen or a third-country national – is posted to another EEA member state or Switzerland for a conference, business trip or work trip, even for a few days.
The posted worker must have an A1 certificate and, in the case of productive work, the employer must report the assignemnt (posting) in advance to the authorities of the host country.
In the absence of an A1 certificate or failure to submit the required posting notification, the authorities of the host country may impose labour or social security fines. In addition, it is becoming more and more common for European partner companies to request the existence of certificates and notifications as a prerequisite for starting work.
Our company has many years of experience in managing the administrative obligations related to posting within the EEA, including the application for A1 certificates and posting notifications to different Member States. Below is a summary of the most important things to know and do.
What is an A1 certificate and why is it important?
The A1 certificate proves that the sending employer pays the social security contributions of the posted employee in Hungary during the assignment.
The certificate is required in all cases where the employee temporarily travels to another EEA country, whether for work, conferences or professional training. The employee must carry the A1 certificate with him or her during his or her stay abroad.
The certificate must be requested by the employing company at the NEAK. The application must include the details and activities of the posting company, the worker’s personal data, and the exact duration and destination country of the posting. It is recommended to start the administration at least two weeks before the posting.
The validity period of the A1 certificate is the same as the duration of the posting, but for a maximum of 24 months. An extension may be requested if certain conditions are met.
When is posting required?
In the case of postings within the European Union – according to an EU directive – it is mandatory to notify the labour authorities of the host country in advance if the worker performs productive work in the following cases:
- intra-group posting;
- work related to the cross-border provision of services between companies;
- workforce leasing.
According to the regulations of certain countries, business travel that is not related to productive work (e.g. negotiations, conferences) must also be included in this category.
The reporting obligation applies to both 1-2 day and multi-month postings.
From a labour point of view, the basic working conditions of the host country (e.g. minimum wage, working hours, holidays) must be ensured during the posting.
There is no single European platform for posting reporting, this has to be done in the own system of each Member State (e.g. France: SIPSI, Austria: ZKO, Belgium: Limosa; Romania: E-mail, etc.), possibly with significantly different data content.
Our company is familiar with the practices of most EU member states, and we routinely handle reports in these systems.
We hope that our summary will help you to fulfil the administrative obligations related to foreign postings in accordance with legal requirements. If you need more information about the A1 certificate or the posting reporting, please feel free to contact us.
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